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
I went backpacking at Henry Coe State Park this weekend with a couple of friends. We hiked out five miles, camped overnight and hiked back the next day. There was about a 1200 foot elevation change in less than two miles. Needless to say, my legs are tired. But it was a great getaway and I really feel like summer is here. And I want to be outside all the time!
This coyote came trotting up the trail toward us until he was about 10-15 feet from our group, then took a short detour through the tall grass to get around us, returned to the trail and continued on his merry way. I’ve never been that close to a coyote. I think in other circumstances I might have been scared (because I’m a chicken) but this coyote seemed laser focused on getting to wherever he was going and not at all threatening (for a really non-threatening coyote, check out the Daily Coyote from Shreve Stockton. An amazing story and gorgeous photography).
This squirrel’s mission was to get to my yogurt covered pretzels. He spent a good ten minutes trying to get to the snacks without getting too close to us (he’d get close but if anyone made a sudden movement or noise he’d scurry back five feet and start over).
Anyway, it was a fun weekend. My mom arrives on Wednesday night for an extended visit so I will do my best to throw a recipe or two your way when I’m not busy playing tour guide and visiting. But I do have plans for cupcakes this week!
I hope you are enjoying the summer as much as I am. Here for your summery pleasure is an ice cream sundae roundup:
Get out your favorite bowl, maybe something like this Bee glassware ice cream bowl at Sur la Table. Into the bowl go two scoops of vanilla ice cream from David Lebowitz’s recipe.(I’m planning to make this this weekend and I cannot wait. I love vanilla ice cream because it is a great base for so many toppings and also works well as a topping itself like on pie).
Over one scoop of the ice cream pour hot fudge sauce from Deb at Smitten Kitchen. And over the other scoop, old fashioned butterscotch sauce from NY Times. Sprinkle on your favorite nuts, sprinkles, candy, marshmallows, or what-have-you. A dollop of fresh whipped cream, and top it off with homemade maraschino cherries from Stef at Cupcake Project. Yum! I want a sundae now!
Last but not least, this is just cute: an ice cream cone plushy from ThreeFive18 on Etsy.
Tagged as:
coyote,
cupcake project,
david lebowitz,
etsy,
henry coe state park,
ice cream sundae,
ny times,
smitten kitchen,
squirrel
After the sorbet, I was left with about a pound of rhubarb. My first thoughts led to pies and cakes, but I have been trying to eat lighter and have been craving refreshments more as the weather begins to warm up. And that was when I ran across the rosemary lemon rhubarb spritzer on Simple Recipes. Rosemary and rhubarb? Sounds a little odd, right? But I do love rosemary. And rhubarb is my new best friend. So I decided to trust Elise and try it.
The results were delicious. I’ve only tried it as a non-alcoholic spritzer, but I think the syrup would be tasty with vodka or champagne. The lemon and rhubarb dominate, but then you get a hint of rosemary that adds complexity to the flavor. I am no longer a skeptic, rosemary and rhubarb do belong together.
Other rhubarb recipes I’d like to try sometime soon…
Edna Lewis’ busy day cake with rhubarb compote from Ezra Pound Cake
Big crumb coffee cake with rhubarb from Smitten Kitchen
Rhubarb Sorbet from Simply Recipes (this one is just straight up rhubarb, no strawberries… with a little ginger to give it zing).
Rhubarb apple cinnamon muffins from Two Peas and Their Pod
And a list of pies in some old cookbooks I have kickin’ around.
Tagged as:
ezra pound cake,
rhubarb,
rosemary,
simple syrup,
simply recipes,
smitten kitchen,
spritzer,
two peas and their pod
Last week I told you about my artichoke disaster that ended in a horribly burnt pot. I am happy to report that after a little vinegar and baking soda magic, it is as good as new:
The best part? It didn’t require elbow grease or harsh chemicals or super-scratchy scrubbers. Nope, I just followed these instructions on e-how. Yep, just baking soda, vinegar, and a little patience and all of that char came off easily. In the e-how instructions it says to bring a pot of water with a bit of dishwashing liquid to a boil, but I didn’t find this to be effective at all. But soaking it with a baking soda-water paste and then adding a vinegar-water solution and heating it and soaking that overnight was magic. I’m not sure you need to soak it overnight because the char bits came off just from boiling it.
Anyway, now for a roundup…
* These oatmeal cookie pancakes from Joy the Baker look divine. I seriously wanted some this morning. I’m a little unsure about putting raisins in my pancakes but I think that’s just one of my things. I don’t dislike raisins, I just don’t like the idea of raisins sometimes. shrug.
* I am seriously in a meat mood lately. I don’t know if it’s because it’s almost summer and summer to me means barbecue and grilling… and ribs. Mmm. But these are the things that really jumped out at me this week:
- Lamb barbacoa from the Homesick Texan. Yum. That taco looks good enough to eat. And then eat another. Maybe wash it down with a little cerveza and then have another.
- So this recipe is from David Lebowitz. And it’s from 2007. But I just read it today so it’s new to me. It is a recipe for carnitas. Which is my absolute favorite… well, if you’re talking about Mexican food. A little crunchy crust on the outside and tender pork on the inside. Mmm. Burrito.
- And last, but certainly not least… another older post. This one is from 2008 and Smitten Kitchen. Dry rub ribs. Can I tell you how much I miss good ribs? It’s not that I haven’t had good ribs in California, I just haven’t had good dry rub ribs. I like the mopped style ribs just fine. But a good dry rubbed rib… it’s pork nirvana. I seriously need to stop drooling over these recipes and go make some ribs.
Tagged as:
carnitas,
clean pot,
david lebowitz,
dry rub ribs,
homesick texan,
joy the baker,
lamb barbacoa,
oatmeal cookie pancakes,
smitten kitchen
