Pickled: From Curing Lemons to Fermenting Cabbage, the Gourmand's Ultimate Guide to the World of Pickling (8 page)

Red onions have a vibrant color and flavor that melds nicely with Latin cuisine. The pickling process removes much of the harsh smell from the onions, leaving you with a mildly sweet and sour vegetable with a tasty undercurrent of onion goodness!

YIELDS 1 PINT

 

 
²
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cup white vinegar

 Juice of 1 lime

 2 tablespoons pickling or canning salt

 1 tablespoon sugar

 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)

 1 red onion, peeled and sliced into rings or thin strips

1. In a medium saucepan, heat all of the ingredients except the onion over medium-low heat until the salt and sugar have fully dissolved. Turn up the heat slightly and bring the mixture to a quick boil.
   
2. Add the onion and stir to combine, making sure that all parts of the onion are submerged. Lower the heat and simmer for 45 seconds.
   
3. Let the mixture cool on the stovetop until lukewarm.
   
4. Transfer the mixture to a glass jar or other storage container; cover and refrigerate. Pickled red onions generally taste best when served cool. These unprocessed pickles will keep for a week or two, refrigerated.
   

If you buy salted capers, rinse them before you pickle them or they’ll be way too salty. In pickled form, capers are a nice addition to many Mediterranean dishes
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YIELDS 1 QUART

 

 3 cups capers

 4 cups white vinegar

 2 teaspoons pickling or canning salt

 1 medium red or Spanish onion, thinly sliced

 
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lemon, thinly sliced

 1 teaspoon pickling spice

 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

 5 peppercorns

 
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teaspoon celery seed

 
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teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients in a pan; bring to a boil for 5 minutes.
   
2. Pour into a quart container; cap and process 15 minutes in a hot water bath.
   
3. Cool, label, and store.
   

Capers come from a shrub native to the Mediterranean. They are actually a fruit. Capers are seen predominantly in Italian cuisine, where they are often combined with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and certain salsa blends. In ancient times, the Greeks used capers to treat rheumatism.

 

Pickled ramps are a true gourmand’s delight. These pungent vegetables work wonders in a garlicky, spicy pasta dish, or dropped into a dirty martini. Pickle as many ramps as you can—their growing season is tragically short
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YIELDS APPROXIMATELY 2–3 PINTS

 

 3 bunches ramps, trimmed and washed

 
¹
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cup white vinegar

 
¹
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cup white wine vinegar

 
³
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cup sugar

 1 cup water

 1 tablespoon pickling or canning salt

 1 tablespoon mustard seeds

 1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1. Clean the ramps by cutting off their green tops and washing the white stems well under cold running water. You can keep the green tops for another use, but they do not hold up well to pickling.
   
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat on the stovetop. Have a large bowl filled with ice water ready nearby.
   
3. Drop the ramps into the boiling water, blanching them in boiling water for 30–45 seconds. Remove them to the ice water to stop the cooking process.
   
4. After the ramps have cooled, drain them, and place them into two or three pint-sized jars.
   
5. In a small saucepan, bring the vinegars, sugar, water, and salt to a boil. Make sure that the sugar and salt dissolve fully. Once the mixture is boiling, add the mustard seeds and the peppercorns. Pour over the ramps in the jars, and allow to cool before covering them and moving to the refrigerator. The ramps will keep for a few weeks.
   

Dilly beans take green beans, which tend to be bland, and inject them with a major dose of taste. Sour, salty, spicy, and delicious, these are some of the best pickles for out-of-the-jar snacking
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YIELDS APPROXIMATELY 2 PINTS

 

 1 pound green beans

 2 cloves garlic, peeled

 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

 3 teaspoons dill seed

 1 cup white vinegar

 
¹
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cup white wine vinegar

 
¹
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cup water

 3 tablespoons pickling or canning salt

1. Wash the green beans and trim their ends so that they are uniform. If needed, cut them further so that they will fit easily inside of the jars you are using to can them.
   
2. Divide the beans into sterilized canning jars, along with the garlic, pepper flakes, and dill seed.
   
3. In a small saucepan, bring the vinegars, water, and pickling salt to a boil, until the salt dissolves.
   
4. Pour the pickling mixture over the green beans and cap the jars.
   
5. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes before refrigerating.
   

Pickled okra is a quintessential Southern delicacy, eaten by itself or enjoyed on a relish tray or with a heaping plate of barbecue. You can adjust the heat in these pickles as you like!

YIELDS APPROXIMATELY 2 PINTS

 

 1 pound okra pods

 3 cloves garlic, peeled

 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill

 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

 
¹
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cup white vinegar

 
¹
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cup white wine vinegar

 4 tablespoons pickling or canning salt

 1
¹
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cups water

1. Wash and trim the okra pods so they all have a short, manageable shape.
   
2. Divide the okra pods, garlic, dill, and pepper flakes evenly into two sterilized pint-sized jars.
   
3. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the two varieties of vinegar, the pickling salt, and the water to a hard boil.
   
4. Carefully pour the boiling liquid over the vegetables in the two jars.
   
5. Seal the jars, and process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Keep the okra in a cold place for up to a year.
   

Pickled vegetables are very popular in Cantonese cuisine; look for them on the menu the next time you dine at a Cantonese restaurant
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YIELDS 1
¹
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CUPS

 

 1
¹
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cups (12 ounces) baby carrots

 
¹
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cup rice vinegar

 
¹
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cup sugar

 
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teaspoon pickling or canning salt

 1 tablespoon allspice berries

 2 cups water

1. Wash the baby carrots. Place them in a nonreactive bowl or jar that’s large enough to hold them comfortably.
   
2. In a medium saucepan, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
   
3. Pour the liquid over the carrots, cover the container, and refrigerate for at least 2 days. The carrots will last for about a week in the refrigerator.