By GAIL BLAKELY
Pickles, relishes, and chutneys… oh my! Just like lions, tigers and bears in the Wizard of Oz, jars of fermented vegetables and fruit now are available in many large markets, and small farm stands as well.
But you don’t have to leave your house in order to have these in your own refrigerator. Quick pickling is one of the simplest solutions for preserving, and it doesn’t require canning equipment—or bushels of vegetables.
Once you master the technique, you can adapt it for any fresh vegetable—in fact, the vegetables should be super fresh. Getting your produce from a farmers’ market is the best way to ensure freshness.
Remember that almost any vegetable can be pickled. A good way to start is with red onions; in her book Vegan, Vegetable, Omnivore, Anna Thomas declares that these are addictive. They are truly two-minute pickles.
QUICK PICKLED ONIONS
1 large red onion
½ cup water
¼ cup cider vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
Peel the onion and cut it into quarters; slice it thinly. Combine thee remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil; simmer just until the sugar dissolves. Add the sliced onions to the liquid and push them down to submerge, adding a little more water if needed. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow them to cool. Place them in a covered glass jar and refrigerate them in the pickling liquid; serve in salads or sandwiches.
Pickled beets have been available commercially since the mid-nineteenth century. Many people don’t realize how different home pickled beets can be. Alice Waters makes hers by roasting the beets first, to bring out their all their natural sugars. Then she just lightly tosses them in some white balsamic vinegar with some fresh herbs. They are so delicious that they have been called “life-changing.”
ALICE WATERS’ EASY MARINATED BEETS
1 ½ pounds golden beets about 7-8 medium-size beets
½ cup water
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar or your favorite vinegar
½ teaspoon kosher salt more, to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper more, to taste
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary (thyme, dill, mint, chives or tarragon)
Preheat oven to 425F; remove the tops of the beets, leaving about 1/2 inch of the stem. Wash the beets thoroughly and place them in a baking dish; they will fit in without crowding. Add 1/2 cup of water and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 45 to 1 hour, until the beets can be easily pierced with a sharp knife. If the beets are not all the same size, some may take longer. Remove from oven, uncover carefully (steam will be hot!) and allow to cool. Cut off the tops and bottom tails of the beets; rub the peel gently with a dry paper towel to remove–the skin (peel) should slip right off. Cut beets in half, then in quarters or eighths, depending on size. Sprinkle with vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Stir gently and let sit for at least 30 minutes to allow the beets to absorb the vinegar. Just before serving, taste and add a pinch of sugar if you note any bitterness; stir gently and season with a bit more salt and pepper if needed, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle herbs over the top.
Fresh packing is the least labor intensive method—the produce is pared, soaked, drained, packed, and processed with vinegar and spices. Chutneys and relishes are mixtures of fruits and vegetables that are pared, then cooked with vinegar and/or sugar, packed, then processed. Once you master this technique, you can come up with your own combinations: cranberries, garlic, blueberries, and grapes—even watermelon rind.
Brining, or curing with salt, is the most labor intensive process as it takes longer and it requires daily tending. The foam (or scum) must be scraped off as it forms. The vegetables are pared and then soaked (or cured) in brine, which encourages fermentation and, therefore, acid levels become high enough to prevent spoilage. These should be packed and processed in boiling water bath canner, according to the recipe directions.
You can make sweet refrigerator pickles quickly and easily. If you pack them in sterile canning jars and refrigerate them, they will keep for two months without the boiling water bath canning process. The following recipe comes from the U.S. Agricultural Extension Service. It calls for a mixed pickling spice—the recipe for that follows here.
REFRIGERATOR SUPER SWEETS
6 large cucumbers, scrubbed and sliced
1 quart distilled white vinegar
3 cups sugar
1 tsp whole mixed pickling spice
½ tsp salt
Place the cucumbers in a 4-quart crock or plastic container; cover with the vinegar, making sure they are completely submerged. Cover them with a ceramic plate and top them with a heavy can to weight down the pickles; let stand for 24 hours. Drain and discard the vinegar; add the sugar, pickling spice, and salt to the cucumber slices. Mix gently to dissolve the sugar; after several hours, stir again. The pickles are ready to eat when all the sugar has dissolved.
MIXED PICKLING SPICE
2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp each: whole allspice, coriander seeds, dill seeds, and whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves, crumbled
2 dried red chiles, crumbled
Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight jar in a cool, dark place; use as directed in any pickling recipe.
Pickled baby carrots are a simple pleasure, as are green beans and spears of summer squash. In “The Victory Garden Cookbook,” Marion Morash gives this recipe for Easy Dilled Squash Spears, a little different from dilled pickles. Her pickled carrots, which follows here, result in a crisp carrot. If you want softer carrots, blanch them for one minute before packing in jars and storing in the refrigerator.
EASY DILLED SQUASH SPEARS
2 lbs zucchini or yellow summer squash
6 tbsp kosher salt
1 large sweet onion
2-3 cloves garlic
4 heads fresh dill, plus a bunch of leaves
1 cup white wine vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp each: celery seeds and mustard seeds
Wash and trim the squash, then cut it into serving sized spears; sprinkle with ¼ cup salt and cover with ice water. Let stand for 2 hours, then drain, rinse, and drain once more. Slice the onion and peel and slice the garlic; in a large bowl, layer the squash, onion slices, garlic and dill. In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, 1 cup water, 2 tbsp salt, sugar, celery and mustard seed; heat until the sugar and salt dissolve.
Pour this liquid over the vegetables and cover; refrigerate for 2 days before using.
PICKLED CARROTS
3 lbs baby carrots, peeled
Dill sprigs
24 peppercorns
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 ½ cups vinegar
1 ½ cups water
½ cup sugar
Sterilize 4 pint jars and fill them with carrots to within ¾-inch of the jar top, layering with dill sprigs throughout. Add 6 peppercorns and ½ tsp mustard seeds per jar; bring the vinegar, water and sugar to a boil and cook until sugar dissolves. Pour this over the carrots and let stand until cool, then cover and refrigerate for two days before using.
The best part about making your own pickles at home is that you can customize your flavor combinations. Dill pickles call for garlic, dill seed and red pepper flakes. Carrots can become more exotic when you add coriander, ginger, turmeric, and thyme. You can use fresh herbs such as dill, thyme, oregano and rosemary, as they hold up well. Almost any dried herb or seed will also work. Fresh garlic and ginger make for an entirely different pickle experience.
Radishes are delightful to pickle; just trim them and cut them into quarters. Add lots of garlic and whatever other spices you might want. From Epicurious.com, here is an easy recipe that will totally change your mind about radishes.
PICKLED RADISHES
10 red radishes, trimmed, unpeeled, quartered
10 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 cups distilled white vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar or honey
Combine first 3 ingredients in a clean 1 quart glass jar; add vinegar, salt, and sugar or honey. Cover; shake until sugar and salt begin to dissolve (honey will become diluted). Refrigerate for at least three days, shaking once a day. Note: these can be made ahead, and stored in the frigerator for up to one month.
The flavor mellows the longer the mixture pickles.
You can’t talk about pickling without mentioning pickled peppers. David Lebovitz adapted a recipe from Michael Symon’s Live to Cook. It’s a great way to preserve any spicy chile pepper. These are best after brining for a full week—you can use them sooner but it’s worth it to wait. Use them with any Mexican dish, or remove the seeds and use in a recipe that is improved by a little sweetness.
PICKLED JALAPENOS
1 lb fresh jalapeno peppers, washed
2 ½ cups each: water and white distilled vinegar
3 tbsp each: granulated sugar and coarse salt
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp whole coriander seeds
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp black peppercorns
Stab each pepper three times with a sharp paring knife and place them in a large glass preserving jar. In a saucepan, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and pour the brine over the peppers; place the lid on the jar and let cool.
Refrigerate and use after a week; use within a month.
There’s nothing like setting out a bowl of wild mushrooms on a buffet, or as part of a cheese board or appetizer platter, to use in a salad or as a garnish for meat, poultry, or game. Homemade: Delicious Foods to Make and Give is a book chockablock full of such great ideas. Judith Choate suggests this recipe which requires no cooking at all.
CURED MUSHROOMS
2 ½ lb mixed wild mushrooms (or a combination of wild and domestic mushrooms) trimmed of stems and any bruised parts
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1 cup tarragon vinegar
3 tbsp freshly grated onion
1 tbsp roasted garlic puree
½ tsp sugar
8 cloves garlic
8 sprigs fresh basil
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Combine the mushrooms with the oil, vinegar, onion, garlic puree and sugar in a glass mixing bowl, stirring well to combine. Place 2 garlic cloves, 2 basil sprigs, and an equal portion of the red pepper flakes in 4 washed glass jars. Pack each jar with mushrooms and add liquid to cover. Cover the jars tightly with their lids and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving; store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
For further pickling pleasure, here are instructions for how to quick pickle almost any vegetable, from kitchn.com. This recipe calls for two pint jars with lids; they should be washed and rinsed well, then dried before using.
HOW TO QUICK-PICKLE ANY VEGETABLE
1 pound fresh vegetables, such as cucumbers, carrots, green beans, summer squash, or cherry tomatoes
2 sprigs fresh herbs, such as thyme, dill, or rosemary (optional)
1 to 2 teaspoons whole spices, such as black peppercorns, coriander, or mustard seeds (optional)
1 teaspoon dried herbs or ground spices (optional)
2 cloves garlic, smashed or sliced (optional)
1 cup vinegar, such as white, apple cider, or rice
1 cup water
1 tablespoon kosher salt or 2 teaspoons pickling salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)
Wash and dry the vegetables (peel the carrots and trim the end of beans); cut vegetables into desired shapes and sizes. Divide the herbs, spices, or garlic you are using between the jars, then pack the vegetables into the jars, making sure there is a 1/2 inch of space from the rim of the jar to the tops of the vegetables (pack them in as tightly as you can without smashing them). Place the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar (if using) in a small saucepan over high heat; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Pour the brine over the vegetables, filling each jar to within 1/2 inch of the top—you might not use all the brine. Try to remove any air bubbles by gently tapping the jars against the counter a few times, then top off with more brine if necessary. Place the lids on the jars and screw on the rings until tight. Let the jars cool to room temperature, then store the pickles in the refrigerator. The pickles will improve with flavor as they age—try to wait at least 48 hours before cracking them open. Remember that these are not canned, and should be used within two months.