Pickled Shallots With Chillies

[Chilli P]

Hello

I thought i would post the pickled shallot recipe i use that was passed onto me from my mum, its quite an old fashioned recipe and may have come from Mrs Beeton but I'm not sure and she cant remember.

I have 3 grown up sons and husband that really like hot chillies so i though i would add loads of them into my shallots and wait for the response, they loved them so this year I've bought Bhut Jolokia seeds

Here goes

Use even size shallots. Do not skin them, place straight in brine (1 lb salt to 1 gallon water, 8 pints is one gallon), leave for 12 hours.
Remove from brine and peel. Cover with fresh brine, making sure that all are kept below surface and leave for a further 24/36 hours. Drain thoroughly. Pack tightly in jars. Cover with spiced vinegar,( i use Sarson's pickling vinegar) so that the vinegar comes 1/2 in above onions and keep for 3 months before use.
I add the chopped up chillies with seeds and stalks (but if you prefer you can cut stalks off) and place them through the shallots before the vinegar and at the top, make sure the vinegar covers everything.

If you dont like chillies like me, just add some peppercorns instead or leave plain

I use sunglasses if i cant find my reading glasses when peeling shallots and rubber surgical gloves for the chopping of chillies, I'm a woos.