Pretty (and pretty easy) Pickled Red Onions

These little beauties are easy to make and wonderful to have in the refrigerator for all kinds of things:

• add them to any salad where you'd use onions (they're not as sharp as raw onion)
• put them on a cheese or tuna or other savory sandwich 
• pile them on a grilled burger or hot dog
• set them out in a bowl with a cheese plate to have with cheese and crackers
• place some on top of roasted veggies, like asparagus, broccoli or beets
• use them as a garnish for baked beans

When the jar gets low, I simply slice some more onions and add them in.  They need to sit for about an hour before they're ready, so a little advanced time is needed.  The only other labor is thinly slicing the onions. If you have a mandoline, now's the time to use it! If not, just try to slice them as thin as you can.

Pickled Red Onions
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

Stir  (or shake) the vinegar, honey and salt together in a jar with a lid until the honey and salt dissolve.  Add 1 cup of water and stir.  Add the sliced onions and push them down to be sure they're in the brine.  Sprinkle the mustard seeds on top.  Place the lid on the jar and let sit at room temperature for an hour.  After that, refrigerate.  Will keep for at least a few weeks--maybe more!

Pickled Cauliflower in Honey & Beet Brine

These unusual pickles not only have a great crunchy pickle taste, they also look lovely in the pantry! I will, however, note that out of the jar, the cauliflower florets are more pastel-pink than the bright purple-pink they appear in the jar.

This recipe, with some modifications, came from Andrea Chesman's book Pickled Pantry (Storey Publishing, 2012), which I borrowed from the library and have really been enjoying.  I particularly like the way that she describes the flavors of the pickles and the helpful recipes at the end for using and cooking with pickles. The recipes also include small batches (1-quart) as well as recipes for fermenting.   When we crack open the first jar, I'll report back on the taste.

Looking for more pickle recipes to try?
Check out previous posts for:
honey pickled carrots
cherry tomatoes in honey brine
pickled garlic scapes

Pickled Cauliflower in Honey & Beet Brine

This recipe makes four pints (or two quarts)

2 small-medium beets well scrubbed, chopped (you don't have to be too meticulous here because the beets will eventually get strained out)

2 2/3 cups distilled white vinegar

2 2/3 cups water

3 tablespoons honey

4 teaspoons pickling salt 

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1 teaspoon celery seeds

One large (approximately 6-8 inches)--around 6 cups--of cauliflower florets

In a saucepan, heat the beets, vinegar, water, honey and salt just to a boil and then simmer for five minutes.  While the vinegar heats, pack the cauliflower into sterilized wide mouth canning jars. (To sterilize, I place in a 225 degree oven for 20 minutes--consult any canning resource for guides about this.)  To each jar, add 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds and 1/4 teaspoon celery seeds.  Strain the beets out of the vinegar brine and pour the hot brine over the cauliflower, leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Remove any air bubbles and then seal with lids.  Place in a boiling water bath (water should cover the sealed jars by 2 inches).  Bring the water back to a gentle boil and begin timing--the jars should be in the bath for 15 minutes.  Remove, cool completely, check that the jars have sealed and wait 6 weeks for the flavors to develop.  (Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated.)

"Award Winning" Sweet and Spicy Pickled Mushrooms

This delightful recipe comes from an out-of-print book by the National Honey Board called Sweetened With Honey the Natural Way (1994).  A quick search of the Honey Board's website pulled up the recipe, though and here's the link:  Sweet & Hot Marinated Mushrooms.

"Best Honey Dish with Mushrooms Award"

I adapted the recipe to suit  ingredients I had on hand and entered it in the "Made With Honey" contest at the annual beekeeper picnic jointly hosted by Burgh Bees and Beaver Valley Area Beekeepers' Association. Christie and Susie did a great job organizing the contest and I'm not saying that just because I won the award for the best dish made with mushrooms (mine was, um, the ONLY entry in its category, so you can tell the competition was fierce!).  Check out my cool bee ribbon! Christie made a great rhubarb dish (fan favorite!) and Susie entered a delicious blueberry scone.  I'm hounding them for the recipes and will hope to get them up on the blog before long.

These pickled mushrooms are great as an appetizer, on an antipasti tray, or in a simple green salad.  They'll keep in the fridge for about a week.

Sweet & Spicy Pickled Mushrooms
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable broth (or dry white wine)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small green onion, sliced thin (use the green parts, too!)
1/2 teaspoon lime (or orange or lemon) zest
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper flakes
1 pound fresh button mushrooms.  Leave whole if small.  If they're large, half or quarter them--but note that the mushrooms will shrink when they soak up the hot brine, so don't cut them too small.

Combine the honey, vinegar, broth, vegetable oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, green onion slices, ginger and zest in a small pan. Cook and stir over medium heat until the brine just begins to simmer.  Place the mushrooms and pepper flakes in a heat proof bowl or jar and pour the hot brine over.  Let marinate for at least three hours before serving.  Makes about 4-6 servings.

Honey Pickled Carrots

Both of my grandmothers were big proponents of relish trays on holiday tables.  When I was little, I would make a meal out of the sweet gherkin pickles and black olives that my Grandma Davis always had out.  I continue the tradition at our holiday table and this year I'm adding these lovely carrot pickles.  They are adapted from a recipe in the November 14, 2012 New York Times by David Tanis with a few changes.  I swapped the sugar in the recipe for honey, of course. Since honey is sweeter than sugar, I substituted 1/3 cup honey for the 1/2 cup of sugar.  And instead of making carrot slices, I just used a bag of baby carrots.  I also skipped the 6 dried red peppers Tanis's recipe calls for since my family isn't big on spicy foods.  These pickles are great without the heat, though next time I make them, I think I'll include that touch of zing.  My amazing great nephews, Samson (3) and Bohdan (not-yet-1) will be joining us for Thanksgiving this year and I'm hoping that they, too, will come to carry on the holiday relish plate tradition!

Honey Pickled Carrots
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
3 large garlic cloves, each cut in half
1 pound "baby" carrots

In a non-reactive (stainless steel) pot, combine the vinegar, honey, salt, cloves, bay leaf, caraway, coriander and garlic cloves.  Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a steady simmer and add the carrots.  Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes--you want the carrots to still be firm and slightly crunchy, but not raw.  Remove the carrots and spread out on a cookie sheet to cool.  Let the brine come to room temperature.  Put the carrots in a glass container and pour the brine over them.  There may be a bit left over. If so, be sure to scoop out any spices that might be at the bottom and add them to the jar.  Let the carrots marinate for at least 8 hours, refrigerated.  They can be made well in advance--up to four days.

Stay tuned for another make-ahead Thanksgiving dish:  delightful butternut squash rolls!

Cherry Tomatoes in Honey Brine

As I lamented in a previous post, we lost all of our tomato plants to the destructive late blight.  I was particularly sad to say good-bye to two vibrant yellow cherry tomato plants.  We'd been enjoying these sweet-like-candy tomatoes throughout August.  This recipe for brined cherry tomatoes gave me a chance to use some of the not-quite-ripe tomatoes still left on the vines.  In fact, this recipe requires not-quite-ripe tomatoes.  Ripe tomatoes will get too mushy in the brine, but those that haven't ripened fully keep a nice crunch.  This is, admittedly, a recipe for adventuresome cooks (and eaters). It's very simple to do, but requires patience (time for the tomatoes to soak in the brine) and the result is crispy, salty, piquant pickled tomatoes--a few go a long way.  They'd be great as part of an antipasto platter, or served with cheese and crackers, or gracing the side of grilled cheese sandwich or added to a leaf lettuce salad.  Use them where ever you'd use a dill pickle.

Cherry Tomatoes in Honey Brine

1 1/4 pounds half-ripe cherry tomatoes

6 dill heads (or 2 tablespoons dill seeds and about 6 sprigs of fresh dill)

1/4 cup fresh horseradish, grated (you can used bottled horseradish instead--just be sure it's not a horseradish sauce with cream)

3 sprigs of fresh parsley

1/2 fresh hot pepper, seeded (I used a Hungarian hot) and cut in a few pieces

2 tablespoons pickling salt (or UNiodized salt)

2-3 tablespoons honey

1 quart of water

In a jar that will hold two quarts, layer the tomatoes interspersed with the herbs, horseradish and pepper pieces.  Dissolve the salt and honey in the water and pour over the tomatoes in the jar.  Be sure the tomatoes are submerged in the brine--I filled a small zipper-lock bag with some water and placed it on top of the tomatoes to keep them under the brine.  If your jar has a large opening, you could put a plate or saucer on top.  Let the tomatoes ferment in the brine, unrefrigerated, for a week.  When a week is up, cover them tightly and place in the refrigerator to develop more fully.  You can taste them throughout the process--and you might enjoy the delicate flavor they begin to develop after about a day.  They should keep in the fridge for at least a month.

Pickled Garlic Scapes

What a surprise to see the garlic scapes already winding and twisting their way out of the garlic plants yesterday.  They're at least a week if not more ahead, like many plants this year. I think of June as scape month.   Scapes are the garlic plant's flower heads. If they aren't snapped off when they emerge, then the plant will put lots of energy into the scape rather than into the garlic head beneath the ground.

Many folks just snap them off and compost them but they're edible (although Robert has his doubts).  They're not a strong as the garlic clove, but they do have a distinct garlic flavor and can be used anyway you'd use garlic:  saute them and put them in a pasta sauce, chop them and put them in a vinaigrette, add them to soups.  Search for "garlic scape recipes" on-line and you'll find lots of ideas. You can even grill them and eat them like a vegetable.  They're a delicacy!

Since my proclamations have not convinced Robert of their appeal, I decided to experiment by making garlic scape pickles. I figure if they're not good, I haven't lost much.   I hasten to add that this is a tried but not yet TASTED recipe, so I can't vouch for the flavor (or even the texture) of the scape pickles.  I just made them today and they need two weeks to develop.   I don't expect them to be very sweet pickles--in fact, I'm hoping they're more like dilly beans than anything.   I'll report back with tasting reviews once we give them a try.

TASTING UPDATE!  During the spring honey extraction, we tasted the scape pickles, with rave reviews.  They aren't too sweet (or salty)--very much like dilly beans.  Next time, I think I might trim off the fine, dark tips of the scapes, which tend to be a bit chewy when pickled.  This recipe, though, is a keeper!

Here's the recipe:


PICKLED GARLIC SCAPES WITH HONEY

pack the scapes into the jar

Makes 4 pints (or about 8 1/2 pints)

A big bowl of garlic scapes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
4 cups cider vinegar
2 cups water
4 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons dill seed*
1 1/2  teaspoons black peppercorns*
1 1/2  teaspoons yellow mustard seeds*

*You can use other seasonings--red pepper flakes, fresh basil, oregano, thyme--sky's the limit!

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Wash mason jars in hot soapy water and place on a cookie sheet.  Put jars in the oven for 30 minutes to sanitize.   Fill a canner with water about 2/3rds of the way full and bring to a boil. This will take about 20-30 minutes, too.

In a large, non-reactive (not aluminum) sauce pan, bring the vinegar, water, salt and honey to a boil and keep hot while you prep the jars with the scapes.

Thoroughly wash the scapes.  Boil some water and pour it over the lids to sterilize and also to ensure that the lids make a good contact with the jar.

Usually when canning, I fill the jars all at once and then cap them, but with these I had to do them one at a time as the scapes kept escaping from the jars.  I used eight 1/2 pint jars, but can appreciate why wide-mouth pints might be easier to work with.

When the jars are ready, place about 1/2 teaspoon of the dill seed, 1/4 teaspoon of peppercorns and mustard seeds in each.  Coil the scapes around the outside, pressing down firmly and then filling the center with scapes that have been cut to the length of the jar.  Pack them as tightly as you can.  Pour the hot brine over the packed scapes, filling to about 1/4 inch from the top.  Place the lid on top of the jar and screw on the band being careful not to screw it on too tightly.  Proceed with the rest of the jars.  Place in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.  Turn off the heat, remove the lid and let sit in the water for another 5 minutes.  Remove the jars to the counter.  Check the seals and store the pickles for two weeks to let the flavors develop.  Store any jars that did not seal in the refrigerator.

Fill with the brine

Jars ready to go in the water bath

boiling water bath for 15 minutes

VOILA!