Sunday, July 3, 2011

More Food Projects



I recently brewed myself some strawberry vinegar. It was very high-tech: I put 2 cups of strawberries in a quart jar. I topped it off with vinegar. I let it sit for two weeks. Strained out the berries. Bam! Strawberry vinegar. I used some of it to make Poppyseed dressing and it was good.

And pickles! These are refrigerator pickles, though I aspire to can my own this year. Refrigerator pickles are very easy to make. You need 6-8 cucumbers, dill, salt, garlic and vinegar. Cut cukes into spears, sprinkle with 1 TBS. salt and chopped dill. Let sit for 30 minutes. Take 2 quart jars, and add several cloves of garlic, whole peppercorns, mustard seeds, a hot chile, whatever floats your boat. Add 1/2 to 2/3 cup white vinegar to each jar. Add cukes, top off with water and refrigerate for a few days before eating. These will keep a while, hypothetically. I happen to have three children who will eat anything pickled, so they don't usually last long.

2 comments:

Phillip and Rachel said...

I want to eat all the pickles! What kind of cucumbers do you use?

Anonymous said...

Ummm...green ones? Ok, they were labeled 'picklers' at the CSA but I think any cukes would do. My garden cukes are coming along and then I will can some of those bad boys! :)