Ultra-easy Pickled Shallots

My shallots had finished drying, so the time had come to pickle them...

(Reminder: I had 1.2kg of "Longor" shallots available)

The first task was to peel the shallots. Easy enough, but very boring. It took me about an hour!



Unfortunately I did have to discard a few (about 10), which had gone soft. They smelled really unpleasant! However, the vast majority were fine. I had kept a dozen or so of the best ones for other culinary purposes, so I ended up with just about a kilo (2.2 lbs) of veg.

I put the shallots in a large mixing-bowl and smothered them in a large amount of salt, mixing them about with my hands to ensure that they were all well coated. Then I covered the bowl with clingfilm and left it to stand overnight. This part of the process (called "dry brining") extracts excess moisture, making for crisper pickles in due course.

Next day I rinsed the salt from the shallots, dried them on a clean tea-towel and packed them into cold, but sterilised jars.

Then it was simply a matter of filling the jars with pickling vinegar. For this ultra-easy 'recipe' I took the easy option and bought ready-made pickling vinegar, but you could of course make your own, adding whatever spices you like. I put a couple of pieces of chilli in each of my jars, more for the visual effect than for anything else, but I daresay they may add a little bit of extra zing...

When sealing the jars, check what type of lids you have. If they are not ones that already have a waxed cardboard inner liner, it's advisable to put a piece of clingfilm over the jar before putting the lid on. This stops the metal lid coming into contact with the vinegar, which could cause it to corrode. Or you could just use plastic lids...

Now for perhaps the most difficult part of the pickling process: allow to mature for at least a month! They will probably be at their best at about two months, and beginning to be a bit past it at six. They'll be nice with some strong Cheddar cheese...