Anyway, I was browsing through Martha's (Stewart :P) zucchini recipes when I came across this one, Judy's Zucchini Pickles. Being a pickle lover and a pregnant lady - it caught my eye right away and it seemed easy enough. Besides, lately it seems to be all pickling, preserving and freezing around here, so I figured it was a foregone conclusion that I try this recipe.
Very easy prepping. Doubled the recipe, but decided for some reason that I would slice by hand instead of dragging out the mandoline... don't know why I did that. Chalk it up to the fact that since I only use the mandoline for massive amounts of julienning or slicing, I've got it stored in the most ridiculous perch above my fridge. Zucchini was a breeze to slice, but the onions could've been sliced thinner.
Used a salad spinner to dry out the veggies after their ice water brining. That got them dry enough, although you can never eliminate the wetness from zucchini!
I didn't have any regular mustard powder, so I had to use some hot Japanese mustard powder instead. Didn't seem to affect the final taste much.
I made two jars of refrigerator pickles as per the recipe's instructions. Then also experimented with stove top processing and canning two more jars. We'll see how the processed jars keep in the cold cellar without actual refrigeration!
The pickles were sweet and sour and with some nice onion tang. We tried them with some prosciutto and provolone paninis. They were wonderful. Love that the turmeric gave the zucchini a slight yellow colour as if they had been grilled.
I also think they'd go great with a hot dog or hamburger. Or just on the side of any meaty dish, kinda like a Korean pickled side dish. In fact, hubby had them tonight along side of some slow-cooker hoisin pork.
These pickles, however, are just a prelude to hubby dearest's super delicious dill pickles that are in the cold cellar waiting for full ripening. He managed to make 8-500ml jars this time around. But I'm optimistic that our cucumber vines may produce again as I see quite a few blooms popping up here and there.
Oh dear, that just reminded me that I forgot to water the vegetable garden and planters today! I've been waiting for rain that never seems to materialize. Those black clouds and weather forecasts always get my hopes up for nothing!
How did the canned zucchini pickles fare against the elements?
ReplyDeleteWe tried one jar last summer and they seemed okay. We didn't get sick anyway :) I actually have another jar we'd forgotten about still sitting in the basement. Not sure about that one though!
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