Syltede asiers (Danish pickled cucumber-marrows)

We first saw pickled asiers in the jar aisle of the supermarket ages ago - and weren't sure what they were. The picture on the label looked a bit like a cassava, the contents looked like thick-sliced peeled pears... Eventually we bought some, and S fell in love with them. Turns out they are crisp, chunky, sweet-pickled slices of giant cucumber. They are traditionally eaten on smørrebrod with leverpostej - but we like them with hard cheese like Pråst or mature cheddar.

A few weeks ago, we found some fresh ones for sale in Irma, and decided we should try pickling some ourselves. We used approximately this recipe. I'm still not sure if asiers are just a marrow version of the American kind of thick-skinned cucumbers, or a different kind of cucumber intended to be grown to marrow size - either way, they are a little different from your average pickled cucumber.

2 kg asiers (cucumber marrows)
50-75 g salt
150 g small red onions, peeled and sliced (or shallots)
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
fennel seeds
chilli flakes

1.5 l vinegar (ideally white wine or apple cider vinegar) (5%)
750 g sugar
 
Peel the asiers, cut them in half lengthways, scrape out the seeds and cut into 1 cm thick slices. Sprinkle with the salt, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and set aside in a cool place for 2–3 hours. Rinse the salted asier slices in cold water and wipe them lightly with kitchen paper. Place in sterilised jars, layering with the sliced onions, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, and fennel seeds and chilli flakes too if you like. Heat the sugar and vinegar almost to the boil in a pan, whisking until the sugar has dissolved. Pour over the asier slices in the jars until they are all covered, and immediately seal. Leave for at least a week before eating. Keep in the fridge.


There were some variations in different recipes I checked - for example, the asiers could be salted after just cutting in half and deseeding instead of after slicing; and they could be left for a day instead of just a few hours in the salt... Another option would be using 'atamon' - I had to look this up, but apparently it is a preservative with a strange label (with a caricature of a chinese face on it) that is often used in Danish pickles. So if I make them again, perhaps I'll try something a little different: with atamon+chilli (perhaps most interesting?), with atamon+star anise, and another one.

Also, these come out nice, but not really crunchy enough - should they be salted more or less? Or should I add something tannic?

Pickled apples

Curious about apple pickling, since I had a suitable large jar from S's lupins, and obviously lots of apples. I liked the sound of the spices in this recipe.

700 g apples (approx. 4 med-large apples)
500 ml white wine or cider vinegar
120 g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
10 cm Carolina allspice bark or cinnamon stick (used cinnamon
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 whole cloves
½ tsp Szechuan peppercorns or black peppercorns (used black pepper)
1 star anise
Few sprigs of lemon thyme (used dried bayleaves)

Dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar in a pan over a medium heat. Add the spices, simmer for 15 min, then turn off the heat. Core, peel and thinly slice two apples as the pickling liquid cools. Place the slices in a large lidded jar and just cover the apples with spicy vinegar. Repeat with the rest of the apples. Eat within 10 days or so, or longer if the apples retain a good texture.

Simple pickled cucumber slices

I have enjoyed all the pickled cucumbers I've made (bread and butter; faux-Grillos) a huge amount - both those recipes are keepers.

But I saw this recipe, and was feeling lazy - it's one of those things about these hot, thick summer days - they bring a vegetal bounty, but no energy and no inclination to either turn the gas on or spend any time cooking. So the quicker you can throw together a refreshing pickly snack you can eat right out of the fridge, the better.

So, even simpler than the other pickles - no heating, no garlic, no spices.

1 medium-large cucumber, washed, ends removed, thinly sliced
~1 tbsp chopped dill
1 cup white vinegar
~1 tbsp coarse salt

Pack the cucumber slices in a large, clean jar. Add the dill and salt and then pour in the vinegar. Put the lid on and shake well to distribute everything. After about 8 hours check the liquid level and top up with more vinegar/water mixture if the cucumber slices are not covered in liquid.

Sweet-pickled carrot and radish

We had a daikon in the CSA, and mounting carrots. I was interested in sweet-pickled slices - I looked at a few recipes and settled on something like this.

1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup demerara sugar
1 tbsp fine desert salt
150 ml coconut vinegar
150 ml cider vinegar
600 ml water
3-4 medium carrots
1 small-medium daikon radish
1 green chilli, thinly sliced crossways

Put the sugars, vinegars, water and salt in a pan and bring almost to a simmer. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then turn off the heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Peel the carrots and daikon and then slice into matchsticks. Put in a bowl with the chilli.

When the vinegar mixture has cooled, pour it over the vegetables. Transfer to sterilised jars and store in the fridge (will be fine for several weeks).

Pickled quinces

The last blast of the harvesting season came via M from LUrC. L was kind enough to collect ~15 lb of quinces for her and me to share. She arrived at my place last night with a backpack rammed with quinces. As soon as she walked past me into the apartment I got a waft of their wonderful smell. We spent the evening chopping, chatting, listening to the radio, eating yellow potatoes and pickled green tomatoes, and making beautiful quince preserves. We made half of them into membrillo, and sliced half of what was left thinly to make quinces in syrup and the rest in chunks to make these pickled quinces. The pickled quince recipe we used is here - L looked it up and said she didn't find anything on American sites (perhaps quinces are not common / not commonly used here?), and she consequently got a bit confused about metric measurements...

(we doubled the recipe below to get four large jars)

250 ml cider vinegar
750 ml water
200 g sugar
4 strips lemon zest
6 cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
1 star anise
2 (or 350g) quince, peeled, cut into eighths

Put all the ingredients except the quince into a large saucepan, bring to a simmer, then add the peeled, cored, halved and eighthed quinces, then turn down to a gentle heat and leave to cook for 20-25 minutes until tender.

Gently lift the quince pieces out of the liquid with a slotted spoon and put them into sterilised jars. Pour over the liquor, seal and cool. They will keep for a few weeks.

Pickled green tomatoes (and grapes)

With my harvest of green tomatoes, I decided to pickle some (using my trusty faux-Grillo brine) as well as making jam. In fact, I still have some left even after all this - perhaps frying is also on the cards, or exciting sauce, or who knows what else? The grapes were left over from my last bunch of Concord grapes of the season - I hung onto the unripe ones to try pickling them.

~1 lb of green tomatoes
~10 unripe Concord grapes
~20 mint leaves
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1/4 tsp red chilli flakes
3/8 cup cider vinegar
3/8 cup white vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 tbsp salt

Slice the green tomatoes thickly and pack into two (~400g size) jars. Add the Concord grapes and mint leaves to one / the fennel seeds, celery seeds and chilli flakes to the other. Put the vinegars, water and salt into a small saucepan and bring just to the boil. Pour over the jar contents, making sure to fill right up to ~1 cm from the brim, jiggling the contents to minimize air bubbles. Put lids on while the contents are still hot, then let cool before storing in the fridge.

Brinjal chutney

At the end of my day at Drumlin, I became custodian of a large quantity of aubergines otherwise destined for the compost heap. I had no particular plan for them at first. A suggested preserving them in oil; I'd also seen them pickled in vinegar; but I wasn't really fancying either of those options. But then I started daydreaming about aubergine preserving, and what developed in my mind was more of a chutney: deep and dark and richly spiced. I used the spice combination from my favourite aubergine curry, and I based the chutney method on this recipe.

(made ~3 small-medium jars)

1 kg / 2 lb 4oz aubergines, chopped into ~1 in cubes
~2 tbsp salt
~4 tbsp veg oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
~2 medium chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
50 g / 2 oz ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp nigella seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 3 tbsp hot water
150g / 6 oz light brown sugar
300 ml / 1/2 pint cider vinegar

Layer chopped aubergines with salt in a colander, put a weight on top and leave to drain for approx 2 hours or overnight. Rinse and pat dry.

Heat oven to 400F. Toss the aubergine pieces with approx 2 tbsp oil and spread out on baking trays. Bake for ~30 min, until tender. Meanwhile, dry fry the whole spices. When fragrant, let cool a little and then transfer half of the mixture to a spice grinder and grind lightly - leave the rest as whole seeds.

Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in preserving pan and add onion, garlic, chilli and ginger. Cover and cook until softened (~10 min). Add the ground spices (including turmeric), whole spices, tamarind, sugar, vinegar and aubergines. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then cook for about 40 min, until thick and the aubergines are tender.

Spoon into sterilised jars and seal. Let mature for at least a month before opening.


Oh wow, this is delicious. Exactly what I wanted. The few tbsp I couldn't fit in my three jars and became a test part-jar are already in my belly with no days' maturing time and the chutney is already delicious.

Pickled green beans with dill

Got a lot of beans from D (plus peppers and the last of the cukes - made up for a slightly disappointing mushroom hunt that yielded only ~30 tiny chanterelles and one baby hedgehog mushroom between four of us). Decided to try pickling some. I think it's a thing. Used the basic recipe from my pickled cucumbers.

large bunch of flat green beans
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
handful of dill, picked into fronds and washed
1 tbsp desert (or fairly fine sea, or pickling) salt
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 1/4 cup water

Wash the beans, top and tail them, then pack into a clean jar. Add the garlic, chilli and dill. Heat the vinegar, water and salt in a pan until the salt is dissolved and the mixture is just starting to boil. Pour over the beans so that they are all covered. Jiggle them until all the air bubbles come to the surface. Put the lid on, let cool to room temperature, then store in the fridge for at least a week before eating.

Fridge pickled cucumbers (faux-Grillo's Hot)

S is a big fan of our #1 local pickle-purveyor - Grillo's. He even has the t-shirt. I have been hatching a plan to try and recreate them for him. I picked some vine leaves from the garden I help at (which has a beautiful crop of grapes developing over the entrance archway). Beyond that, I knew I'd need cucumbers, dill, jalapeno and/or habanero chillis, garlic, vinegar and salt. We hung out in our friend D's yard last night, sitting around a fire and talking about skunks and mushrooms. He works at a farm nearby, so at this time of year he always has masses of veg going spare at his place. We left with cucumbers (about 5 little ones) and jalapenos. We already had some lovely-looking garlic left from double-CSA week, and I picked up some dill at the Russian store at the end of our road this afternoon. Now all I need is Grillo's top-secret recipe... This is my best guess.

2 fresh vine leaves, washed (or a couple of pinches of tea leaves)
5 small cucumbers, washed, top-and-tailed and cut lengthwise into spears
3 medium-small jalapenos, deseeded and cut in half lengthwise
2 huge cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced chunkily lengthwise
handful of picked dill fronds, washed
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar (or cider vinegar)*
2 1/2 cups water*
2 tbsp fine sea (or desert, or pickling) salt
mustard seed (optional)

Put the vine leaves in the bottoms of two large, clean jars. Pack the cucumbers in on top, then add in the dill, garlic and jalapenos, distributing them evenly between the two jars. I decided to try adding mustard seed to one jar (deviating from the recipe I'm trying to recreate, but potentially good). Put the vinegar, water and salt in a pan and heat until just boiling. Pour over the cucumbers, filling right up to the top. Put the lids on and let cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge. Try and wait at least 48 hours before eating.

*A second round, tweaked proportions - changed to the above from 2 cups of vinegar and 2 cups of water.

Edit: We managed to wait almost 48 hours! I made them on Sunday afternoon and we tested the first jar on Tuesday lunchtime. They look and taste like the real deal. S says they are a little more vinegary than Grillo's, which may be just because they could do with pickling for longer (will hang onto the second jar til the end of the week at least), or if that doesn't work I might try using a lower proportion of vinegar in the brine if we come by more cukes. Not bad for a first effort though!

Edit II: After a week the first batch still tasted a little vinegary to S, so I tweaked the proportions of vinegar as above (and ended up subbing some cider vinegar). I gave away several jars from this second batch, and they seem to be universally loved. High praise from D, who not only grew the cukes but is also a bit of a pickle expert. Plus, S reckons he cannot tell the difference between these and Grillo's. Think I've cracked it.

Variations:
Tea leaves instead of vine leaves - it's the tannins that keep things crisp; tea works well and adds an interesting flavour (that can be tweaked eg by using Earl Grey)
Chilli flakes instead of fresh chilli.
Adding fresh nasturtium seeds or dried mustard seeds to the mix.

Pickled nasturtium seeds

I grew nasturtiums this year, because I love them. I love them because they are blowsy and beautiful, also because you can eat the leaves, flowers and seeds. And they taste awesome: peppery and distinctive. I remember playing with them in the garden as a child: my sisters and I would feed the seeds to each other (blindfolded so we didn't know if it would be a sweet raspberry or what) for the spicy thrill - they have an almost wasabi-like intensity.

But actually, one of the main reasons I wanted to grow them was because I wanted to try pickling the seeds. I've heard them described as 'poor man's capers', and I couldn't resist that description. As well as tasting amazing, the seeds look incredible: they are light green and striated with curved ridges, so each one is covered with an exaggerated fingerprint pattern.

Sadly, my harvest was rather small, but I decided to go ahead and pickle them anyway. I threw a few buds in as well to see what would happen - seems like they could be closer to a true caper.

Nasturtium seeds (and unopened or just-opening flower buds)
Brine (2 tsp salt in 100 ml water)
Spiced vinegar (1 peppercorn, small bayleaf, pinch of salt in 100 ml cider vinegar)

I collected the seeds over a week or two and stored them in a plastic tub in the fridge.

When ready to start making them pickled, mix up the brine and soak the seeds in it for 12-24 hours at room temperature.

Next, warm the vinegar with the peppercorn, salt and bay, and let cool. Put the seeds in a sterilised jar. Cover them with the spiced vinegar, seal and refrigerate. They should keep pretty much indefinitely in the fridge (think they'd also be fine outside of the fridge but to be on the safe side I'm keeping them in the fridge).

The seeds ended up a bit disappointing - pale, and they have lost their spiciness. However, the plants have had a second coming and I have loads more seeds (mid-end August), so there is a chance for a second attempt - I think I will try using my faux-Grillo's brine, and perhaps add some nasturtium seeds to other pickles if I happen to get my grubby paws on more cukes or courgettes.

Following a few experiments with picking and salting I have decided it is mostly best to just keep nasturtium seeds in a loosely-covered pot in the fridge - they keep quite long (several months) and retain their crunch and pepperiness this way.

Sweet, salty pickled cucumber slices

We had sooo many cucumbers: some still from last week's CSA, some from this week's, and even more because we picked up another CSA for a friend who is out of town. In total about 12 medium-large cucumbers. So many! I decided to pickle some of them. I have promised S I will try and make Grillo's-style picked cucumbers, but we had no grape leaves or dill, so that is sidelined. I wasn't feeling very creative, and liked the use of celery seed in this recipe (and had all the ingredients), so I just followed it.

(Made one large and one medium jar)

2 lb cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick (use smaller ones if you have them)
2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup large-crystal sea salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp mustard seed (used 1 tbsp brown mustard seed and 1 tbsp yellow)
2 tbsp coriander seed
1/2 tsp celery seed

Put the cucumber, onion and salt in a large bowl and mix. Cover with ice* and let stand at room temperature for two hours, mixing at least once along the way. Put sugar, vinegar and seeds in a large pan and bring to the boil. Rinse the cucumbers and onions and drain well. Add the cucumber mixture to the vinegar mixture and bring almost back to a boil. Remove from heat, let cool a little, then transfer to clean jars with non-metallic lids. Store in the fridge for up to a month: they will be ready to eat after ~24 hours.

*I didn't really have any ice (just 3 cubes), and I wasn't quite sure what it was for anyway, so I just set this up without ice (well, with 3 cubes), and made sure to rinse the veg well when their salting time was up. The pickle did come out quite salty - wonder if this was why?


I wasn't sure about these at first - thought they were a bit too salty, and that perhaps there was a few too many seeds. But despite these considerations, S has been enjoying them from the start, and I think they have matured a little after several days. Still, the next batch will contain less / different seeds and I will wash out the salt even more thoroughly (and/or use less) - think my next batch will contain turmeric, garlic, mustard seed, celery seed, chilli flakes, perhaps anise or fennel seed, or peppercorns...

2 lb cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick (use smaller ones if you have them)
2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup large-crystal sea salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp chilli flakes

Mulberry harvest: pickled mulberries

Second experiment with my mulberry bounty was pickled mulberries: I fancied making something savoury, this idea came into my head, and I liked it. I used this recipe.

Pickled Mulberries
(quantities below would make 3 smallish jars (the official canning style of jars) - I did only one cup of mulberries' worth though)

2 cups mulberries
3/8 cup white vinegar
3/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 small bay leaf

Put the berries in dumpy, sterilised jars. Put the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour over the berries, so that the vinegar reaches to 1/8 in below the top. Put the lids on and screw on (but not too tight). Bring a large pan of water with a rack in it to the boil. Put the jars in, bring back to the boil and keep at a simmer for 10 min. Remove the jars carefully and allow to cool.


Mulberry Salad Dressing

1 tbsp pickled mulberries - make sure to include some berries and some vinegar
1 tbsp azuki bean miso
1/2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp honey
1/2 tbsp mirin

Mix all the ingredients together in the bottom of a salad bowl to make the dressing. Add washed lettuce leaves, chopped tomatoes and a sprinkling of sesame seeds, toss and eat.


These are interesting. I opened one jar immediately out of curiosity, and they are bright pink and lovely. Quite vinegary (perhaps they will mellow over time?) and a little sweet, and unavoidably reminiscent of pickled beetroot. Thought they worked really well in the salad dressing: the azuki bean miso is also pinkish (-red-brown), so the dressing comes out really pink as well as really tasty.

Radish relish (and radish pickles)

Came by lots of watermelon radishes. The words 'radish' and 'relish' seemed to fit together so beautifully I had to make it happen. This also turned into an experiment in canning processing - can I can using my basic kitchen equipment?


Radish Relish 
(based on this recipe)

1 lb (2 medium sized) watermelon radishes, peeled and shredded*
1 medium onion, diced
2 inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup coconut vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp red Hawaiian salt
1/2 tbsp coriander seed
1/2 tbsp yellow mustard seed
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 tsp white peppercorns

Combine vinegar, sugar, salt and spices in a large pan and bring to the boil. Add the radishes, onion, ginger and garlic. Bring back to a simmer, stirring until heated through. Remove from the heat.

Spoon relish into sterile jars, leaving ~0.5cm space at the top and poking down with a clean knife to remove bubbles.  Put lids on cleanly and tight. For canning process, you need a large, tall pan with enough space to place a holder in it so that the jars don't touch the bottom of the pan, and still have space for 1-2 inches of water on top of the jars resting on the holder. My tallest pan combined with a metal steamer rose and squat jars allowed me enough space to process two ~400ml jars. Fill the pan (with the steamer in it) with water and bring to the boil. Carefully place the jars in it, bring the water to the right height and bring back to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes (covered if possible). Remove jars carefully and allow to return to room temperature. The button on the lid should pop down if a seal has been made successfully.


Radish Pickles
(based on this recipe)

2 medium sized watermelon radishes, chopped into thickish slices 1-2 in diameter*
1 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp crushed peppercorns
½ tsp brown mustard seed
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced longitudinally
1 small green chilli, halved longitudinally

Bring the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar or honey to a boil in a medium saucepan and simmer until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat and add the peppercorns, mustard seed, garlic and chilli. Pack the radishes in two sterile ~500g jars and pour the hot liquid over them, dividing the garlic and chilli between the jars. Put the lids on and let cool to room temperature, checking if the button on top has popped down - if it has they are sealed. They should be ready to eat after 24 hours. Whether or not they have sealed, it is probably wise to keep them in the fridge.

*could use red radishes (no need to peel then) or daikon instead


One sad thing is that the colour all leaches out of the radishes. It remains in the liquid, so there is still prettiness, but you do lose the breathtaking beauty of the freshly sliced watermelon radish. They are a lovely pink, but I don't love them. I prefer the sweeter radish relish (also prettier due to the shreds), but think the white pepper was a mistake - it smells weird. I'm trying really hard to like it as it was hand delivered to me all the way from Borneo though, so I can deal. The other one smells weird too - just a vegetably, radishy smell, but strangely offputting (I notice a similar smell from prepared horseradish, there must be some chemical reaction happening...).


Notes on water bath processing:

As far as I understand, the aim of water bath processing is to create a seal. This is particularly important when you are jarring up something that is high in neither sugar nor vinegar. So I am a little unsure about whether it is really necessary for something like this relish, which is high in both sugar and vinegar. Also, since putting hot stuff in hot sterile jars usually gives me a good seal anyway (button on lid pops down), I do wonder whether the water bath processing is needed for this or not. Plus, if the stuff has gone off it should be obvious? However, botulism is nasty, and I wouldn't want to get it or cause it. So I am still trying to figure out when water bath processing is necessary (and what for).

My pan+steamer system worked fine, but I can only process squat jars (or jars laid on their side) in the water bath as my pan isn't very tall. I could in theory process a whole lot, although only 1-2 at a time. To be really efficient about this I would need a taller pan (perhaps one day I will buy myself a proper preserving pan) and some accoutrements (tongs, rack etc). But for now I am happy to have worked out a system using regular kitchen equipment.

Pickled cucumbers

One of two jars

I was thinking about pickles.  I thought at first that pickled beetroot was the only pickled veg I really liked.  But then we had a jar of pickled cornichons and I remembered I really like those too.  So then I had my eye out for really small cucumbers or cornichons.  I found some pretty tiny cucumbers at the Haymarket, and decided to try pickling them.  It was really hard to choose the pickling method.  I know what I want them to be like, but it will be a month before I get to find out how close I got...  I know what I don't want them to be like too:  I really don't enjoy the massive, chunky, fizzy, fermented, overtly garlicky style of pickled cucumber - the ones I like are the dainty, firm / snappy, delicately herb / spice flavoured ones - perhaps it's the French style, but I'm not sure.  I tried to follow the combo from the ingredient label of the last jar of cornichons we bought, and used a combination of recipe methods. Hopefully they will turn out.  Now I just have to wait and see...

~1 1/4 lb of the smallest cucumbers you can find (these were the Lebanese type, 4-6 in long and ~3/4 in wide)
~3 tbsp salt
half a medium onion, sliced quite fine
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
10-15 small sprigs dill (tarragon might have been better, but we had dill so dill it was)
~2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
~1 tbsp black peppercorns
~2 cups vinegar (used 1 cup white vinegar plus 1 cup cider vinegar)

Chop the cucumbers into 1-2 in long pieces, put into a colander and salt generously in layers.  Put colander over a bowl with a plate+weight on top and leave for ~24 hours.

Rinse the cucumbers and dab dry with a clean cloth.  Clean and sterilize the jars (this amount neatly filled two large ex-caper jars ~450g).

Pack layers of cucumbers into the jars, interspersed with the garlic, onion, dill and spices.  Leave an inch of space at the top.

Heat the vinegar to just about boiling point in a pan.  Remove from the heat, fill the jars right to the top and cover immediately.

Store in a cool, dark place for at least one month before eating.


Update April 29th 2012: They are good!  Nice and crisp, with a good, sour vinegar taste but no fermentation.  Bonus pickled onion and garlic.  Pretty much exactly what I was aiming for, give or take tinier cucumbers and tarragon vs dill.

Sprouted grain loaf / pickled beetroot

Having enjoyed Dan Lepard's bread recipes so far, tried another one.  This one called for sprouted grains, so I did an experiment with wheat berries and spelt berries.  The wheat sprouted and the spelt didn't.  Required quantity seems to be a full sprouter load (all three little trays).  Not sure if they are what the recipe is asking for or not, but I used them anyway.

Also wanted to do something with the baby beets we got from the market last weekend.  Debated boiling or roasting them for salad, but decided to try pickling after consulting Delia - it's been a while since I had pickled beetroot, and I quite fancy it.

Sprouted grain loaf

No-knead loaf with sprouted grains (not beanshoots). Leave a day before slicing, if you can.

2 tsp fast-acting dry yeast
200ml warm water
1 tsp each honey and black treacle
50ml orange juice
150g toasted sunflower seeds
225g sprouted grains (sprouted wheatberries in sprouter)
50ml sunflower oil
300g strong white flour
75g rye or wholemeal flour (used wholemeal)
1½ tsp fine salt

Stir the yeast into the water until dissolved, stir in the honey and treacle, then add the juice, seeds, sprouted grains and sunflower oil. Add the flours and salt, mix well, cover and leave for 45 minutes.

Line a large (1.5-litre) loaf tin with nonstick baking paper. Flour a worksurface, then pat the dough to about the length of the tin and three times its width. Roll up the dough tightly, place it seam-side down in the tin, then punch it down to firm it. Leave, covered, for about an hour, until the loaf has risen by about a quarter to a third.

Preheat oven to 220C (200C fan-assisted)/425F/gas mark 7. Brush top of loaf with water, bake for 20 minutes, then drop the temperature to 200C (180C fan-assisted)/390F/gas mark 6 and bake for 30 minutes longer. Remove from the tin and cool on a rack.


Pickled beetroot

3/4 lb baby* beetroot (mixed golden and red - used the greens last weekend)
~6 black peppercorns
small cinnamon stick
~3 cloves
good pinch sea salt
~150ml red wine vinegar

Clean and trim the beetroot. Wrap all together in foil and bake at ~390F for about 2 hours / til tender when poked.  Alternatively, the beetroot can be left whole, put in a big pan, covered with water, and simmered for about 1 1/2 hours, until tender.

Meanwhile put the vinegar in a bowl above a pan of hot water with the salt and spices and bring the water to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to sit til needed. Once the beetroot have cooled enough to handle remove the peel and slice thinly. Layer into clean jar(s) - made enough for 1 1/2 350g jars. Pour over the vinegar and put the lid on.

*larger beetroot can be used but I like the smaller ones - they cook faster, pack easier and make cuter slices when served.


We started the bread the morning after I baked it in the afternoon, and it was good but a bit... crunchy?  By that evening the crunch seemed to have softened up (to do with the humid weather? or perhaps the 'leave a day' advice really did mean 24h) and it went very well with salad.  It was very similar to a granary loaf (wondering if granary uses sprouted wheat?).

I left the beetroot for a couple of days before trying it, and then put some in my lunchbox today.  It tasted... like pickled beetroot.  In a good way.  I'm glad I put in the spices, they give it an interesting touch of otherness.  I like beetroot and cinnamon together especially.