more on pickles.
Jun. 16th, 2008 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyI am progressing in my pickle-foo. I made my first batch of pickles last week - ginger carrots, YUM - with light supervision from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mrpet. Yesterday I started my first batch of totally solo pickles - Vidalia onion and beet, with curry, juniper berries, red wine, and apple cider vinegar. The brine is very pink and pretty. I am planning to do ginger beets later in the summer, when beets are really cheap at the farmer's market (or else in the farmshare). But it takes a lot more than one bunch to fill up the pickle jar.
So, maybe you've been wondering about how we make pickles. I have to assume you do, since you clicked on the link. Our pickle press looks something like this. It is a clear plastic canister with a pink top and a flat horizontal divider inside. The top screws on, and then you turn the knob to the right to push the pickles down. We put salt and spices on top of the vegetables and press them and they start giving off water. Then we poke them every day or so to get the bubbles out. Mold can form in bubbles and we don't want mold. We taste-test them once in a while and then when we like how they taste, we take them out of the press and put them in the fridge. It's really not hard.
Last week I also started a batch of kombucha. Kombucha is a fermented drink made from tea. I found a recipe online that I thought seemed manageable and didn't require any ingredients I was unable to get. (I emailed all of the Massachusetts members of the Kombucha Exchange about getting a kombucha "baby" but none of them emailed me back. Alas! So I used the commercial stuff.) I used plain decaf green tea. (I don't know if the fermenting process makes the caffeine vanish, but I don't do caffeine.) It has been going for five days now. In theory, it's about halfway done. In two more days, I'm planning to stir it. This will save a lot of money because the kombucha at the health food store is more than $3 per bottle. I am now making a gallon worth from one bottle. Yeah. Well. If it works. :) I think that one solid fermenting thing and one liquid is probably enough. When the kombucha is done, I'm going to try my hand at ginger beer. (I also want to try some more batches of kombucha using flavored tea, like ginger peach decaf, and maybe fruit juice. Lime!)
I got The Joy of Pickling out of the library for more ideas. It is less free-form than Wild Fermentation - the author seems to focus on the "complex expertise style", and most of the pickles are vinegar rather than brine-based - no live cultures. So I am using it more as a set of ideas to experiment with.
In that spirit, I am very curious about watermelon rind pickles, broccoli pickles, daikon pickles with dried shrimp and apple, tomato pickles (perhaps I'd oven-roast them first! nom nom nom), apple pickles, pickled bell peppers, pickled pumpkin, pickled mustard greens, and, well, pickled cranberry ketchup just sounds cool.
Anyway, if you're local and want to be in line for some kombucha starter in a month or so, leave a comment.
mrpet. Yesterday I started my first batch of totally solo pickles - Vidalia onion and beet, with curry, juniper berries, red wine, and apple cider vinegar. The brine is very pink and pretty. I am planning to do ginger beets later in the summer, when beets are really cheap at the farmer's market (or else in the farmshare). But it takes a lot more than one bunch to fill up the pickle jar.So, maybe you've been wondering about how we make pickles. I have to assume you do, since you clicked on the link. Our pickle press looks something like this. It is a clear plastic canister with a pink top and a flat horizontal divider inside. The top screws on, and then you turn the knob to the right to push the pickles down. We put salt and spices on top of the vegetables and press them and they start giving off water. Then we poke them every day or so to get the bubbles out. Mold can form in bubbles and we don't want mold. We taste-test them once in a while and then when we like how they taste, we take them out of the press and put them in the fridge. It's really not hard.
Last week I also started a batch of kombucha. Kombucha is a fermented drink made from tea. I found a recipe online that I thought seemed manageable and didn't require any ingredients I was unable to get. (I emailed all of the Massachusetts members of the Kombucha Exchange about getting a kombucha "baby" but none of them emailed me back. Alas! So I used the commercial stuff.) I used plain decaf green tea. (I don't know if the fermenting process makes the caffeine vanish, but I don't do caffeine.) It has been going for five days now. In theory, it's about halfway done. In two more days, I'm planning to stir it. This will save a lot of money because the kombucha at the health food store is more than $3 per bottle. I am now making a gallon worth from one bottle. Yeah. Well. If it works. :) I think that one solid fermenting thing and one liquid is probably enough. When the kombucha is done, I'm going to try my hand at ginger beer. (I also want to try some more batches of kombucha using flavored tea, like ginger peach decaf, and maybe fruit juice. Lime!)
I got The Joy of Pickling out of the library for more ideas. It is less free-form than Wild Fermentation - the author seems to focus on the "complex expertise style", and most of the pickles are vinegar rather than brine-based - no live cultures. So I am using it more as a set of ideas to experiment with.
In that spirit, I am very curious about watermelon rind pickles, broccoli pickles, daikon pickles with dried shrimp and apple, tomato pickles (perhaps I'd oven-roast them first! nom nom nom), apple pickles, pickled bell peppers, pickled pumpkin, pickled mustard greens, and, well, pickled cranberry ketchup just sounds cool.
Anyway, if you're local and want to be in line for some kombucha starter in a month or so, leave a comment.
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no subject
Date: 2008-06-16 03:39 pm (UTC)I'd encourage you to try pickling watermelon slices, not just the rinds. I like that a lot. Also, a couple of months ago I got to try spicy pickled asparagus spears, which were addictively tasty.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-16 06:49 pm (UTC)Oh, you can pickle whole watermelon slices? I thought they would just fall apart.
I am not as into asparagus, so that doesn't grab me in quite the same way.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-16 06:43 pm (UTC)I've made watermelon rind pickles, and maaaay even have the recipe, from when I was, like, 12. I specifically want to make them again this summer. I'm also particularly interested in cauliflower and little pearl onions, and green tomatoes. Every year I just seem to fry my green tomatoes, but I really should get around to pickling some.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-16 06:58 pm (UTC)Pearl onions sound fun, too. And garlic. I just feel a little daunted by removing all those skins. Ohh! Pickled green tomatos! I'd love to try them.