spicy – morestomach

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

it’d be an apt description to say that
i’m a Pragmatic Person
capable of viewing varying perspectives
down to earth
realistic
sensible
i pay bills every month
my grocery lists are documented based on
the locations of the ingredients in the store –
for efficiency.
i forgo the cute heels
for the more utilitarian flats
when going to the mall

but the thing is,
it’s all a farce
i’m really a friggin mess
i daydream,
my head is usually in the clouds
sometimes i make up stories
and i say them out loud,
the more far fetched the more likely
i’ll share it with ~~people~~ dw
i never allocate time or funds for
dry cleaning
and yet my closet is riddled with
chiffon, silks, and other lovely frocks
that shrink within 5 feet of a washer/dryer.
i spend chunks of my day
wondering why i can’t be a hobbit
living in the Shire,
reading under a tree by day
and drinking ale at night

and so with a practical mind
last Saturday i went to the market
to pick up our CSA stash
i mentally prepared the week’s meals,
calculating portions,
pantry availability,
that kind of thing
and then i saw green tomatoes,
the first of the season
and everything was forgotten
i nixed the beets that would’ve been two meals,
what with the ruby orbs AND leafy tops

by itself, it’s not an impractical purchase
green tomatoes are Summer,
and as such, should be sampled at least once
but we were in the midst of a heat wave
and i don’t know about you,
turning on the stove to dodge oil splatters
to fry up these little beasts is
So Impractical

but i didn’t want them languishing on the counter,
eventually to rot,
or worse,
attracting those blasted fruit flies.
into a pot they went,
with skins,
simmered with mint
and this
and that
and then this chutney was born

beyond spreading it on toast, maybe,
or at best, on pork tenderloin,
(like how we did for dinner the other night)
i’m not sure what else we could do with
this condiment
practical and impractical indeed!

Green Tomato + Mint Chutney
note: if i ever make this again, which let’s face it, i will when it appears again next summer, during a heatwave i’m sure, i would cut back to just one cup of sugar. it was just a smidge too sweet for my liking.

ingredients:
1 ¼ lb green tomatoes (washed & chopped)
1 jalapeno sliced, deseeded
½ cup herbs such as mint (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 inch piece ginger (chopped)
½ cup apple cider vinegar
2 TBL soy sauce
2 cups organic sugar

method:
in a food processor add the tomatoes, jalapeno, mint, &
ginger.

pulse until desired consistency.

pour mixture into sauce pan and add remaining ingredients.

simmer on gentle boil until it’s reduced, about 45 minutes.

yields: 1 pint/ 16oz / 2 cups