Pickled Vegetable Slaw

Fall weather is descending fast around here marking the start of my favorite part of the year. This stretch from mid-September through to the end of the year brings so much of what I love about food and cooking. The big holiday feasts are always the main events of the season, but there are so many smaller events and activities before those that keep me plenty busy. Today’s activity comes from the desire to hold onto the bright, beautiful flavors of summer before they disappear until next year. Already, my freezer is stocked with blanched vegetables (beans, corn, etc.) that take well to freezing, but for those that are best when raw it’s time to break out the pickling jars again.

I read about this technique of pickling mixed vegetable slaw a few months back on Smitten Kitchen, and it jumped to the front of my mind when I did a clean out of the fridge to find a big bell pepper, a lone carrot and a whole bunch of radishes from past CSA shares that have been languishing. To that I added a couple small bell peppers that my backyard plants managed to produce despite looking pretty worn out, as well as a red onion to complete the medley of vegetables for this slaw.

Bread & Butter Pickles

My last attempt at pickling was a reasonable success; great flavor, but less than desirable texture. A bit of post pickling research revealed that the method I used (lacto-fermentation) will typically result in a softer texture. I prefer my pickles to have more crunch to them, and the sweeter "bread and butter" variety are a favorite of mine, so that's what I'm trying to make this time. The brine used here is very different from my previous batch, which was just salt and water. This brine is based on vinegar and includes sugar as well as a variety of spices. One other big difference is that the salt water brine is poured over the cucumbers at room temperature, while this vinegar brine is poured while still hot. Lastly, this recipe goes straight in the refrigerator for a week, while the salt water method sat on the counter for just 2-3 days to complete the pickling process. The recipe I used below is a slightly altered version of this one from Alton Brown.

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Cucumber

Ingredients
1/2 of a sweet onion, thinly sliced
2-3 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 cup water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon pickling spice

Pickling spice is a blend of spices that add a lot of subtle flavors and aromas to your brine. The spices in the blend are whole and the type and ratio of spices can vary with the different blends that are available. I went with McCormick Pickling Spice that contains cinnamon, allspice, mustard seed, coriander, bay leaf, ginger, chilies, cloves, pepper, mace and cardamon (whew!). I'm sure that serious picklers make their own blends, but store bought is fine for me!

Preparation

Combine onion and cucumber slices into clean mason jars (I needed two 24oz jars to fit everything). You want the jars full, but not packed too tightly. In a small saucepan, combine the water, vinegar, sugar, salt and spices and then bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes to allow time for the spices to infuse into the liquid. Carefully pour the hot pickling liquid into your jars with the cucumbers and onion slices, completely filling the jar. I always make a mess when trying to pour slowly out of a pan, so I first transferred the hot liquid to a quart sized measuring cup so the spout would make control of the pour easier. Allow the liquid to cool to room temperature before closing the tops of the jars. Refrigerate the pickles for a week before trying. They should keep for about 2 months in the refrigerator.

The brine smelled fantastic as I poured it in the jars, and I have a good feeling that these bread and butter pickles are going to be really good. Check back in a week or so and I will update with the results.

Homemade Sour Dill Pickles

My local farmer's market (which I'll admit I spend much less time at now that I get most of my produce from a CSA) has a pickle vendor that's been there for years. They sell all manner of pickled vegetables as well as olives, all made from scratch in their local pickle factory (factory?...now I can't help but picture a Willie Wonka style building with rivers of brine flowing through it. Weird) Anyway, I had never bought anything from this vendor until a month or so ago when my wife and I were chatting with a friend we bumped into that was in line to buy pickles and we ended up trying a couple samples. 

Wow! Instantly I was hooked. What an amazing difference between these fresh, homemade pickles and the name brand pickles I've been eating forever (you know the ones, with the goofy Groucho Marx impersonating stork). I bought some to take home, but they were not cheap and I knew that if I was to enjoy fresh pickles on a regular basis then I better start making my own. The pickled scallions I made a while back worked out very well, so I was confident that I could start churning out fantastic pickles in no time! Of course, I then promptly forgot all about it until last week when my wife emailed me a link to an article in the New York Times that described a method to make basic sour pickles in only a few days with a minimum of work and ingredients. The stars completed their alignment when my week 11 share included a trio of plump pickling cucumbers. To the pickle factory!  Oompa loompa doopity doo.....

Adapted from the New York Times.

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Pickling cucumbers

Ingredients
1 pound freshly picked pickling cucumbers
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
3 sprigs fresh dill
2 tablespoons kosher salt

Preparation

Bring two cups of water to a boil and add the salt, stirring until completely dissolved.  Remove from the heat and add two cups of ice then stir until the ice melts and the brine has cooled to at least room temperature. While the brine cools, clean the cucumbers well then slice a little off each end. Cut cucumbers into spears. You can also leave them whole or slice them into chips as well.  Whatever you prefer. Place the cucumbers into one or two clean glass jars along with the garlic and dill sprigs. Pour the cooled brine into the jar(s), covering the cucumbers completely. Discard any remaining brine. Loosely cap jars and place in a bowl on your counter to catch any leaks during fermentation. Fermentation should start within 24 hours and the brine will turn cloudy and start making bubbles. During this time, the garlic may turn a greenish color but don't worry as that is just the way it reacts to the brine and it will not harm you or the pickles. Let sit on the counter for 2 days before tasting. If you want them to be more sour, leave them for another 1-2 days. When you are happy with the taste, place in the refrigerator to stop the fermentation. They should keep for up to a month in the refrigerator.

July 21 - Update on the results. The picture below is how the jar looked after about 20 hours, and after two days the pickles were sour enough for my taste. I discovered that this recipe does not result in pickles that are very crunchy, in fact they were a bit too soft for me even though the flavor was very nice; slightly sour with a hint of dill and garlic. Seems that soft pickles is what you get using this fermentation method and to get crisp pickles, a more involved process is required involving hot pickling brine and actual canning equipment. Maybe a bit too involved for me, but we'll see... There's a nice article on npr.com that talks about how to make crisp pickles with several links to other resources as well.

Rakkyo (Japanese Pickled Scallions)

In the past when I cooked with scallions, I focused only on the green leaves and the white tips would end up in the trash.  Not acceptable for this challenge!  My wife, Heidi (who is originally from Japan), has introduced me to some wonderful Japanese foods, including Rakkyo, which are sweet pickled scallions that she typically serves alongside Japanese curry.  These tender pickles are a sweet, crunchy addition to what can be a very spicy dish.

If you want to learn more about Rakkyo and the wide variety of other Japanese pickles, check out this website.

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The white tips from all the scallions

Pickled Scallion Tips (Rakkyo)

1 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/8 tsp dried chili flakes

3 tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

15-20 scallions, white tips only with the roots removed

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small pan and simmer until the sugar and salt are dissolved.  Add the scallion tips and simmer for an additional 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow it to cool before placing the scallions and liquid into a clean screw-top jar. 

The Rakkyo recipes I found are all over the place with how long to pickle before starting to eat them.  Anywhere from 24 hours to 6 months!  I imagine it’s all in personal taste preferences as the pickling brine works its magic and flavors develop.  My plan is to leave it in the refrigerator for 1 month before taking a first taste, so check back in June to hear about the results.

If Japanese curry is not common in your house, pickled vegetables such as these go great with cheese toasts as an appetizer. Simply cut a baguette into slices and sprinkle with grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese and then broil until cheese is melted. Top the cheese toasts with thin slices of the pickles.