Today, I tried my second batch. One change was to use a wider variety of veg than before and to make the veg more colorful, so I added a red bell pepper and some pearl onions. I upgraded half of the green pepper rings from cubanelle (not really hot) to jalepeno (should be hot but this one didn't really taste all that hot to me). I did not take the centers out of the jalepno rings because I thought they looked pretty this way and hoped that the seeds would provide some extra heat. Then, just to overdo it, I added a dried Thai pepper to each jar. Here is the veg cut up waiting to be added to the jars:
For process, I started with 5 cups of water heated to a boil, added the garlic cloves, and simmered for 5 minutes (per the internet recipe; I skipped this step last time and could not taste the garlic). Fished the garlic out of the water and added the cloves to the bottom of two quart mason jars. I then added 1/4 cup Kosher salt to the water and packed the jars while the salt dissolved. I put one Thai pepper on the bottom of each jar with the garlic and tried to mix up the rest as nicely and as tightly packed as possible. Then to each jar I added:
1/2 t Dill Seed
1/4 t Pink Peppercorns
1/4 t Black Peppercorns
1/2 t Celery Seed
1/2 t Coriander Seed
1/4 t Yellow Mustard Seed
1/4 t Black Mustard Seed
1 Juniper Berry
I jiggled and shook the jars to get the seeds to flow down and distribute.
With the salt dissolved, I added 1 cup distilled white vinegar to the brine and returned it to a boil. Next, I filled the jars with the boiling brine. Next, put lids on and jiggle the jars to get air bubbles to float to the top, refill with brine, repeat as many times as necessary to get the air pockets out. At the end, I filled the jars to just overflowing, floated the jar lids on the liquid, and screwed the rings on. Brine runs over the side as the lids tighten down. As this is filled to the tippy top when hot, the liquid contracts and draws a vacuum as it cools. The hot brine cooks the veg slightly so let them sit and cool gradually. For storage, these must be refrigerated; this is not a reliable preserving process. The internet recipe suggests these will last for up to 3 month in the refrigerator but I doubt 2 quarts will last that long in this house.
Here is a picture of my final product:
These have to work for a couple of days before they are ready to be eaten, so I will report back on the result when we get to taste them.
Oh boy! I LOVE that stuff - I always buy it as a special treat when Tom's out of town. It's such a good snack. Let me know how this turns out cause I might have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I noticed in your photo that you have room on your counter to have your kitchen scale out for regular use. I use mine frequently but I keep it in the cupboard. You'd think that's not a big deal..and it's not..but I would love to someday have the luxury of counter space. First world problems.
Well the new giardiniera didn't last very long; we're down to the last half quart and fading fast. This turned out to be really good. When the jar comes out of the refrig, we both just stand there eating it. We figure since it's basically raw vegetables it doesn't count as calories or anything.
ReplyDeleteStill no heat though except a little bit when actually eating one of the jalapeno rings. I gotta get some hotter peppers, I guess. I expect I will play around with the seasoning combination in future batches, but this brine recipe seems to be about right. This is something we can make and keep on hand all of the time.
Had to make some more of this - once the jar is open it doesn't last long in our house. When you put the brine in the jars, the seeds tend to float, so this time I had the brilliant idea to put the seeds in the bottom of the jar before packing in the veg. Really works better than trying get them to flow down from the top. Also, we have been including celery in the veg mix. It stays crispy and picks up the flavors well so it's rally good.
ReplyDelete12/12/15
ReplyDeleteAs we near the solstice, we're back to winter eating (though we are still getting fresh spinach from the fall/winter planting!) so time for a batch of giardiniera. I basically followed the recipe above but added 1/4 t. white peppercorns ('cause I had 'em) and one small bay leaf ('cause everything that goes with garlic can always use a bay leaf) in each jar. Also, since last time, we bought a box of wide mouth quart jars; definitely makes jar packing easier!
'Tis the season, so I set mung bean and lentil sprouts today, also.