sblahnik - The Weekly Pickle

Week 25: Pickled Snap Peas

Peas on earth – and yours for the pickling! This pickled snap pea recipe is light, crunchy and super simple (slash very similar to this recent pickled green bean recipe). This is the first time I’ve used tarragon for pickling and I’m definitely a fan. The dried hot peppers don’t pack as much of a punch as fresh peppers seem to but I kind of liked the lack of spice in these. I also liked how the pickling mellows out the somewhat tough texture of raw snap peas. These would also be great with just the standard dill quickle brine and other accoutrement. Endless options, peas and thank you.

Go forth, and snappea pickling!

Week 24: Pickled Jicama

sblahnik Pickle Project, Pickle Recipes June 16, 2016August 8, 2016how to make pickled jicama, how to pickle jicama, pickled jicama, pickled jicama recipe

Simple recipe, simple post. Some of the last few recipes have required a little more prep (beets, zucchini, fennel) so back to the basics with this one. Make brine, chop produce, fill jars and you’re done. Next time I would maybe try with lime juice to reflect the only other way I’ve ever had jicama (raw with lime and Tajín) but these are great as is, with a little spice and a lot of crunch!

Week 23: Pickled Green Beans (a.k.a. Dilly Beans)

sblahnik Pickle Project, Pickle Recipes June 10, 2016June 10, 2016dilly bean recipe, dilly beans, how to make dilly beans, how to make pickled green beans, how to pickle green beans, pickled green bean recipe, pickled green beans

Another week at home on the east coast, another pickle recipe to try with my mom. This time we made pickled green beans – also known as “dilly beans” (seasoned with dill, commonly seen on menus as a Bloody Mary garnish), or “zydeco beans” (a musical genre evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native people of Louisiana; full Wikipedia knowledge here).

Interestingly enough, my mom and I had already planned on making these for their seasonality but had just returned from a wedding in Louisiana right before buying all the ingredients. Alas, the stars were aligned.

Week 22: Pickled Beets

sblahnik Pickle Project, Pickle Recipes June 2, 2016how to make pickled beets, how to pickle beets, pickled beet recipe, pickled beets

I was very up-beet about making pickled beets as they just seem like the epitome of a good ol’ fashioned pickled item. While pickled beets were truly a mess to make, they were totally worth it, and other than staining my hands pink they are relatively similar to the pickled asparagus recipe with the boiling water and ice bath process. The actual recipe I (closely) followed makes 8 pints but I halved it for a more manageable amount (not tryna trim, scrub, cook and peel 8 pounds of beets).

I’ve been home visiting my family on the east coast so fortunately got to make this recipe with my mom, and preferred making a mess of her kitchen rather than mine. It’s safe to say this recipe makes my heart beet and I will certainly be making these again back in San Francisco.

Week 21: Pickled Zucchini

sblahnik Pickle Project, Pickle Recipes May 26, 2016June 22, 2016how to make pickled zucchini, how to pickle zucchini, pickle zucchini recipe, pickled zucchini

Full disclosure: while I have been to Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, I’ve not yet ordered the burger that features this pickled zucchini recipe. But I love the restaurant and I love zucchini so it made sense to mooch off of this particular recipe for this week’s pickle post.

These are one of the best things I’ve pickled to date, probably because the recipe came from a very successful SF-based restaurant. Thank gosh it’s getting to be zucchini season because I will 100% be making these again. Final note: these are similar to the pickled fennel recipe in that they require a little more prep by doing a salt bath first but it’s totally worth it.
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Week 20: Pickled Fennel with Orange

sblahnik Pickle Project, Pickle Recipes May 19, 2016how to make pickled fennel, how to pickle fennel, pickle fennel recipe, pickled fennel

It’s been a while since I made anything from The Joy of Pickling so I decided to go back to the original experts and make this pickled fennel recipe. This recipe is particularly exciting because it uses juice in addition to vinegar…mind blown. And in case you’re a fennel newb like me and not sure how to deal with those funny-looking bulbs, here’s a helpful guide on how to cut fennel properly.

The orange combo for this recipe is a match made in flavor heaven (leave it to Martha to verify) but I found another good spice combo option here that I would definitely try in the future.
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Week 19: Pickled Celery

sblahnik Pickle Project, Pickle Recipes May 12, 2016May 18, 2016how to make pickled celery, how to pickle celery, pickled celery, pickled celery recipe

I’ve been going a little crazy with the fruit lately so wanted to go back to basics for this week. Today’s pickle recipe is a simple pickled celery concoction – super easy and can be done with as much or as little seasoning as desired. These turned out somewhat similar to the original quickle recipe with a few tweaks based on what I had on hand. Specifically, and similar to asparagus, this was another great way to utilize dried herbs when you don’t have time to get fresh.

I’ve pickled celery before as a garnish of sorts in pickled peppers but this recipe really focused on the celery which is, in my opinion, one of the lowlier vegetables. Nothing a little pickling can’t help with though! Read more

Week 18: Pickled Avocado

sblahnik Pickle Project, Pickle Recipes May 5, 2016May 18, 2016how to make pickled avocados, how to pickle avocados, pickled avocado recipe, pickled avocados

They said it couldn’t be done but let me be the one to tell you – avocados can, in fact, be pickled. That being said, these were a more interesting experiment. In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, I wanted to pickle something festive but pickled avocados may not have been the right call. Strange, mushy and to be honest, a possible waste of 4 perfectly good avocados.

However, no experiment is a true failure so maybe some people will find this to their liking. Other variations could be to add some herbage (cilantro seems like a no-brainer) or maybe a little lime juice for pizzazz. Happy Cinco de Mayo, avo-look at this pickled avocado recipe…

Week 17: Pickled Pineapple

sblahnik Pickle Project, Pickle Recipes April 29, 2016May 18, 2016how to make pickled pneapple, how to pickle pineapple, pickled pineapple, pickled pineapple recipe

I’m on a real anti-veggie pickle kick lately with ginger and mangos so decided to give pickled pineapple a shot as well. Spicy cilantro pickled pineapple – say that 10x fast – to be specific. This week also gave me the chance to use a coconut vinegar (wuttttt) I found at the grocery store…it’s always a real treat to pickle with new kinds of vinegars (can’t forget to mention a similar version here with yet another flavor of vinegar) so this was a particularly exciting day for me. Anyway, the recipe below looks and smells like a fun tropical beverage so sit back, relax and pickle away!

A few notes:

Once pickled, these had some serious heat so you could always make the brine sans jalapeños
It goes without saying but don’t use cilantro if you are part of the unfortunate ~14% of the population with these genes.
I’m a big fan of the twist (literally!) of lime – first time using citrus in the pickling process – but you could go without that ingredient as well if you don’t like fun.
Lastly, for any pineapple noobs out there, check out this helpful guide to selecting and cutting a pineapple.

Week 16: Pickled Ginger

sblahnik Pickle Project, Pickle Recipes April 21, 2016May 18, 2016how to make pickled ginger, how to pickle ginger, pickled ginger, pickled ginger recipe

In the words of Chandler Bing, could this recipe BE any easier? I don’t think so. You literally take sugar, water (this), salt, rice vinegar and ginger and you have your own homemade version of that delicious addition to any sushi platter.

I’m obsessed with The Pioneer Woman so when perusing Pinterest for pickled ginger inspiration and finding a recipe from her blog, it had to be done. I made the recipe pretty much exactly as is so I can’t take any credit for this magical creation. Womp womp.

As an FYI, this amount of liquid pickles 8 ounces of ginger, aka 1/2 pound. FYI #2: If you do most of your grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s (like me), the little bags of ginger pieces they sell are 4 ounces, so buy two and you should be good. That being said, I bought the whopper piece of ginger (see left) at Mollie Stone’s. It was quite large.