Easy Dill Bread & Butter Pickles

(about 1 1/2 pints)

Last week as I was patiently sorting through the pickling cucumbers at the market, I noticed a woman watching me and grinning like the Cheshire Cat. She made her way over to my side, began to indiscriminately toss baby cukes into her bag by the heaping handful and asked me what I planned on making with mine. When I told her I was thinking about bread and butter pickles, she broke out into a hearty laugh. At that moment I realized just how ridiculously obsessive it was of me to try to get that bag full of perfectly matching cucumbers. :)

She went on to suggest I bathe my cukes in a brine for a few hours; that my pickles would be crunchier if I did. I followed her advice and you know what? These pickles were pretty darn crunchy.

Gotta love great tips from perfect strangers!

3 tbsp non iodized salt
1 cup hot water
2 cups cold water
1 lb baby cucumbers, washed and sliced into 1/4 inch disks
1/4 yellow onion, sliced

4-6 sprigs fresh washed dill
2-4 slices garlic (optional)

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar
1 tbsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp celery seed

Combine the salt and hot water in a bowl and stir until the salt has dissolved. Stir in the cold water, then add the cucumber and onion slices. Set on a kitchen counter for 3-4 hours.

Drain and rinse under cold water.

Place the cucumber and onion slices into sterilized jars tucking in a dill sprig here and there as well as the garlic, if using. Set aside.

Combine the vinegar, water, evaporated cane juice or sugar, mustard seed and celery seed in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Remove from heat and divide between the cucumber filled jars. Top up with cold water if the vinegar mixture doesn't completely reach to the top.

Cool, then cover the jars and refrigerate. Give them a gentle shake every day or so.

The pickles will be ready to eat after 3-4 days and will keep refrigerated for about a month.

Turmeric & Ginger Pickled Eggs

One thing I noticed soon after I began purchasing my eggs directly from the farmer, was how difficult it was to peel them after I boiled them. The egg white would stubbornly cling to the shell I was trying to remove. After doing a bit of research I learned it was preferable to drop farm fresh eggs directly into hot water, rather than cold water. This made timing the eggs difficult for me. So, I picked up one of those egg timers that you place directly into the pot with the eggs. It changes color as the eggs cook. Regardless of how many eggs, or their size, this little gizmo appears to time them perfectly. I have used it a few times now, and my eggs have turned out perfect each time.

Another thing I learned about fresh eggs is that hens lay far fewer of them when the days get shorter. After coming home empty handed several times, I grabbed several dozen eggs when I finally made it to the farm really early, before the sun was up.

These pickled eggs are very easy to make. The seasoning is quite nice and the eggs take on a lovely yellow hue from the turmeric.

a dozen or more hard boiled eggs

Place the eggs into a sterilized jar (with lid), taking care not to squeeze them in too tightly.  Add cold water to cover the eggs, then carefully pour the water into a measuring cup to determine the amount of pickling marinade you will require.

For approximately every cup of marinade needed, combine:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
2-3 thin slices fresh ginger
1 tbsp sucanat or brown sugar
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch red pepper flakes

Combine all of the marinade ingredients into a saucepan with a lid. Bring the mixture to a simmer, lower the heat, cover the pot and cook for about 8-10 minutes.

Pour the hot marinade over the eggs. Add a small amount of water if the liquid doesn't cover the eggs completely. Cover the jar with a sterilized lid and allow to cool.

Refrigerate. Give the jar a gentle shake every day. The eggs will be ready to eat in 4-5 days. They will keep up to a month refrigerated. 

Orange Marmalade

(about 2 pints)

These past few months I have been experimenting a bit with Ina Garten's marmalade recipe. I love the idea of seeing long strands of rind suspended in jelly and her recipe suggests using a mandolin to get thin half moon slices of lemon and orange. The finished marmalade is somewhat opaque, yet still clear enough to see the rind.

I tried out various sweeteners and in the end decided on unrefined cane sugar because it didn't darken the marmalade quite as much as the sucanat had. The original recipe was too sweet for me. When I reduced the amount of sugar I noticed I had to cook the marmalade much longer for it to reach 220 degrees F. I suspect the ratio of water to sugar needs to be the same in order to reach that temperature, so I added pectin to take care of this problem.

adapted from Ina Garten's recipe
2 large seedless organic Valencia oranges
1 organic lemon

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups unrefined cane sugar
3 tbsp low sugar pectin

Cut the oranges and lemons in half crosswise, then into very thin slices. Discard any seeds  you come across. Place the sliced fruit and their juices into a stainless-steel pot. Add 4 cups water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cover and allow to stand overnight at room temperature.

The next day, bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the flame to low and simmer very gently uncovered for about 2 hours. Increase the flame and boil the mixture for about 25 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Remove about a 1/4 cup of the hot liquid portion of the marmalade. Add the pectin and stir until smooth. Stir this back into the marmalade and continue to boil the mixture for another 5 minutes.

Ladle the marmalade into clean, hot sterilized jars; wipe the rims with a clean damp paper towel, and seal with the lids.

Ina Garten suggests keeping this in the pantry for up to a year, without processing the marmalade in a water bath. I have no idea if this holds true for this version which contains a higher proportion of water. I have been keeping mine refrigerated, and so far it's still been fine after a month or two.

Spicy Mango Chutney

(2 pints)

I rarely make anything the same way twice. In my case it depends on mood, what I happen to have on hand and time.

Mangoes were on sale this week and this morning I made this delicious spicy mango chutney. It has a bit more kick to it than my usual chutney. In all likelihood that's because I left the seeds in the jalapeno pepper. I have been getting braver and doing this more frequently recently.

The chutney will keep refrigerated for about a month. Just make sure to sterilize your jars and lids first.

1 tbsp coconut oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh ginger. chopped
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced (seeds and all if you are feeling brave)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sucanat or brown sugar
4 yellow slightly under-ripe mangoes, cut into 1/2 inch dice (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup currants
up to 1/2 cup water, if needed 

Heat the oil in a heavy pot with a tight fitting lid over a medium flame. Add the garlic and ginger. Saute for a minute or two. Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to make a popping sound stir in the turmeric, cumin, coriander, curry powder, cardamom and salt.

Lower the flame and stir in the onion. Saute the mixture, stirring from time to time until the onion is translucent, taking care nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. Stir in the jalapeno slices.

Add the vinegar, sucanat, diced mango, and currants. Cover the pot with a lid and cook over a low flame for about 50 minutes. Check the chutney about every 10-15 minutes and give it a good stir. Despite the lid, the chutney might become too thick; stir in a small amount of water, if needed.

Ladle the hot chutney into sterilized jars, cover with lids, screw on the bands and cool. Will keep refrigerated for about one month.

If you plan on keeping the chutney longer than 4 weeks then ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving about a 1/2" head space. Cover with metal lids, and screw on the bands. Process in boiling water bath 8 minutes (extend this time to 15 minutes if your jars weren't hot and sterilized beforehand). Remove from the water and leave to cool. The lids should make a popping sound as the jars cool.

Pickled Eggs & Beets

(12 pickled eggs)

Just this week we saw the temperature hit 99°F (37°C) in Dallas. I actually didn't mind it, the air was relatively dry, there was a slight breeze and it just felt like a nice summer day. If  this trend continued for the next three or four months, I'd be delighted, however in another week or two the breeze will vanish and the temperature will climb and (more or less) remain in the triple digits. Hot enough to break into a sweat walking to your car, hot enough to burn your hands on the steering wheel.

Despite the air conditioned house, I pretty much lose interest in cooking and eating, which trust me in my case isn't a bad thing, lol. I prefer snacking on cold dishes and whenever I'm inclined I'll prepare something along those lines. This week it's pickled eggs and beets. They were considered bar food (sans beets) where I grew up in Alberta. Frequently you'd find a huge jar filled with dozens of eggs next to the cash register. They were often quite rubbery, the result (I suspect) of the ratio of vinegar to water and perhaps the amount of time they had spent up on the bar.

I used medium sized eggs for this, which are more difficult to find (at least here in Dallas) than you might imagine. I would have preferred using small eggs, but I haven't seen those in years. I'm planning on checking out the Dallas Farmer's Market for small eggs next week. I might be pleasantly surprised.

1 3/4 cups water
3 medium raw beets, trimmed, peeled and cut into wedges
1/4 large sweet onion, sliced
12 hard boiled medium eggs, shells removed
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2-3 tbsp sucanat, honey or brown sugar, to taste
1 tbsp whole mustard seeds
9-12 whole peppercorns
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
a pinch or two ground ginger
a pinch or two allspice
a pinch or two cinnamon
a pinch or two cayenne pepper

Sterilize a large glass jar and lid (about 46oz). Set aside.

Place the water, beets and onion into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook the beets until tender; about 10-15 minutes.

Scoop out the beets and onions with a slotted spoon (reserving the cooking liquid). Place them into the sterilized jar alternating them with the eggs.

Add the vinegar, sucanat, mustard seeds, peppercorns, salt, ginger, allspice, cinnamon and cayenne to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for about 4-5 minutes.

Pour the hot liquid over the eggs, beets and onion. Add a small amount of water if the liquid doesn't cover the eggs and beets completely. Cover the jar with the sterilized lid and allow to cool.

Refrigerate. Give the jar a gentle shake every day. The eggs and beets will be ready to eat in 4-5 days. They will keep up to a month refrigerated. These eggs are great as a snack or cut up in a salad.

Peach Jam with Sucanat and Bourbon

(1 1/2 pints)

Sucanat was one of those things I had never tried although I knew what it was. I'm not really sure why I held out as long as I did, I'm usually pretty adventurous when it comes to food. The other day I found myself checking it out once again in the bulk food section at Whole Foods. I grabbed two scoops of it. The stuff is quite nice. It dissolves quickly and in my opinion it's much better tasting than brown sugar. According to wiki sucanat is dried cane juice which has been minimally processed. It has a deep rich flavour due to its molasses content.

I combined the peaches with a low sugar pectin, but made this batch sweeter than my last attempt at jam making with the strawberries. If I'm completely honest I prefer this peach jam, even though it ended up containing a few more calories.


1 1/2 lbs peaches, about 5 peaches
1 tsp fresh finely grated lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup sucanat
2 tbsp Ball's no or low sugar pectin
1/3 cup apple juice
1/4 tsp butter*, optional
1/4 cup bourbon

This recipe makes a small amount of jam. If you don't plan on consuming all of it within a month, I have provided a link at the bottom for instructions on how to prep the jars and can the jam in a hot water bath. I imagine you could also freeze it for up to year with much less fuss. Just give it a good stir after you thaw it out.

Bring a pot of water to boil and drop in the peaches for about 30 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon and briefly run them under cold water. Make a slit on each peach with a sharp knife and slip off the skins.

Remove the pits and coarsely chop up the fruit. You should have about 2 1/2 cups. Place the fruit into a heavy pot and using a potato masher, crush the fruit a bit.

Sprinkle the lemon zest, lemon juice, sucanat and pectin over the peaches. Leave for a minute or two until the sucanat has dissolved. Pour in the apple juice. Add the butter if using. *The instructions that came with the pectin suggest using the butter to keep the foaming to a minimum and it worked quite well.

Bring the fruit mixture to a boil. Continue to boil briskly, stirring from time to time to prevent scorching for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon.

Ladle into jars leaving a bit of space on top (this is especially important if you plan to freeze your jam) and cover with the lids.

See the instructions below if you are using a hot water bath. Otherwise allow the jam to cool completely, then refrigerate or freeze.

Hot water bath canning.

Strawberry Freezer Jam Sweetened with Honey

(about 2 pints)

This year I decided to make freezer jam. Unlike regular jam, it doesn't require a long cooking time in order to thicken nor do you have to sterilize jars, or pull out the hot water canner. Once it's set you can either store it in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 weeks or you can freeze it for up to a year. This jam has a nice spreadable consistency and it's very fresh tasting. It's different from conventional jam as it lacks the denseness associated with a lot of sugar and it isn't overly sweet.

Freezer jam is really quick and easy to make once you get the hang of it. This was my first time using Ball's low or no sugar needed pectin and I was really pleased with the results. Instead of dumping in several cups of sugar to get the stuff to set, I only added about 1/4 cup of honey.

This strawberry jam is delicious stirred into plain Greek yogurt for breakfast!

2 1/2 lbs ripe strawberries (4 cups mashed)
1 tsp fresh fine orange zest
juice from 1 orange
2/3 cup apple juice
3 tbsp Ball low or no-sugar needed pectin
1/4 - 1/3 cup honey, to taste
2 tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)

Wash the strawberries and husk them. Cut them up and crush them with a potato masher, you should have about 4 cups. Stir in the orange zest and set aside.

Combine the orange and apple juice in a large saucepan. Gradually whisk in the pectin until it's dissolved.

Bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Boil briskly for one minute while stirring. Add the crushed strawberries and bring the mixture back to a boil. Stir vigorously for about one minute.

Remove from heat and stir in the honey and Grand Marnier, if using.

Ladle into clean jars leaving room at the top for the jam to expand if freezing. Allow the jam to cool then apply the tops. Leave the jam at room temperature for about 12 hours and then either refrigerate up to 3-4 weeks, or freeze up to one year. Thaw frozen jam and stir before serving.

Easy Pickled Beets with Orange & Ginger

(about 2 pints)

The markets in Dallas are filled with beets at the moment. They happen to be one of my favourite vegetables. Their earthy flavour and amazing vivid colour make them difficult for me to resist.

This time I decided to add orange juice and fresh ginger after seeing orange and ginger beets at the salad bar at WF. This recipe makes a small quantity of pickled beets to be consumed within a week.

2 lbs beets
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup white balsamic or cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/4 tsp salt
6-8 whole peppercorns
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced

Preheat oven 350°F.

Wash the beets, cut off the tops (save these for another use) and place them in a single layer in an ovenproof dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake the beets for about an hour or a bit longer until they can easily be pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and cool.

Slip off the skins/peels and slice the beets into thin slices. Place the beets into a large nonreactive bowl.

Place the onions, vinegar, orange juice, salt, peppercorns and ginger into a stainless steel saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, adjust the heat and simmer for about 2 minutes.

Pour this over the sliced beets and carefully toss until everything is evenly combined. Allow the beets to marinate for at least several hours or overnight.

They will keep refrigerated for about a week or so.

Marinated Mushrooms

(about 1 1/2 pints)

These delicious mushrooms are very addictive, and thankfully they don't contain a lot of oil. This recipe can easily be doubled if you prefer making a larger quantity.

1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped or 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 lb small button or cremini mushrooms
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 green onion, sliced thin
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly cracked pepper

Place the broth, wine, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, pepper flakes and lemon zest into a pot large enough to hold the mushrooms. Bring the mixture to a simmer over moderate heat.

While the broth is heating up, clean the mushrooms and trim the stems. Add the mushrooms to the broth and simmer for about 5-6 minutes. The liquid will not cover the mushrooms, so you'll need to stir the mixture to ensure the mushrooms get rotated in the hot broth.

Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon and place into a non-reactive bowl or large jar.

Add the bell pepper, green onion, and garlic to the broth, increase the heat and cook until the liquid has reduced down to about one quarter of the original amount. Remove from heat.

Stir in the vinegar and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the mixture over the mushrooms. Toss until the mushrooms are evenly coated.

You can serve the mushrooms after an hour or so, but they are best after a day or two. They will keep refrigerated for about a week.

Wild Mexican Plum Jam

(about 1 1/2 pints)

I have two fairly large wild mexican plum trees (prunus mexicana) in front of my house, adjacent to the sidewalk. These drought tolerant trees are the first to bloom each spring with a showy display of white flowers. Towards the end of July the fruit begins to fall off the trees before it's fully ripe. The yellowish plums turn into a lovely reddish purple as they continue to ripen on the ground. This (mess) continues throughout September.

This year I picked about 2 pounds of plums and left them in a paper bag on my counter for a few days. At their ripest these small cherry-sized plums are still quite sour, but they make a wonderful tart jam.

2 lbs wild mexican plums 3 cups water 2-3 cups *sugar Wash the plums, pick them over and place them into a heavy pot. Add the water and bring them to a boil for about 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat. When the plums are cool enough to handle remove a cupful at a time and place into a sieve placed over a bowl. Don't discard any of the water in the pot.  Remove the seeds and press as much pulp though as you can. Continue until you have gone through all of the plums. Return the pulp mixture to the water in the pot. (I like to go through the discarded seed and skin mixture afterwards and pick out a few skins to return to the pot for their texture and colour, but this isn't necessary.) Place a small plate into your freezer. Add 2 cups of  sugar to the plums and stir until it has dissolved. Taste. Add more sugar if the mixture is too tart. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat a touch and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, skimming off any foam that forms. Remove the cold plate from the freezer and place a teaspoonful of jam onto the dish. If the jam is too runny then simmer it for a few more minutes and try again. If you like its consistency, then ladle into hot sterilized jars, cover, cool and keep refrigerated. If you plan on keeping the jam longer than 4-6 weeks, then ladle into hot sterilized jars leaving about a 1/2" head space. Cover with metal lids, and screw on the bands. Process in boiling water bath 8 minutes (extend this time to 15 minutes if your jars weren't hot and sterilized beforehand). Remove from the water and leave to cool.

Bread & Butter Pickles

(2 pints)

Recently I've been noticing cute small pickling cucumbers at the market. This week they seemed larger, so I dug through the bin and grabbed the smallest ones I could find. Ever since I made those Vietnamese carrot and daikon pickles, I've wanted to try a sweet cucumber pickle.

I looked at a number of recipes and settled on one from The Columbus Dispatch, as my base. The method it suggests using ice cubes was new to me, and I was excited to give that a try. I have no idea if the ice was responsible, but these pickles were nice and crispy when they were ready.

As usual, I made a few tweaks. I reduced the amount of sugar by half and the resulting pickle was pleasantly sweet. You can always refer to the original recipe, if you prefer your pickles even sweeter. I also changed up the seeds and spices a bit, adding a few whole black peppercorns as well as a bit of celery seed.

adapted from The Columbus Dispatch
1 lb small pickling cucumbers, washed & sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 dozen regular size ice cubes (full tray)
1/4 cup distilled vinegar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp turmeric
6 black peppercorns
1 pinch ground cloves

In a nonreactive bowl, combine the sliced cucumbers, onion and salt. Cover the mixture with the ice cubes and set aside for 2 hours.

Pour off all of the liquid and drain well. I tasted a cucumber slice and it struck me as rather salty, so I briefly rinsed all of them under running cold water. Divide the mixture between two sterilized pint size glass jars.

In a pot, bring the vinegar, sugar, seeds and spices to a boil. Simmer for a minute or so until all of the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

Carefully divide the liquid mixture between the two jars of cucumbers and onions. It didn't reach all the way up to the top of the jars, so I added a small amount of cold water to make up for that. I used about 2-3 tablespoons (of water) for each jar.

Cool on the counter, and cover. Shake the jars gently, then refrigerate up to three weeks.

The pickles were really tasty this morning. I made them yesterday.

Do Chua; Vietnamese Carrot & Daikon Pickles

(about 3 pints)

From time to time I get lunch from a Vietnamese restaurant which serves these pickles with every dish. These sweet and sour pickles are delicious, so much so I often devour them first before touching anything else on my plate. They are incredibly easy to make and will keep well refrigerated for several weeks. They are quite wonderful with grilled meats. I prepared them to go with the tandoori chicken I had yesterday.

This week the daikon were sold in bunches of three, so I made more than my usual amount. If you haven't purchased these radishes before, then look for firm ones around 1 1/2 - 2 inches in diameter. These are generally the tastiest, if they get too large they can become rather bitter.

1 lb daikon radishes
1 lb carrots
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 1/4 cups warm water

Wash and peel both the daikon and carrots. Cut both into even matchstick style pieces and place in a non reactive bowl. I used a package of snacking carrots, so I cut the diakon to match their length.

Sprinkle the salt and sugar over the cut up vegetables and toss a few times. Set aside for about 10-15 minutes, tossing once or twice.

Combine the 1/2 cup sugar, vinegar and water. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the carrots and daikon and place in a colander. Rinse with cold water, the return the vegetables to the bowl.

Add the sugar and vinegar mixture and toss to combine everything evenly. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours (even better, overnight) before serving.

These will keep up to 3 or 4 weeks refrigerated. I have heard that the daikon can become quite "smelly" over time needing to be "aired", but I have yet to experience this.

Mango Chutney

(about 1 pint)

This past year in particular, I have been shocked by some of the prices at the grocery store. A small jar of mango chutney this week, $6. The main ingredient was sugar and the stuff wasn't even organic.

I spent about five minutes looking at the ingredients of several different brands and decided to make my own.  How hard could it be?

Mangoes were on sale, 79 cents each, so I grabbed two of them. I also picked up some crystallized ginger in the bulk food section thinking that would make a nice addition.

I wasn't sure about the sugar/vinegar ratio, so in a separate bowl I kept adding sugar and vinegar until it seemed balanced to me. I ended up with 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup vinegar. When I added this to the onion, chile and mango mixture, it was still working for me.

This chutney is delicious. More flavourful and less sweet than the commercial brands I've been buying. I ended up with slightly more than a pint (I thought it would make more); next time I will double this recipe.

I served this chutney with some butter chicken I made this week..

Red Onion Relish

(about 1 1/2 pints)

This stuff is great on steaks, burgers, chicken, pizza...   sandwiches....   lots of things...  yum!

Orange-Lime Marmalade with Agave Nectar

(about 1 1/2 pints)

My sister mentioned she made some orange honey marmalade which got me to thinking agave nectar might work well too. I decided to give it a try by making a small batch.

I had hoped to find some organic Seville oranges, but they didn't have any at the market. I came home instead with one blood orange, one navel orange and one lime.

The main thing I noticed making this was the marmalade didn't "jell" the way it does when I use granulated sugar. I cooked it a bit longer until it thickened sufficiently. I suppose I could have added pectin, but I rarely use that. In any case the finished marmalade had a texture I quite like and it was very flavourful.

I will use agave nectar again the next time I make a jam or marmalade. It's definitely worth experimenting with.

Plum Conserve with Rum

(about 4 pints)

For the past month or two every time I have gone grocery shopping I have hurried over to the produce department looking for Italian prune plums, feeling disappointed each time I didn't see them. Last week I actually felt a bit panicked, wondering if I somehow overlooked them on a previous visit. It just seems to me there's a small window of time when they are available.

I finally saw them this week and grabbed a few pounds. This particular variety was huge. I have never seen them this large before.

This conserve has become an annual ritual for me. It's special on hot buttered toast. The only complaint I ever received was from a friend who was a bit upset she had eaten the entire jar with a spoon in one sitting. It was probably the rum, which that particular year I had added a lot more of.

3 lbs Italian prune plums, pitted and cut up
2 cups sugar, (add up to 1 cup more if you prefer this sweeter and less tangy)
juice and peel from 1 small - medium lemon, cut into small dice, (use half the peel if you prefer less lemony flavour)
1/2 cup dried currants
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/3 - 1/2 cup dark rum, to taste

Place the plums, sugar, lemon juice and diced lemon peels into a large stainless steel or coated saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer until it begins to thicken; about 20-30 minutes depending on how runny or thick you'd like this to be. I keep a small plate in the freezer and add a small spoonful at a time to it until I see a consistency I like.

Stir in the currants and nuts and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the rum.

Ladle into hot sterilized jars, cover, cool and keep refrigerated.

If you plan on keeping the conserve longer than 4-6 weeks then ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving about a 1/2" head space. Cover with metal lids, and screw on the bands. Process in boiling water bath 8 minutes (extend this time to 15 minutes if your jars weren't hot and sterilized beforehand). Remove from the water and leave to cool.

Mixed Sour Refrigerator Pickles

(6 pints)



I intended to pickle a few cucumbers, but when I got to the farmers' market last week, I decided mixed vegetables would be nicer.

The spices I used for these were a bit different than what I usually go for because the grocery store I went to didn't have what I needed and I wasn't in the mood to drive all over town in the heat looking for stuff, so I used yellow mustard seeds and fennel seeds instead. The fennel is quite nice, I think.

They say refrigerator pickles should be consumed within a month or so, but I have had the odd jar last up to 3 or 4 months in my refrigerator (and it's been fine); mainly because I put something larger in front and forgot they were there. This batch might not even last a month because I'm already working on the second jar.

These pickles are on the sour side. If you prefer something a bit more mellow then replace some or all of the vinegar with rice vinegar.

You might have to adjust the ingredients slightly
2 3/4 cups water
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3 tbsp agave nectar
1-2 tbsp kosher salt, to taste
1 small piece of ginger, peeled and sliced

4-5 small zucchini
1/2 lb green beans
4-6 small cucumbers
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1 bell pepper
4 medium carrots,

1-2 tbsp mustard seed
1-2 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp peppercorns

6-9 cloves of garlic, to taste, chopped or sliced
1 small bunch fresh dill
6 bay leaves

Thoroughly wash the pint jars in very hot water or run them through the dishwasher.

Clean, seed and cut up the vegetables into sticks and/or slices, sized to fit the pint jars. They ended up generously filling a 2 quart measure I have.

Bring the water, vinegars, agave nectar and salt to boil in a non-reactive pot. Add the ginger and simmer for about two minutes, remove from heat.

Lightly crush the mustard, fennel and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle or use a rolling pin and crush them on a cutting board.

Divide the seeds and peppercorns evenly among the jars. Divide and arrange the vegetables, garlic, and dill sprigs in the jars. You can lightly pack in the vegetables as they will shrink a bit as they marinate. Place one bay leaf into each jar.

Ladle the brine into each jar. Divide the ginger slices and add those to the jars. If it looks like there's not enough brine then just make up the difference with a bit of extra water to each jar.  Cover with a lid and refrigerate. Allow to marinate at least 4-5 days. I like to shake the jars every day, but I'm not certain if that's necessary.