Juniper-Pickled Blueberries

When a friend was hosting a blueberry potluck brunch - the theme is based on what our pregnant friend and her husband are calling their soon-to-be-born baby, Blueberry, since they aren't sharing his real name just yet - and I, naturally, applied it to my brunch dishes.

I wanted to serve Salmon en Papillote and decided that pickled blueberries would pair nicely with that. Done. I've made pickled blueberries before. But I wanted to change it up as the onions were a little too piquant for my tastes. So, in this version, I softened the onions before putting them together with the blueberries.

Ingredients

• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• splash of olive oil
• 1 C rice vinegar
• 1 C apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 C organic granulated sugar
• 1 t sea salt
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 t pink peppercorns
• 6 juniper berries
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 pints organic blueberries

Procedure

In a small skillet cook the onions in a splash of olive oil until they are softened and translucent. In a medium saucepan place the vinegars, sugar, salt, cinnamon, juniper, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved completely. Scoop the cooked onions into the mixture and let cool to room temperature. Add the blueberries to the brine and spoon into a mason jar. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight,

I served it, at the blueberry brunch on top of this...well, after this was cooked. Yum!