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homemade pickles

Quick & Simple Pickled Everything

May 18, 2020 by gracefulfitness Leave a Comment

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I love pickled things; cruchy, salty, tangy vegetables are my jam.

Unfortunately, really good pickles are hard to find and when you do, they can be pretty pricey.

Fortunately, making them is crazy easy. For real.

Here’s a basic brine to pickle anything.

(This “recipe” is for refridgerator pickles, no canning necessary)

Per PINT mason jar:

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar (or any other vinegar, my preference for this is the ‘clean and basic’ flavor of white vinegar)

1/2 cup water*

2 teaspoons salt*

2 teaspoons sugar*

Vegetables! Any combo, cut to your preference, enough to pack however many pints you plan to make

Optional add-ins:

1-3 peeled raw whole cloves garlic, a pinch or two red chili flakes, 1-2 fresh clean rosemary, dill, chives, or thyme sprigs, a bit of chopped onion, a pinch or two of a premade dry pickle spice blend, a teaspoon of dry mustard seeds, a pinch of dry dill, 1-2 bay leafs, a pinch of coriander seeds, a few allspice berries…the options are wide open really!

Step One: Prepare your vegetables by washing and cutting them.

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You can cut them however you’d prefer; keep in mind that the thicker the cut, the cruchier the vegetable will remain and the thinner the cut, the easier to pack into the jar.

Step Two: Make the brine.

Bring the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar to a gentle simmer.

Step Three: Prepare jars** and pack them.

While the brine heats, prepare your jars by washing them with soap and warm water then packing them.

To pack, put any “add-ins” in the bottom of your clean jar then tightly pack your vegetables in the jar, leaving at least a quarter inch of “headspace” between the top of the vegetables and the rim of the jar.  Or add-ins can go on top, for these pickled carrots I did both.

I prefer to pack the jars very tight because it maximizes the pickles-per-jar and balances the brine to vegetable ratio to my liking.

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Step Four: Pour the hot brine into the jars to just cover vegetables. Depending on what vegetables you have and how tight you pack them, you may have a little bit of leftover brine, you can discard it or save it in a jar for the next batch.

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Step Five: Let cool for 10 minutes then put your two piece ring lid on.

Let cool another 30 minutes then store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Full disclaimer: I often keep these in the fridge for months but every single recipe I’ve ever read says just a few weeks.  You will know if they’ve gone back by mold or film on the surface, if they don’t look spoiled, they aren’t.

 

My favorite combos with this brine and technique

My Papa’s Rosemary Pickled Carrots

Carrots cut into sticks

2 medium rosemary sprigs per jar

2-3 cloves peeled whole garlic cloves per jar

a generous pinch of red chili flakes

(I also used pickling spice in the pictures above but I think I prefer without so the rosemary is more dominant)

We made these every year with garden carrots growing up and canned them for pantry storage, it was a revelation when I realized I could make them with store bought (organic, they taste so much better) carrots and make them just a few jars at a time without having to break out the canner!

Jalepenos and Carrots

My take on Zanahorias en Escabeche, or spicy pickled carrots.

Thinly slice carrots and jalepenos or, like I do, use the slice option on your food processor for quick and easy. very thin cut veg, follow method above.

We love these on “fajita salads”, tacos, rice and beans, really anywhere you would use hot sauce.

Share your winning combos! I’d love some more inspiration!

 

*This balance of salt, sugar, and vinegar is my preference but it is not a solid “rule”. If you are new to making refrigerator pickles I suggest you start with these ratios then decide for yourself what your preference is; you can increase the vinegar and decrease the water if you prefer a really vinegary pickle, just go for 1 cup of liquid per pint. You can also adjust the sugar and salt balance up or down (or skip the sugar all together, I personally like how it helps balance to intensity of the vinegar and brings out the sweetness in the vegetables).

Note: when you are canning fruits and vegetables for long term storage unrefridgerated, you must stick to the recipe for food safety, since these are stored in the fridge you have much more room to adjust and play with the balance.

**Please use canning jars for this because they are designed to withstand the heat of the near boiling brine.

 

I like to joke that my garden is a “Pickle Garden”, I cannot wait to get all the cucs, okra, green tomatoes, squash, and green beans in brine!

Other preserved/pickled posts

Lacto-Fermented Cucumber Dill Pickles

Lacto-Fermented Pickled Vegetables

Kimchi

Preserved Lemons

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Posted in: cooking, DIY, Fermented Food, food, gardening, recipes Tagged: homemade pickles, pickle brine, pickled carrots, pickled jalepenos, pickles

National Salad Month

May 2, 2012 by gracefulfitness 5 Comments

It’s May.

Somewhere along the line soup season has shifted to salad season.  My winter cravings for broth, hot oats, and spending time in my cozy kitchen have given way to desires for fast, fresh meals and puttering away in my garden.

May is, not coincidentally, National Salad Month.  Unfortunately (as far as I’m concerned),  some reports suggest that this is really just a big commercial put out by the dressing association or something.  I’m going to run with it anyway because we could all eat more salad.

I have three delicious additions to any salad to share with you today.

Roasted Roots

 

Pictured above are radishes, red potatoes, and beets, all roasted in the oven with a little coconut oil and salt.   Carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, and parsnips all work beautifully for this as well.

 

Homemade Pickles and Preserves

 

Above right you have my latest most favorite addition to salads of all kinds: preserved lemons.

I’ve made these out of both Meyer lemons and…regular(?) lemons.  I thought for sure the Meyer would be a thousand times better but to my delight they are only about 2 times better.  This is good news because it means that the regular lemons, which are cheaper and more readily available, are also super amazing when preserved!

You need three things to make preserved lemons; lemons, a jar, and salt.  Oh yeah, and time.

Wash your lemons and cut them into desired size.  Many recipes call for leaving your lemons intact and just making a few cuts to allow the salt in and juices out.  I’ve done it that way but then you have to get your hands all messy in order to chop up the lemon when you want to use it.  For this batch I chopped up my lemon from the get-go, removing as many seeds as I could along the way.

In other words, cut your lemons into desire size, be it slivers, quarters, halves, a rough chop, rounds, etc.

Fill the bottom of a clean jar with salt.

Add lemon and lots more salt.  Lots more salt, like a teaspoon or two per lemon.

Muddle the lemon to release the juice.  Ideally you want enough juice to release to just about cover the top of the lemon.

Put a lid on it.  Place it in a cabinet and make a note that it will be ready in 4-5 weeks.  I use a piece of masking tape right on the jar and write “ready on June 3rd” right on it.  Every few days shake the jar vigorously to release the juices and move the brine around.

After 4-5 weeks transfer the jar to the fridge and start to use the preserved lemons.  If they are too salty for your liking just rinse in cold water before using.  The jar will keep in the fridge for several months.

 

 

Above right you have pickled radishes with some chive greens and flowers floating on top.

It’s ridiculously simple to make quick pickles out of carrots, beets, garlic, or radishes and they will keep in the fridge for quite some time.

Pour equal parts water and vinegar into a sauce pan (white or apple cider vinegar).  Add a teaspoon of salt per cup of liquid and, optionally, a teaspoon or two of honey.

Bring to a simmer and add spices; red chilli flakes, garlic, thin slices of jalapeno and/or peppercorns if you like it spicy!  Simmer for a few minutes and turn off the heat.

Pack an clean jar with washed and sliced vegetables and some rosemary, if desired.

Pour the brine over the vegetables until covered.  The cold vegetables should absorb enough heat so as not to break the jar.

Let jar(s) cool on the counter and then transfer to the fridge.

The pickles are ready to eat once cool and will last in the fridge for about 6 months.

 

Flowers

 

Nature’s sprinkles!

Spring is a great time for edible flowers.  Through April I was eating beautiful violets from the yard (we don’t spray anything on our lawn but if you do, don’t eat your ‘weeds’!) and now it’s all about the chive, sage, and kale blossoms.  Come summer time and my salads with be sprinkled with day lily blossoms and nasturtiums.

Remember, in nature color equals antioxidants!

 

 

No dressing necessary. 😉

 

 

What’s your favorite Spring salad addition?

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Posted in: Fermented Food, food, recipes, super foods Tagged: edible flowers, homemade pickles, National Salad Month, pickled radishes, preserved lemons

I am Faith Levine, a movement instructor, home gardener, mountain biker, hiker, pickle maker, closet poet, and best of friend to some of the most amazing women in the world.

I’d love to hear from you,
gracefulfitness@live.com

Header photo: Meredith Coe

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Hi, I'm Faith! New? Check out I Am for my story, I Cook for recipes, and I Move for some motivation to get moving! I'd love to hear from you, e-mail me gracefulfitness@live.com
Header photo: Meredith Coe

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