I find myself having tiny pickle parties quite often, especially in late summer when everything is at the peak of freshness. When I see something new pop up, or something I missed in the off-season on its way out, I feel the urge to preserve. Naturally, the Montavilla Farmers Market is bursting with choices this time of year!
In the past few weeks I have picked up a few pounds of pickling cucumbers, the snappiest green beans I could find, one huge sweet onion, some really pretty beets, and the last of the purple sprouting broccoli. With this much bounty, I couldn’t help myself but to pickle it all!
These small sized cucumbers make the perfect dill pickle!
To begin with, I made several jars of “giardinieria”, mixed garden pickles. I chopped up my beans, onion and broccoli into good sized chunks, then filled several jars full of the prepared veggies and prepared a simple vinegar solution:
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 Tbls sugar
1 Tbls salt
1 handful of aromatics such as garlic, peppercorns, mustard seeds, clove, etc.
I heated this solution to boiling and poured into my veggie-filled jars and topped off with a good splash of dry vermouth. Once cooled, I sealed with a lid and set into the refrigerator for at least two weeks to let the flavors meld. They will be delicious on their own, on a sandwich, or in a salad.
A splash of dry white wine will add an extra element of flavor to your pickles.
I also made a few small jars of classic dill pickles using a similar method as above, but added fresh, beautiful bunch of dill into each jar. YUM! A bouquet of flowering dill is a must for me in late summer. This past month I have been loving it so much I have been just having dill flowers and lemon in my sipping water all day and feeling a little bit special.
Lastly, I tackled the beets. These I treated in a very special way. I wanted to preserve their bright pink color, so I started out by slowly braising them in a shallow roasting pan filled with salted vinegar and lots of fresh herbs. I braised them in the oven at 350 for 35-40 minutes covered with foil. After they cooled I peeled, sliced and set them into jars, then poured a milder vinegar solution over them and placed them along with the rest of my refrigerator pickles to be enjoyed in a few weeks times.
If you haven’t had your chance to make gorgeous, homemade refrigerator pickles yet, try your hand at it! You wont be disappointed!