Thursday, March 7, 2013

"We can pickle that!"


If I wasn't blogging about quilts (and sometimes cats) I'd probably blog about food. Portland is a foodie paradise. We get the most wonderful fresh produce here, and I think it has something to do with the popularity of pickling. It's one of the ways to handle an overabundance of perishables. Portlandia recently poked fun at Portland's prolific picklers.


I'd never made pickled carrots, but it seemed like a good idea because I had a bunch of carrots to use up, and no other ideas about what to do with them. So I found a recipe online, tried it out, and will get to sample the results this weekend.




It was really easy. I just cut up the carrots, made sure they'd fit in a jar with the lid on, blanched and cold shocked them, and put them in a jar with hot pickling liquid. The liquid was basically a cup of cider vinegar, 1 & 1/4 cups of water, some sugar, dash of salt, and some seasonings, heated in a saucepan. I didn't have the exact ingredients called for by the recipe, such as dill seed, so I used what I had. Many combinations of spices will work.


This weekend I'll enjoy some of the carrots, alongside a sandwich, or maybe with a glass of wine and other goodies for Happy Hour. They'll keep for a few weeks refrigerated, but I'd be surprised if there were any left by the end of the weekend. I'm sure they'll be delicious, and they will be a great new addition to my pickle repertoire. So far, I've pickled cucumbers, beets, green beans, red onions and cherry tomatoes. Do you pickle? If so, what's your favorite recipe?

6 comments:

  1. Looks great! Can't help but notice those big cloves of garlic...yum....

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    1. It is also 100% pantry made. All of the ingredients were things I had on hand. There's something great about that.

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  2. I love pickles. . .I've picked cauliflower, hot peppers, asperagus and garlic. My grandmother could pickle anything. . .zucchini, watermelon rind, crab apples. . .well, you get the picture. I haven't picked carrots before, but I bet they are delicious. My favorites to pickle are beets, green beans, cucumbers and asparagus.

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  3. My Mom is great about pickling just about any veggie you can think of... I haven't picked up the skill, but now reading about your delicious experiment, Bill, I start wondering whether I finally should give it a try!!! :-)

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    1. It's really easy if you just make small batches of the quick pickles. If you're canning them for long term storage, it's much more complicated.

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  4. pickled eggs are good....but not vegetables, and they are not for long term storage, more for a cocktail snack.

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