Munchie Monday: Quick and Easy Pickles

Robbie from Robbie and Gary Gardening on YouTube made some zucchini pickles the other day.

She took some fresh dill and placed it in the bottom of a clean pickle jar then inserted some spears of zucchini to fill the jar.  Next she poured in bottled water to fill the jar.

When the water covered the spears of zucchini, she poured the water out into a bowl and added salt and stirred until it was dissolved.  She then poured the water back into the jar and placed the lid lightly over the top and put the jar into a container so in case there was bubbling up, the bubbles would be contained.  In two days she had pickles which she then put in the refrigerator to enjoy at her leisure.

Well, that seemed like a good idea to me.

The only problem we had was that we only had dried dill weed in the house and no convenient access to fresh dill so I soldiered on with the dried dill.

These are the two jars of pickles as we started them.  We are hoping for the best. In addition to the dill weed, I put garlic cloves in the jars. Well, I am hoping for the best.  Dear One likes sweet pickles.  Maybe we will try them sometime.

Today I checked the jars of our pickles and find that they have begun bubbling.  I had planned to leave them there on the shelf and check them on the third day, so I will wait one more day then try a bite!

Food Friday: Instant Pot Pickles

An new rub for the Instant Pot: pickles!  I found a recipe called Sweet Heat and saved the recipe but for some reason I cannot find it now.  It was made in the Instant Pot. OH!! I just found it on Mealthy.

These are the ingredients:
1 pound small cucumbers, sliced into ¼- inch rounds  (this was four pickling cucumbers for me)
 2 cups white vinegar 
1 cup water
 ½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped  (I used jarred chopped garlic, about 2 Tablespoons, which is probably a little much...)
 2 tablespoons pickling spice
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin


Put the cucumber slices in the stainless steel inner pot.  Pour the water and vinegar over the top of the cucumbers.  Add the brown sugar, the white sugar, pickling spice, salt, paprika, and cumin into the pot and gently stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Put on the lid in Sealing mode.  Cook on HIGH pressure for 4 minutes.  Mealthy says to do a quick-release venting.  Using tongs or a slotted spoon, place the pickle slices in a hot quart jar.  Pour as much of the pickling liquid over the slices as possible then put on the lid and give the jar a little shake to be sure the pickles are all surrounded by juice.  Cool to room temperature then store in the refrigerator.

Mealthy says these get better the longer you let them sit.  Ours have been sitting for three days. I am going to try to let them sit until the weekend, then give them a try.  I will report on the taste test after that. 

While looking for this recipe I saw a recipe for watermelon rind pickle.  I must say that watermelon rind pickle is the only good use for watermelons!  These fruits are on sale for $2.99 for a whole watermelon this week. Dear One wants me to get on.  Maybe I will shake him up and get two, cut out all the red flesh then make the pickles.

Newsy bit about the Instant Pot.  I gave away the first one and immediately ordered a different one.  It came on Monday, which is when I made the sweet heat pickles. After they were done, I washed the inner liner then put in the steamer basket I purchased and filled it with broccoli. I remembered I had not put on the condensation collector before making the pickles so I turned the pot around to install the condensation gadget.  To my horror, the back of the pot was all dented it. I am shocked that I did not see it before using it.  Well, I contacted Amazon and they will replace it.  Hopefully this week because I NEED THAT POT!!!

This is what it looks like. And no, I did not do it.  It was like that.

Supposedly the replacement will be here tomorrow. 

Food Friday: Quick and Easy Pickled Beets

Beets have never been my favorite vegetable.  I do remember my mother making Harvard Beets with tiny new beets when we were young. I did like those, but that was where I drew the line for many years.  Recently I learned that beets have some very good-for-you nutrients in them, though I cannot tell you right now what those nutrients are.

Since then I have been trying to eat beets from time to time.  The best beets I have eaten were pickled beets in the salad bar at Godfather's Pizza on Cornelius Pass.  Because these were surprisingly good, when I found that you can make pickled beets at home, and in the refrigerator, I thought I would give them a try.

This is what I did:

Quick and Easy Pickled Beets in the Refrigerator

2 15-ounce cans sliced beets
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon stone ground mustard with whole mustard seeds visible
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
2 small peeled garlic cloves

Drain the beets.

Place the garlic cloves and mustard in a 1-quart wide mouth Mason jar.

In a 4 cup measuring cup, mix together the vinegar, water, and salt and stir well.

Place the drained beet slices in the quart jar.  Pour the vinegar mixture over the slices, leaving about 1/2 inch space at the top. 

Cover with the lid and gently shake the jar until you think that the liquid has gotten to all the beets.  Place in the refrigerator for at least 24 hour or better yet, 48 hours.

For myself,  I let them pickle for four days before trying them.  Not bad, but it is a pretty good bet that I failed to put in the Kosher salt.  Oh, well, I can salt them as I eat them if I feel strongly enough about the saltiness issue.  Right now I would find them fine to eat with my breakfast baked potato, which is what I plan for tomorrow morning's breakfast....I want to use up the last little potatoes, and maybe a spring roll with peanut sauce (which was fabulous, if I do say so myself) which I made for the office potluck lunch earlier this week. 

There you have it:  Quick and Easy Refrigerator Pickled Beets.

Harvest 2016 Recipe: Chopped Golden Glow Pickles

When friends give me cucumbers or zucchini that I cannot eat up "fresh", I often make pickles or relish.  This was a new recipe for me.  These are actually a nice sweet pickle.  It would be possible to put the completed pickles through a food processor to make more of a relish, but I eat these on a vegetable or bean burger or on a nice baked potato, even cooked winter squash.

Chopped Golden Glow Pickles
    
6 to 9 large cucumbers
6 large  onions
3 green bell peppers
3 red bell peppers
1/4 c. canning salt

Peel and take seeds out of cucumber.  Chop them into a nice size.
Clean and chop peppers.
Clean and chop onions.
Add salt to vegetables. Mix and let stand overnight (or 8 hours).
Rinse well with cold water (put into colander to do this); drain thoroughly.

Mix together:
2 c. brown sugar
2 c. vinegar
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. mustard seed

Combine in a large pot and bring to boil. Add vegetables.  Gently stir with a long-handled stainless steel spoon then simmer 20 minutes (or so) until pickles are glossy (and not yet mushy). Put in jars and seal with lids.

Some people do not hot water can them, but I think it is safer to do so.  Process for 15-20 minutes.