pickling – morestomach

pickled jalapenos

Published on August 9, 2017August 8, 2017 by Lan | MoreStomach2 Comments

i read a meme recently
that basically said
the month of August
is like a long Sunday night
for teachers/educators.
while i am not a teacher
this rings such truth for me.
i feel a sort of melancholy that
the summer is half over,
never mind that it’s over a month out.

summers of late
have me pickling,
which leaves our fridge littered
with random jars of experiments.
we tend to have purges
of the most random soured/salted/sweetened
vegs piled high on toast,
the essence of summer in messy, briny bites
during the dark of all other months
where temps don’t go further than 40F.

pickled jalapenos
adapted from gimme delicious food

*note: the first time we made this we deseeded the jalapenos and followed the recipe exactly. it was delicious, but the 2nd time we made this i only deseeded half the peppers and i used a rice vinegar instead, because we ran out of the white stuff. still delicious. it has a spice kick to it but that doesn’t deter me from snacking on them. they would be great chopped up and added to tuna or chicken salads, or topped on hot dogs.

1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup water
2 cloves garlic, smashed & rough chopped
3 TBL sugar
1 TBL salt
7-8 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced, deseeded

wash and slice jalapeno peppers, aim for thin, but it’s up to you. you wanna be careful, the spiciness can stay on your finger tips for awhile, so don’t rub your eyes or other parts of your body. deseed if you want. set aside.

mix all the ingredients in a saucepan. bring to a boil and add the slices. mix it up, make sure all the slices are sufficiently dunked.

carefully transfer the contents of the saucepan to a mason jar. i used a quart jar.

allow to cool before lidding.

BAM!

4 years ago: chocolate + coconut macaroons
3 years ago: homemade bánh cướn chay
2 years ago: popcorn
1 year ago: zucchini ravioli

all other pickled stuff:
bread & butter pickles
brinjal pickle hummus
pickled beets
veitnamese pickled carrots & dakon

fast ‘n dirty bread & butter pickles

Published on July 19, 2016July 19, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach20 Comments

after 2 hours of driving
we stop off at a small town
down by the shore.
there are long limbs that require stretching
and growling stomachs in need of food,
plus, Pokemon to be caught
(for the record, it’s dw who’s playing,
not the kids)
we sit at table that is in a cafe
that also fronts as a pharmacy.
the boys consume everything in front of them
everything except the gherkin pickles,
which are delicious –
crisp and sweet and sour.
they remind me of my grandfather
who loved that combination.

with that in mind,
i picked up 4 pounds of pickling cukes
from the market saturday morning,
and spent minimal time in the kitchen
preparing them.
they came out with such snap.
dw could’ve done without the coriander seeds
but i like them.

i made enough to keep a large jar
but also a smaller jar to gift for a sick friend.

hope your summer is going swell.
be good to each other.

fast ‘n dirty bread & butter pickles
makes 1 half gallon + 1 quart jars <= how’s that for crazy measurement?

*note: you can up the amount of sugar if you want it sweeter. i was more interested in getting the crunch and the salt step is key to getting that.

about 3-4 lbs of pickling cucumbers, cleaned and sliced about 1″ thick
3 generous TBL kosher salt
1 large onion sliced
2 scant cups of coconut sugar
2 cups white vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3-4 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds, optional
healthy dash of ground tumeric

in a big mixing bowl add the sliced cukes and sprinkle in the salt. mix it all and then cover in fridge for about 2 hours. them cukes are going to pee liquid something fierce. you’ll be amazed. drain the cukes and rinse thoroughly. drain as much of the water out as possible. add in the sliced onions and toss together.

in a saucepan heat up the rest of the ingredients until simmering and the sugars have dissolved. turn off heat.

in jars divvy up the cukes and onion. pour the hot vinegar liquid over the vegs. allow to cool to room temp and then lid and fridge. will keep for a month, but must be well covered and anytime you pull pickles out, use a clean utensil.

BAM!

3 years ago: spicy cantaloupe salad
2 years ago: pickled beets
1 year ago: apparently i was a bum last year around this time

pickled beets + urban picnic

Published on July 21, 2014July 21, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach13 Comments

i’ve been into quick pickling
this summer,
mainly because we have a glut
of vegs,
also because
it’s good for digestion,
and because
we have a lot of jars,
either i chuck ’em or use ’em.

when i’m in a mood
and food is the last thing
i want to play with,
we have picnics,
stuffed heaped on bread,
though not as fancy as this,
still very satisfying.

what’s your fave pickled veg?
(and, can you send me some?)

pickled beets

*note: this is the kind of recipe that is going to require you to use some common sense. beets vary in size, you might like your beets more tender, or more al dente. this is just a guideline.

12 small – medium beets, scrubbed and peeled
drizzle of oil (olive oil, i used organic canola oil)
dry italian seasoning (though fresh rosemary or thyme would be nice)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vinegar
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
6 whole cloves
6 whole allspice berries
2 -3 wide strips lemon zest
3 – 5 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks

heat oven to 400F.

meanwhile, with netflix going (i was watching Arrow, i think i’m gonna hit up The Returned next), scrub beets and peel. (i have a love hate relationship with this step. you can roast them first and then it’s easier to peel the skin away while warm, but i find that messy, with oil and random bits of herbs sticking to your hands. it’s up to you.) cut up any large beets so they’re all approximately the same size. place beets on baking dish lined with large piece of foil. drizzle with oil, top with italian seasoning, salt/pepper. cover with another sheet of foil and roast for 45min – 1 hour, until beets have reached desired doneness. this time around i made them tender, but the batch before that were toothier. do what you like.

when beets are warm to the touch, slice them up in either 3/8″ rounds or wedges. (i’ve done it where i sliced the beets before roasting, which made for much quicker roasting time, again, up to you.)

meanwhile, stir sugar, salt + 2 cups in sauce pan. bring to a gentle boil and stir until sugar dissolves. take off heat, stir in the vinegar and remaining seasonings. allow to cool.

in clean mason jars (or in our case, our huge 1/2 gallon mason jar) put the beets in a layer formation. (note: you can also add in sliced onions or cucumbers). half way up, pour a bit of the brine in, along with the various seasonings. continue to layer up with remaining beets and pour the rest of the brine into jar. if there is any leftover space in the jar, add a bit more water & vinegar (1:1 ratio) to top.

refrigerate for a day or so and consume. they do last awhile, just remember to use clean utensils when extracting the beets from the jar to keep from contamination etc.

BAM!

also pictured:
dutch oven bread
bruised cucumber salad

vietnamese pickled carrots + daikon

Published on August 20, 2013August 20, 2013 by Lan | MoreStomach11 Comments

if you know me at all
you know that i can’t make coffee
to save my life
or dw’s
i laugh when i think i
used to argue,
vehemently,
with nuria about my coffee making skills
to be fair, she’s a coffee
aficionado
i think she’s been drinking the
stuff since being weened
off the boob

anyway,
i’m not a fussy person
i don’t require a fancy contraption
to brew my cup
nor do i need the best
java
i’ve tried measuring the
amount of grounds to water,
it’s usually too strong,
still
and um. honestly
i’ve been going with the
is the coffee looking super
dark & sludgy? method

all this to tell you:
i’m capable of putting
crap in my body,
that i can consume
sub-par tasting stuff
like a champ
and that not everything i make
comes out golden
or perfect

when i started this space i
promised myself that i would show
the good stuff
the bad stuff
and the ok stuff
today it’s the ok stuff
pickled carrots & daikon
is yet another condiment
that’s added to banh mi
to vermicelli noodle bowls
to summer rolls
i made this for a catering
thing i did last month,
my first!,
i used it to accent
banh mi bruschetta

it came out ok
not the best
certainly, not the worst
just not right
which is ok
consumable
edible
thank goodness i only
have 3 more jars of the stuff left

again, i adapted this recipe.