Best 5 Zuni Cafés Red Onion Pickles Recipes

ZUNI CAFé'S ZUCCHINI PICKLES

Steps:

• With a mandolin, cut zucchini lengthwise (or crosswise, if you prefer) in 1/16-inch slices. Cut onion crosswise the same thickness.
• Place zucchini and onion in a low wide bowl, toss with salt and cover with ice water. Add a few ice cubes. Leave for 1 hour, until faintly salty and slightly softened when tasted. Drain, discard ice and dry vegetables thoroughly between kitchen towels. Rinse and dry bowl.
• Make the brine: Combine vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, mustard seeds and turmeric in a nonreactive saucepan, and simmer over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside until just warm to the touch.
• Return zucchini to the bowl and pour cooled brine over, then stir to distribute spices.
• Transfer mixture and brine to pint jars and refrigerate for at least a day before serving.

ZUNI CAFé'S HAMBURGER

Steps:

• Cut meat into 1-inch chunks or strips. Sprinkle with salt, tossing to coat well, and refrigerate, covered, for about 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
• Assemble your meat grinder, using the grinder plate with 3/16-inch holes. Chill the grinder in a bowl of ice water for 30 minutes or refrigerate for several hours. With motor set to medium speed, drop cold meat into grinding tube and let the machine pull pieces through (resist forcing the meat through with pushing tool) into a chilled bowl. Grind the meat twice. (You may also hand-chop the meat in small batches or use a food processor with a very sharp blade, but the patties will be a bit more fragile.)
• Working quickly, form 6-ounce patties by hand, first making spheres, then flattening them to a 3/4-inch thickness. Press patties slightly thinner in the middle. (This ensures an even thickness in the finished burgers.) Keep patties refrigerated until ready to cook.
• If grilling, prepare your coals. Grill patties over medium-hot coals, flipping them three times to make sure they don't char. A cold 6-ounce patty will take about 9 minutes for a rosy medium-rare. Rest for 2 to 3 minutes off the heat, as you would a roast, before serving. If using a preheated cast-iron pan over medium heat, cook burgers for about 10 minutes, also flipping three times, plus resting.
• To serve, warm a piece of focaccia for each burger and split the bread horizontally. Smear the bottom half with a dab of aioli, the add lettuce leaves and the cooked burger. Top with the other half of the focaccia. Serve with zucchini pickles and red onion pickles.

ZUNI CAFé'S FOCACCIA

Steps:

• In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine water and yeast, stirring to dissolve. Add 3 tablespoons oil and rosemary. Add bread flour and mix, using dough hook, to make a stiff batter. Let sit at room temperature until bubbly and doubled in size, about 20 minutes.
• Add all-purpose flour and salt. Mix at low speed until dough comes together. Continue mixing for 10 minutes, until smooth.
• Remove dough hook and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise until doubled, about 40 minutes. Punch down dough, remove from bowl and knead briefly on work surface. Dough should be soft and slightly sticky. Dust with about 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, if necessary, for easier handling.
• Using a rolling pin, stretch the dough into a rectangle about 10 by 14 inches. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let relax for 10 minutes.
• Grease a 9-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Dust bottom of pan lightly with cornmeal.
• Transfer dough to baking sheet, and, using your hands, stretch it to the edges of the baking sheet. Dough will spring back: Let it rest again for a few minutes; it may take several attempts to fill entire baking sheet evenly.
• Cover stretched dough loosely with a damp kitchen towel (or use an inverted rimmed baking sheet), set in a somewhat-warm place, and let rise to top of baking sheet, or slightly higher, about 40 minutes.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Uncover and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until nicely browned. Cool on a rack and cut into 4-inch squares. (The extra focaccia trimmings are delicious toasted.) Split squares horizontally and reheat before serving.

RED ONION PICKLES

Steps:

• To make the brine: In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, dried chili, star anise, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Turn off heat, and let stand until cool to allow the spices to infuse the brine.
• Peel onions, trim ends, and slice 3/8 inch thick. Separate the slices into rings, discarding any green sprouts and thin, leathery outer rings.
• Uncover the brine, and bring to a boil over high heat. Immediately add about one-third of the onion rings, and stir. They should turn hot pink almost immediately. As soon as the brine begins to simmer, about 20 seconds, stir them again, and remove from the heat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, immediately remove the onions and spread on a baking sheet to cool. The onions should still be firm. Repeat with remaining onions, in two batches.
• Once the onions have cooled, repeat the entire process in step three, exactly as above, and cooling between batches, twice more. After the third round of blanching, chill the brine, and then add the pickled onions. This process saturates the onions with fragrant brine without really cooking them, and guarantees that the color sets to a fuscia pink.
• Transfer to sterilized jars, cover, and store, refrigerated, for up to 3 months.

ZUNI CAFé ZUCCHINI PICKLES

Steps:

• Wash and trim the zucchini, then slice them one-sixteenth-inch thick; a mandoline works best. Slice the onion very thin as well.
• Combine the zucchini and onions in a large but shallow nonreactive bowl, add the salt and toss to distribute. Add a few ice cubes and cold water to cover, then stir to dissolve the salt.
• After about 1 hour, taste and feel a piece of zucchini -- it should be slightly softened. Drain and pat dry.
• Combine the vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, mustard seeds and turmeric in a small saucepan and simmer for 3 minutes. Set aside until just warm to the touch. (If the brine is too hot, it will cook the vegetables and make the pickles soft instead of crisp.).
• Return the zucchini to a dry bowl and pour over the cooled brine. Stir to distribute the spices. Transfer the pickle to jars, preferably ones that have "shoulders" to hold the zucchini and onions beneath the surface of the brine. Seal tightly and refrigerate for at least a day before serving to allow the flavors to mellow and permeate the zucchini, turning them a brilliant chartreuse color.