pickles, three ways

Over the weekend I finally was able to hunker down and do some preserving. I decided to make regular dill pickles and a batch of bread and butter pickles. Pickling cucumbers are in season right now and I found big bags of great looking ones (i.e. firm, small and with no bruises) at the PAT Korean grocery store for only $4 so I grabbed a couple and got down to business.

I started with the dills. I like mine a bit spicy so I made half with garlic and dill and the other half with chili peppers, garlic and dill. To help the pickles stay crunchy I always add grapes leaves to each jar. I read somewhere years ago that grape leaves contain an enzyme that keeps the pickles crisp.  

For the bread and butter pickles, I used the same cukes, but sliced them into rounds. I also added slices of red pepper and onions.

dill pickles

about 20 pickling cucumbers

5 1/2 C water

2 C cider vinegar + 1 C white vinegar + 1/2 C rice vinegar (you can really use 3 1/2 cups of any vinegar)

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

2 1/2 tbsp kosher salt

5 tsp dill seeds

fresh dill

10 garlic cloves

2 red chilis, sliced (optional)

5 grape leaves

1. Trim blossom end of cucumbers (I heard that doing this will help prevent the pickles from turning soft...not sure how/why). I kept the regular dill pickles whole and halved the cucumbers for the spicy batch.

2. Place a teaspoon of dill seed in each sterilized jar (I used  6 x 500 ml canning jars), followed by a grape leave, a sprig or two of fresh dill, 2 garlic cloves and a couple pieces of chili (if using).

3. Arrange cucumbers into jars.

4. Combine water, vinegars, sugar and salt in a pot and bring to a boil. While still hot, ladle brine into each jar. Leave about a 1/4-inch of headspace. Screw on lids. 

5. Process jars for 15 minutes.* Let pickles cure for at least 2 months.

not-too-sweet bread and butter pickles

4 lbs pickling cucumbers, sliced into rounds
1 red pepper, sliced into strips
1 medium sweet onion, sliced into strips
2-3 trays of ice cubes (about 30)
1/3 C pickling salt
3 C sugar
2 1/2 C cider vinegar
2 tbsp whole yellow mustard seeds
1 tbsp celery seeds
1 tsp tumeric

1. Mix cucumbers, peppers and onions in a large bowl. Add salt and ice cubes and mix again. Let the mixture sit for 2 hours. After 2 hours, rinse and drain, then rinse and drain again.

2. Combine the sugar, vinegar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and tumeric in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the drained cucumber mixture and bring back to a boil.

3. Spoon into mason jars (I used 5 x 500 ml canning jars), leaving about 1/4-inch of headspace. Screw on lids and process for 15 minutes.* Let pickles cure for at least 4 weeks.

Next up: pickled carrots, green beans and turnips! Yay, for summer produce...and pickles!

*I process jars by placing them in a pot of boiling water (make sure water reaches about an inch over the jars). Boil for length of time required. 

the preservation kitchen

I’m probably being a bit ambitious, but I’m still planning to get some preserving done this spring/summer/fall even though I now have a little one who loves to be in my arms at all times. To pump myself up, I bought a new cookbook, The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-Doux. 

It was just what I needed for inspiration. Pickled cherry bomb peppers, milk jam (sort of like dulce de leche), pressed eggplant in olive oil...so many good recipes!

I won’t be tackling anything too crazy, but I am hoping to at least add a couple of new pickles or preserves into my repertoire and my pantry.  

red pepper jelly

With all that preserving I did over the summer, I totally forgot to replenish my red pepper jelly stock. Luckily, peppers are readily available all year long.

This jelly is sweet, slightly spicy and the perfect addition to any cheese board.

makes 5 half pints 

1 red pepper

5-6 red chili peppers, seeds removed from 2-3 (depending on how spicy you want it)

2 cloves garlic, grated

6 C sugar

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 1/2 C vinegar

1 package Certo liquid pectin

1. Mince all of the peppers using a food processor.

2. Add everything except the Certo in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Boil for 5-6 minutes.

3. Take off the heat and stir in Certo. Pour into sterilized mason jars and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

last days of canning: part 2

For my last canning project of the year, I decided to make homemade ketchup. This was a messy job. Red splatters everywhere! It was a crazy bubbling cauldron of tomato goodness. But the resulting ketchup was amazing. So much more flavourful than store-bought. Next summer I plan on canning way more. In the meantime, I'll be rationing my stock.

I followed this recipe from Bon Appetit. Even though the recipe says it takes up to two hours for the ketchup to reach the right consistency, mine took just over three hours. Totally worth it.

last days of canning: part 1

I did quite a bit of preserving over the summer. I have rhubarb vanilla bean jam ready to slather on toast. Peaches (in light syrup and vanilla-infused syrup) to help me remember what summer tasted like. Chow chow relish that I'm planning on mixing into pots of hearty beans. Peach salsa to top tacos. And my favourite candied jalapenos that I eat on just about everything. 

And now I can add dilly beans to the list. I made a small batch (2 pints) since this was my first time making them.

And I also made some more candied jalapenos for emergency purposes. 

chow chow

With all of the vegetables that are in season right now, I really wanted to make some kind of relish. I considered a spicy corn relish, but finally settled on Chow Chow. Chow Chow is a type of relish that's chock full of vegetables including green tomatoes (which I had the hardest time finding). It's popular in the southern states and the east coast of Canada and served on everything from various types of meats to hamburgers to baked beans. I can't wait to crack open a jar in a couple of months.

makes four 500 ml jars

2 C firm pickling cucumbers, diced

1 1/2 C red pepper, diced

1 1/2 C green cabbage, diced

1 1/2 C sweet onion, diced

1 1/2 C green tomatoes, diced

1 1/2 C carrots, diced and blanched 

1 C green beans, diced and blanched

9 C water 

1 C kosher salt

2 C white vinegar

1 C cider vinegar

2 1/2 C sugar

3 tbsp mustard seeds

2 tbsp celery seeds

1 tbsp tumeric

1. Combine all of the vegetables except carrots and beans in a large bowl. Add 8 cups of the water and the salt. Mix, cover and let sit overnight in the fridge.

2. The next day rinse and drain the vegetables. 

3. Combine remaining 1 cup of water, vinegars and spices in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Add all of the vegetables including carrots and beans. Simmer for 45 minutes. 

4. Ladle into sterilized mason jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Process in boiling water for 15 minutes.

puttin' up peaches

Preserving peaches can be a bit of a pain mainly because you have to peel every. single. peach. But in the end, it's totally worth it. Rather than stick with a traditional heavy syrup, I went for a less-sugary version infused with aromatic vanilla beans. I'm most excited about pulling a jar off my shelf in mid-December and re-visiting their sweetness.

Big thanks to Arounna for giving me that beautiful Weck jar in the front!

makes 5 pints

4 lbs freestone peaches

1 lemon, sliced

2 C sugar

5 C water

2 vanilla beans, split and each cut in thirds

1. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Fill another large bowl with cold water and lemon slices.

2. Peel the peaches by dropping 4 at a time into a pot of boiling water for about 1 minute. Remove peaches with a slotted spoon and dunk them into the ice bath. The skins should slide off easily. Once peeled, slice into quarters and put them into the lemon water.

3. In a pot combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil.

4. Tightly pack peach quarters into sterilized mason jars. Top peaches with hot syrup leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Slip a vanilla bean piece into each jar. Screw on lids.

5. Process jars in a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes.

rhubarb vanilla bean jam

I usually try to limit myself to making only one kind of jam per year (I mean, how much jam can two people really eat in 12 months?). Last year it was blueberry and this year it was rhubarb. To make the jam a bit more aromatic and flavourful, I added a vanilla bean to the mix.

1.5 lbs rhubarb, washed & chopped
1/4 C water 
1.5 lbs sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1 package liquid pectin
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped of seeds

1. Place rhubarb and water into a large pot. Bring to a boil, then add the sugar, vanilla bean pod and seeds, and lemon juice. Boil for about 10 minutes or until the rhubarb is soft.

2. Add the pectin and continue to boil for 10 minutes. Remove vanilla bean pod.

3. Ladle into sterilized jars*, wipe the rims and screw on lids. Process the jars for 10 minutes in a pot of boiling water. Remove and allow to cool completely before storing in a cool, dark place.

makes enough to fill four 250 ml jars

* I sterilize my mason jars and lids by placing them in a large pot of boiling water for 15-20 minutes.  

easy preserving

I haven't started any real preserving since not a lot of fruit and veggies are in season yet, but I did make a simple apple jam recently as a spread for a pork belly sandwich. It's pretty quick to make and tastes like applesauce, but with the texture of a thick jam. I used this honey lemon apple jam recipe, but divided it in half.

* pork belly (using the Momofuku technique but with skin on for crunchy crackling)

* pork belly sandwich

I also ran out of candied jalapenos last month (because I dropped an entire jar and it smashed all over my floor), so I promptly made some more. When I made these last time, I didn't remove the seeds, which resulted in some wickedly spicy pepper rings. This time I de-seeded about half.

And here is some Vietnamese pickled carrot and daikon that I made. These are quick pickles and you can eat them about an hour after making them. I added them to a refreshing cold soba noodle salad.

preserve planning

I sat down over the weekend and started thinking about what I wanted to preserve this summer. On my list: candied jalapenos (blogged here), red pepper jelly (blogged here), crunchy dill pickles/cornichons, peaches, cherries and some sort of relish or salsa.

I'm also pumped about this book arriving in my mailbox soon!

Some of last year's goods.