Quick Pickled Radishes

Quick pickles are also known as refrigerator pickles. They are simply vegetables that are pickled in a vinegar, water, and salt (sometimes sugar) solution and stored in the refrigerator. Quick pickling is also a brilliant solution for preserving a variety of vegetables from the market or your own garden. Quick pickling doesn't require canning or a bushel of vegetables. Best of all, you can adapt this simple formula for any fresh vegetables; try a mixture of vinegars and spices for a truly custom pickle pleasure.

I like to use up leftovers for this method, this past weekend I made some cucumber and radish appetizers for our Annual Easter Party and had a bag of radishes left over. I decided to quick pickle them since I'm the only one here that eats them.

Quick Pickled Radishes

1 cup white or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water (optional... I like stronger vinegar flavor)

1 tablespoon sugar (also optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 small bag radishes, thinly sliced

Whisk first 4 ingredients in a small bowl until sugar and salt dissolve. Place red onion in a jar; pour vinegar mixture over. Cover and chill. Store in the refrigerator. 

Quick Pickled Garlic

This month the Food in Jars Mastery Challenge was Quick Pickles. Quick pickles are also known as refrigerator pickles. They are simply vegetables that are pickled in a vinegar, water, and salt (sometimes sugar) solution and stored in the refrigerator.Quick pickling is also a brilliant solution for preserving a variety of vegetables from the market or your own garden. Quick pickling doesn't require canning or a bushel of vegetables. Best of all, you can adapt this simple formula for any fresh vegetables; try a mixture of vinegars and spices for a truly custom pickle pleasure.

I like to use up leftovers for this method, but this time, I bought a pound of garlic and decided to quick pickle it to have it on hand for months to come. I pop a couple of cloves out the frig and run them through my press and add them to sauces, dips and dressings.

It all starts with:

1 pound of garlic

 Separate the cloves...

 This yields about 3 1/2 cups of garlic cloves...

 Next, peel the cloves. Do not smash them.

If you'd like, you can blanch them for about 2 to 3 minutes,

and then transfer them to an ice bath.

The skins should peel right off.

 Peeled garlic cloves...

 Divide the garlic between 2 clean prepared pint jars

or 4 half pints... Depending on how often you use it.

I use bunches, so I used pints.

Quick Pickled Garlic

1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 cup water (or more to taste... I like stronger vinegar flavor.)

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 lb Garlic Heads

Whisk first 3 ingredients in a small bowl until salt dissolves. Place garlic in a jars; pour vinegar mixture over. Cover and chill. Store in the refrigerator. 

Quick Pickled Red Onion ~ Food in Jars Mastery Challenge

This month the Food in Jars Mastery Challenge was Quick Pickles. Quick pickles are also known as refrigerator pickles. They are simply vegetables that are pickled in a vinegar, water, and salt (sometimes sugar) solution and stored in the refrigerator. 

Quick pickling is also a brilliant solution for preserving a variety of vegetables from the market or your own garden. Quick pickling doesn't require canning or a bushel of vegetables. Best of all, you can adapt this simple formula for any fresh vegetables; try a mixture of vinegars and spices for a truly custom pickle pleasure.

Preparing Vegetables for Pickling

• Thinly slice: cucumbers, summer squash, radishes and red onion
• Cut into spears: carrots or cucumbers
• Peel: carrots
• Blanch: green beans (optional, but helps preserve their color)

Brine Basics

For quick pickles, a basic brine is equal parts vinegar and water, but you can adjust the ratio to your preference. Any basic vinegar is game — white vinegar, apple cider, white wine, and rice vinegar all work well. You can use these vinegars alone or in combination. Steer clear of aged or concentrated vinegars like balsamic or malt vinegar for pickling.

Quick Pickled Onions

1 cup white or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water (optional... I like stronger vinegar flavor)

1 tablespoon sugar (also optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 red onion, thinly sliced

Whisk first 4 ingredients  in a small bowl until sugar and salt dissolve. Place red onion in a jar; pour vinegar mixture over. Cover and chill. Store in the refrigerator. 

Southern Pickled Okra

I made pickled okra last summer, but I never realized I didn't make a blog post about it. I was trying so hard to baby the 4 plants that made it in planting and processing the yield, that the post just never occurred to me! Funny! Pictures and posts are usually first in my mind! LOL

 

Makes 6 (1/2-pt) jars 

 

1 pound okra (3 1/2 to 4 inches long)

3 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes

6 teaspoons dried dill
6 garlic cloves, peeled

3 cups cider vinegar (24 fluid ounces)

1 cup water
3 tablespoons kosher salt

Sterilize jars and lids. Put 1 garlic clove, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon dill in each jar. Tightly pack jars with okra, stem ends up. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in a 2-quart nonreactive saucepan, stirring until salt is dissolved. Divide pickling liquid evenly among jars, leaving 1/4-inch space at top. Tap jars or run a knife or skewer around the jar to release air bubbles.

Seal and process jars. Wipe off rims of filled jars with a clean damp kitchen towel, and then firmly screw on lids and bands. Put sealed jars on rack in canner or pot and add enough hot water to cover. Bring to a boil. Boil pickles 10 minutes. Carefully transfer jars with tongs to a towel-lined surface to cool. Jars will seal (if you hear a ping, this signals that the vacuum formed at the top has made the lid concave).

Let pickled okra stand in jars at least 24 hours for flavors to develop.

Pickled okra (in sealed jars) keeps 6 months in a cool dark place.

Canned Goods for Sale!

I have 9 different varieties of canned goods for sale:
3 varieties of Pickles
2 varieties of relish
3 varieties of BBQ Sauce
1 type of Jam (I'll be adding another jam when my figs ripen)

If you are interested, choose the varieties you would like to purchase from the drop-down list above the "Buy Now" button. I use the USPS's medium flat rate boxes, and their shipping is $12. I can fit up to 5, maybe 6 jars in each box. When you order, there is nothing to join or sign up, and your information is secure! Thanks!

Minimum Order of 2 Jars for Shipping

Dill Pickles $5.00 USD Garlic Dill Pickles $5.00 USD Bread and Butter Pickles $5.00 USD Red Onion Jam $4.00 USD Vidalia Onion Relish $4.00 USD Caramelized Onion Relish $4.00 USD Daddy's BBQ for Pulled Pork $6.00 USD Memphis~Style BBQ Sauce $6.00 USD Memphis~Style Hot BBQ Sauce $6.00 USD

Mama's Bread and Butter Pickles

This is my Mama's favorite kind of pickle and her favorite recipe for them... I made a half batch today. I'm delivering some tomorrow! :-)

Bread & Butter Pickles

Use 4 quarts medium-sized, cucumbers sliced thin (do not peel). Make sure they are not seedy. Add 6 medium white onions, sliced thin, 2 peppers, chopped and 3 whole garlic cloves. Add 1/3 cup salt. Mix thoroughly. Let stand 4 hours in covered container with cracked ice. Drain well. Combine 5 cups sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric, 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed, 2 tablespoons mustard seed and 3 cups vinegar. Pour this over the cucumber mixture. Heat just to boiling point. Seal at once in hot sterilized jars.*

* These are very old recipes! Today's safety standards require you to use the water bath canning method for 10-15 minutes to insure a true seal.

Dill Pickles... Easy Canning!

I got inspired when we visited Old McCaskills Farm when I peeked in their canning room...

I stopped and bought about 15 pickling cucumbers...

Dill Pickles

30 pickling cucumbers
1 pickling mix package (I use MrsWages dill mix)
7 1/3 cups water
3 1/3 cups white vinegar
1/8 tsp dill weed per jar
1 tsp chopped garlic per jar
Boil mixture. Pack jars with dill, garlic and sliced pickles. Pour mixture over cucumbers leaving 1/2 inch. Then follow canning instructions.

My son is such a pickle expert. LOL  He loves them and eats at least a gallon jar full each week. He kept asking me when they'd be ready. I kept telling him in 24 hours! I went to town, and when I got back (before the 24 hours were up!) this is what I found!
He also adds extra garlic to his!

I guess they are good! LOL

Deviled Eggs

For supper tonight, I wanted to cook some chuck-eye steaks. I bought them because they are cheaper than Rib-eyes, but being cheaper, means that they can be tougher also! I used a recipe a long time ago that put the steaks, whole, in a casserole of some kind and baked them in the oven. They were so tender and tasty! But, I couldn't find that recipe, so I improvised.  I heated up the onions and mushrooms that I caramelized in the crock pot the other day, cooked the steaks in the oven, and made deviled eggs.

6 eggs, hard cooked and peeled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish (optional)
pinch of salt 
fresh ground black pepper


Cut eggs in half. Arrange egg whites cut side up on a serving plate and put the yolks in a small mixing bowl. Mash yolks with fork then stir in mayonnaise, mustard, pickle and salt and pepper. Mash and stir all ingredients together well. Spoon a little bit of the mixture into each egg white half. Sprinkle eggs with red pepper or paprika, if desired. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

I sprinkle the steaks with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

I topped each one with 2 pats of butter. I covered them with foil,

and cooked them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

I removed the foil and baked them for another 5 minutes.

The steaks cook up to the texture of a good pot roast! 

Turned out really good... juicier than the picture looks!

Chicken Salad for Sandwiches

One of MY favorites to make and eat!!!


3 cups chopped cooked chicken
4 Eggs, boiled and chopped
1-1/2 cups sliced celery
1 Tbsp. sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup mayo (or more)
1/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. chopped onion
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp basil
pepper, to taste


Mix until well blended. Store in air tight container in the frig.

For a sandwich... choose your favorite bread. Slice some tomato. Tear some lettuce leaves and assemble! Now rock out! :-)

Easter Dinner from my Blog...

My friend Laurie at Food is Love has thrown down the gauntlet! She has challenged me to make the Easter Holiday meal from dishes I already have on my blog. No pulling out Mama's old notes on the traditional Easter Feast this time! (Unless I've unwittingly already got it buried in all these posts :-) Soooo... Ok Laurie! I'm on it! Let's get ready to rumble!!!



Yes! That's me in the polka dot pants!!!

When I think of Easter, I think back to Easter Hunts with all my cousins, family and friends. I also think of a big ole whole picnic ham that has been cooked to perfection by my Mama, of course... green bean casseroles, brown rice, potato salad and someone always brings the Watergate Salad that most Southerners, that don't care for it much, refer to as "that Green Stuff"! No meal would be complete without Mama's macaroni and cheese. We also loved to churn ice cream and Mama always had a cake or two on the counter.



Now... let's see what I can come up with from previous posts that could come close to my Easter Food Memories!

First of all, what can I replace the ham with... I cannot believe I haven't covered something as simple as ham! Ok, let's go with Chicken Cordon Blue that has some ham and, you might think, is a pretty fancy holiday kind of feel, but wait, remember this is 'with a twist'! This an easy version that is turned into a casserole! So, it's perfect to fix for a large family get-together. Whew! Main course... check! Now let's find those sides!

There is Mama's Macaroni and Cheese and the green bean casserole. Instead of brown rice, let's go with Grandmama Bradham's Greasy Rice.

I can't believe I don't have my potato salad on here either. So, we'll go with my new popular Cornbread Salad. We always have to have some nibbles lying around so, I'll put out some Dill Pickles, pickled okra, pickled carrots and Bread and Butter Pickles. And no meal is complete without Mama's Short Biscuits. Oh and don't forget the Green Stuff!

Now, desserts... As I said, we loved to churn ice cream. So, I'd like to have some of Mama's Orange Pineapple Ice Cream and, I had already bought the ingredients to make the kids an Italian Cream Cheese Cake.

Well that's the Challenge... My Easter Meal from my Blog...

Thanks to Laurie at Food is Love! This was a fun challenge! So it's my turn to challenge some of my foodie friends. Here goes...

The Southern Lady Cooks

Rich Fletcher's Good Food Revolution

Cooking with Libby

Check out Laurie's Challenge Results too at Food is Love!

Mama's Sweet Pickles Sticks

Mama's Sweet Pickle Sticks

Cucumbers
3 ¾ cups Vinegar
3 T Salt
4 ½ t Turmeric
3 cups Sugar
4 ½ t Celery Seed
¾ t Mustard Seeds

Use fresh, firm, medium cucumbers. Wash and cut into quarters. Pour boiling water over them and let stand overnight. Next morning, pack solidly into clean jars. Make pickling solution, boil 5 minutes. Pour hot solution over cucumbers. Put lids and seal. Fill 6 pint jars and process according to your canner instructions. (usually 5 minutes for pints and 10 minutes for quarts)

Another Canning Recipe

This is my Mama's favorite kind of pickle and her favorite recipe for them...

Bread & Butter Pickles

Use 4 quarts medium-sized, cucumbers sliced thin (do not peel). Make sure they are not seedy. Add 6 medium white onions, sliced thin, 2 peppers, chopped and 3 whole garlic cloves. Add 1/3 cup salt. Mix thoroughly. Let stand 4 hours in covered container with cracked ice. Drain well. Combine 5 cups sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric, 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed, 2 tablespoons mustard seed and 3 cups vinegar. Pour this over the cucumber mixture. Heat just to boiling point. Seal at once in hot sterilized jars.

Canning Veggies and making Jelly

I had a lot of fruit and veggies left from my back-up for catering the wedding this past weekend. Not wanting them to spoil, or throw them out... I canned them!

Getting started making Dill Pickles

Dill Pickles

1 pickling mix package
7 1/3 cups water
3 1/3 cups white vinegar
1/8 tsp dill weed per jar
1/2 tsp chopped garlic per jar

Boil mixture. Pack jars with dill, garlic and sliced pickles. Pour mixture over cucumbers leaving 1/2 inch. Then follow canning instructions.

Ready to sit for at least 24 hours

I also pickled some carrots. Turned out yummy to me!

I also did a quart of tomato sauce (on the left)
and 3 pints of strawberry jelly.

Strawberry Jelly

4 cups mashed strawberries
1 cup sugar (taste for sweetness)
1 packet of strawberry jello

Boil mixture, and follow canning instructions.

My son, Elliott opened a quart of the pickles tonight
 to try them, and this is what's left :-)