I have never been a pickle lover. That is to say, I like pickles but I have never loved them. When a dill spear comes along side a sandwich at a deli, I often leave it untouched. But sometimes I do like a pickle or two on my hamburger. Given my lukewarm feelings about pickles, I’ve found it a bit odd that I have a mounting obsession around the art of pickle making… and the many varieties of pickles to be made. It started with the bread and butter pickles which to me were as much about canning as they were about pickling. But the success of those homemade pickles went to my head, and has lead to visions of fruit pickles, Asian pickles, watermelon rind pickles… all dancing around in my mind for a couple of months now. So I’ve gone about collecting pickle recipes and ideas from books and blogs and have tucked them away for the right moment. Pickled grapes with cinnamon and black pepper is one such recipe. It sounded just odd enough that I had to try it. The recipe comes from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (I’m sure I’ve said this before, but it’s worth mentioning again that A Homemade Life is a wonderful book).
So when I stumbled upon these lovely red seedless grapes at the farmers’ market, I knew what I had to do. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting myself into but I was excited just the same. Between the description from Molly in her book and the write up by Deb from Smitten Kitchen I knew they had to be good. (I mean, if Molly served them at her wedding, they have to be good… right?). Too impatient to wait eight hours, I tasted the grapes as soon as the brine went on… just to get an idea of how the flavors came together. And even though the grapes had not yet soaked in any of the vinegary tartness, I could tell it was going to be anything but boring.
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Tagged as:
a homemade life,
grapes,
orangette,
pickles,
smitten kitchen
Welcome to Day 10 of What have I gotten myself into? (aka NaBloPoMo). I’m actually surprised that I’ve found something to post everyday without struggling. Then again, I did have a lot to share from the 4th of July which helped. But I woke up this morning and thought “I got nothing”. What to do? Worry not, dear readers. My disorganization came to the rescue. Fact: anything I put away for safe keeping will be lost…. at least temporarily.
Which brings us to the pickles. I actually made these bread and butter pickles in May. I took pictures too. But I didn’t want to post it then because they had to sit for four weeks before I could taste them. So I left them on my hard drive for a later day. The pickles have been tasted and shared. And I forgot that I had those pictures and had not shared them… until this morning. I was not-quite-desperately looking through my photos to see if there was something I could use today (I almost used a cat picture but you were saved by the pickles… tomorrow though, you may get cats unless I get creative between now and then).
We ate an entire jar of these on the fourth of July. One friend told me she doesn’t normally like pickles but went back for seconds. The recipe came from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving
. I’ve also made strawberry jam from this book (for the Bakewell Tarts). I did not have mustard seeds so substituted dry mustard which I wasn’t too sure about at the time, but it worked. The main difference is the brine turned cloudy rather than clear.
I’m really happy with the results and with the fact that I still have three jars left. I would like to try some other pickles as well but probably the next one will be a quicker pickle, something like pickled grapes (as seen at Smitten Kitchen. Recipe from Molly Wizenberg’s book A Homemade Life) or bread and butter jalapeños (on Homesick Texan, scroll down toward the bottom for the recipe). I’m also curious about pickled watermelon rind… have you ever tried it? I’m really into pickles and jams this summer…
Bread and Butter Pickles
(adapted from Ball Blue Book of Preserving)
2 pounds 4 to 6 inch cucumbers, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 pound onions, thinly sliced
< 1/4 cup canning salt (I halved the recipe, which means it took about 1/6 cup…ish)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard (mustard seeds would be better probably)
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1 1/2 cups vinegar
1. Combine cucumber and onion slices in a large bowl, layering with salt.
2. Cover with ice cubes and let stand 1 1/2 hours.
3. Drain, rinse, drain again.
4. Combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil.
5. Add drained cucumbers and onions and return to a boil.
6. Pack hot pickles and liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
7. Remove air bubbles. Put on 2-piece lids.
8. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.
9. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for flavors to develop (This was the toughest part).
* Makes about 4 pints
Tagged as:
ball blue book of preserving,
bread and butter,
fourth of july,
homesick texan,
nablopomo,
pickles,
smitten kitchen
