Miz Chef

Cooking Up a Healthy Life

Category Archives: Pickling/Sweet and Sour


by 1 Comment

Watermelon Pickles

Watermelon Pickles are a specialty of the U.S. South. It’s a very utilitarian recipe, as it makes use of all those watermelon rinds that add up all summer long.

Eating watermelon rinds ay sound strange, but like any other pickled vegetables, they have a delicious sweet-sour flavor that makes a great accompaniment to any picnic or barbecue. They also make great party snacks.

Enjoy!

Watermelon Pickles

2 lbs. watermelon rind
¼ cup kosher salt
2 cups apple cider vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon peppercorns
½ lemon, thinly sliced

Cut away any pink flesh from the watermelon rinds. Cut the rinds into cubes or strips and place them in a large bowl. \Add the salt and enough water to cover them. Cover the bowl and let the rinds soak in the refrigerator overnight.Drain and rinse the rinds. Place them in a large saucepan and cover them with cold water. Bring to a boil; lower the heat to low and simmer until they’re just tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 20 minutes. Drain and put them back in the pot.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, and peppercorns with 1 cup water (or more, if necessary, to cover the rinds). Bring to a boil; lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Simmer 5 minutes longer. Pour this over the watermelon rinds, add the lemon slices, and continue simmering over medium-low heat until the fleshy parts of the rinds are translucent, about 20-25 minutes.

Transfer the pickles to jars with tight-fitting lids. Cover with the cooking liquid. Pickles should be submerged; if necessary, add more liquid of one part water, one part vinegar. (Or, you can process them in a hot water bath.)

Pickles will keep in the refrigerator up to 2 week.

Advertisement


by Leave a comment

Easy Pickled Jalapenos

Jalapenos are great chiles. They provide a little heat and a little chile flavor without blowing your head off. If you’re anything like me, eating a dish that’s too spicy numbs your palate and you can’t taste anything else. So, jalapenos are one of my favorite chiles to use because it’s low on the Scoville Scale.

If you’re not familiar with it, the Scoville scale was created in 1912 by Wilbur Scoville to measure the heat of chile peppers, indicated by Scoville Units. The more capsaicin a pepper has, the higher the Scoville Units. A jalapeno has 2,500 to 8,000 Units. Lower on the scale is the poblano, which has 1,000 to 1,500 Units. Cayenne peppers have 30,000 to 50,000 Units. A Scotch bonnet, one of the hottest peppers in the world, has 100,000–350,000 Units. Now THAT will blow your head off.

However, as much as I may like jalapenos, and as versatile as they are, there are only so many peppers I can use in a week. I have found that when I have an abundance of them (thanks to a backyard garden), pickling them is a great way to use them.

It’s incredibly easy to pickle jalapenos, and they can be used in so many dishes to add a special zing to it. Use them on burgers and sandwiches, in stews and chilis, in casseroles, and anything else you want to have a zippy flavor.

 

 

Easy Pickled Jalapenos

½ pound jalapenos
1 cup apple cider vinegar
3 large garlic cloves, sliced thickly
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 small carrot, sliced ¼-inch thick

Rinse and dry the jalapenos. Cut off the tops, then slice them into 1/4-inch rings.In a small-medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, garlic, salt, and peppercorns with 1 cup water.Bring the pot to a boil; lower the heat to a simmer.

Add the jalapenos and carrot, and simmer 2 minutes. Remove the pot from heat and let cool about 10 to 15 minutes.With a slotted spoon, transfer the jalapenos and carrot to a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid.Pour the brine into the jar, making sure that everything is submerged.Seal the jar and refrigerate for a week.

Pickles keep up to a month.


by Leave a comment

Cipolline in Agrodolce (Sweet and Sour Cipolline Onions)

As we’re coming into the fall season—and I say that lightly because we’ve been having higher-than-normal temperatures for this time of year—we’re beginning to see the first offerings of the autumn harvests. A little.

Anyway, at my farmers’ market, I spotted cipolline, which are a specific kind of onion and very popular in Italian cuisine. I usually buy a batch and make cipolline in agrodolce (sweet and sour cipolline) for Thanksgiving. But since I spotted these way too early for the holidays, but couldn’t resist buying them, I decided to experiment with my recipe a little. The difference here is booze. I wanted to see what a little alcohol would do to the mixture.

The question was, what type of alcohol did I want to add? I debated between bourbon, vodka, and a liqueur. Ultimately, I went with apricot brandy. It gave the onions a sweet but—not surprising—boozy edge. In short, they’re really good. Give it a try.

Cipolline in Agrodolce (Sweet and Sour Cipolline Onions)

1 pound cipolline onions, outer skin removed
2 tablespoons sugar
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup apricot brandy
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon peppercorns
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon oregano

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the onions and lower the heat. Simmer for about a minute or two and drain. When the onions are cool enough to handle, trim them and peel off the tough outer layer.

Combine the sugar and ¼ cup water in a medium pot. Bring it to a boil; lower the heat and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Add the vinegar and bring to a boil again. Simmer until thickened.Add one cup water, the cipolline, and the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer about 45 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let them cool. Transfer everything to a jar or sealable bowl and refrigerate.

Cipolline will last about a week.