Pickled Jalapeños and Onions

8 (about 1/2 pound, or 230 grams) jalapeno peppers

1/2 red onion

1 cup (250 ml) unseasoned rice vinegar or white vinegar

1 cup (250 ml) water

2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt (not grey or iodized salt)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

10 black peppercorns, lightly crushed

1 bay leaf

Slice off the stems of the jalapeños and cut them into rounds slightly shy of 1/4-inch.   Peel the half onion and slice it into 1/4-inch slices.

Heat the vinegar in a nonreactive saucepan with the water, salt, sugar, oregano, peppercorns, and bay leaf until simmering and the salt and sugar are dissolved.

Add the jalapeños and onions. Let cook in the pan for 1 minute, then cover, remove from heat, and let stand 15 minutes.

Ladle the mixture into jars, close them, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

(Notes: When you transfer the mixture into the jars, you should have just enough brine so that they’re barely submerged. Press them down with a spoon, cover, and let them stand overnight as they will continue to pickle in the jars. The next day, if you should need more brine, simply heat together equal parts vinegar and water, and pour it over the mixture in the jars.  The pickles will keep for at least a month in the refrigerator, and will start to lose their oomph after that.)

Makes about 2 cups of pickles.

From David Lebovitz’s blog, with minor changes