From Sherried Pickled Onions To Pickled Onion Ice Cream!

My father had a lifelong love of food and amongst his favourite foods were ice cream (read my Knickerbocker Glory Champion post) and pickles - though never together!

Mind you, pickled onion ice cream may sound a little crazy but I do know someone who has made it - Gino Soldan master gelatiere at Morelli's ice cream parlour in Harrods, London told me in an exclusive interview last year of how he made pickled onion and white chocolate ice cream as a special order for a private party. It might have sounded like a novel idea at the time but I doubt it suited everyone's palate!

Pickled onions are, in my opinion, best enjoyed in their own right and when pickled in sherry it gives them an added sweetness. Delicious! The best sherried pickled onions I have ever tasted were the ones that my father made every year; this time of year he would proudly give me and my family a couple of jars and it wasn't long before they had all gone -once you started eating them it was difficult to stop!

When my father died in July this year we knew there would be many things we would miss about him. I didn't stop to think about the pickled onions .... until now. Thankfully my mother has his recipe and is continuing the tradition. I asked her for the recipe and she kindly wrote it out for me insisting that I credit it to my father. So here it is for you all to enjoy ....

BILL QUINN'S SHERRIED PICKLED ONIONS

Ingredients:
4lb pickling onions
3/4 lb demerara sugar
1 1/2 pints vinegar
2 wine glasses of sherry

Peel the onions and soak in salt water overnight.
Boil the vinegar and sugar together. Leave to go cold.
Drain the onions and put them into glass jars.
Stir the sherry into the cooled vinegar/sugar mixture.
Pour this over the onions in the jars.
Seal the jars tightly and label with the date.