Okay, the drought is affecting crops. Some of those veggies are smaller. Maybe they need a flavor boost. Here you go: pickled carrots. This recipe calls for baby carrots but you can use “smallish” ones. Or, you can use any veggie you want. Beans, broccoli, cucumbers. The pickling broth here is a deep, dark gem.
And the result? Suzen made these last week and on Saturday night, after a week, we opened up a jar and put them out for appetizers — along with the jalapenos slices that are part of the pickling process.
“Oh,” a guest said. “That’s great. I thought it was just fresh. But’s pickled. It’s wonderful.” Now, our guest did have a glass full of vodka in his hand, but the glass was still full and this sparkling comment of his was very sincere. These carrots have a sharp bite. They surprise and they please.
Oh, the recipe calls for pickling salt. What is that? It is pure salt with no iodine and no anti-caking products. The in standard table salt will not affect the pickle flavor appreciably, but the pickling juice will be dark and possibly cloudy.
And, this is a refrigerator pickling recipe. You need a clean jar, but not one sterilized in boiling water. That boiling process is often a barrier to pickling at home. It seems arduous, and in fact getting a quart jar out of that big pot with water using the tongs is really not easy. Here, none of that complication is before you.
Pickled Baby Carrots with Dill
Yield: 1 quart
Ingredients:
- 1 pound 4-inch carrots, scrubbed and trimmed
- ¼ minced dill leaves or 2 whole dill sprigs
- 3 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 1 to 2 red jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced [green will do!]
- ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns, crushed
- 1 ½ teaspoons pickling salt
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup sugar
Preparation:
Blanch the carrots in boiling water, or steam them, for 2 minutes or until they are barely tender. Immerse them in cold water until they are cool.
Pack the carrots and dill into a quart jar. In a saucepan, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil. Cover the carrots with the liquid. Cap the jar and let it cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate the jar for 2 days or longer before eating the carrots. Refrigerated, they will keep for at least 2 months.
Source: The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich and Wikipedia