Aunt Els Pumpkin Pickles:
Now a good number of people have heard of pickled watermelon and those that haven’t well yes they pickle watermelon. More specifically the rinds.
Now this is a canning recipe so you will need the usual things for that like Mason Jars big cauldrons…uhm pots of water and the like. Personally I like a pressure cooker and if you’re familiar with canning/bottling your own food then you know what I mean. If not look it up! It’s a seriously cool life skill.
First Pumpkin… You’ll need some of that and you will want it cut up into small chunks about the sized for steaming/boiling squash about a piece a half inch long and one to two inches wide. I prefer two but leave the skin and melon on.
Okay here because it’s not an exact thing because of the size of the average pumpkin you’ll just have to bear with me here.
Next in a large bowl or container of choice add this per each pumpkin used.
2 cups of brown sugar.
2 table spoons of fresh ground black pepper.
1 table spoon of ground cumin.
1 cup of chili flakes or a couple of chopped hot peppers red colored chilies look prettier here.
1 cup of serracha hot sauce though any will do in a pinch.
3-6 cloves of chopped fresh garlic.
2 tablespoons of salt.
Yes this is a spicy pickle be warned.
Next mix all the ingredients together making sure that each one is well coated then cover it in cling wrap or pop the lid on and leave it overnight. You want the salt an sugars to start to work and pull all those flavors together into the pumpkin.
I prefer leaving it 24 hours as it gets better penetration.
Now you’re ready to can and for that you need a vinegar and salt brine. So basically per 1 quart of water you want to add 1 cup of vinegar and two table spoons of kosher salt and bring to a boil then cool.
Now take the pumpkin out and leave the marinade behind and give it a quick toss or pat down in some paper towel to get a lot of it off. Don’t rinse it with water, you want some of it to stay there. Now once that’s done you add the pumpkin bits into your jars like any other pickle.
Okay here’s were you can add your own flare. I’ve seen red chilies tossed in or cranberries for that red color touch it is pretty. Large chunks of pineapple can be mixed in at this point too and I’ve even seen a cinnamon stick or bit of one in there or bits of orange or lemon zest/peeling.
Whatever you think will be a nice touch is cool but I just go with the plain.
Once you’re all bottle stuffed pour over the brine and then the rest you know or will find out about.
No, seriously learn how to do this canning thing you can do this in really small apartment friendly batches even.
Lastly leave it at least two weeks, it is a pickle and needs at least that long to really bottle cure. I go with a month, long yeah for the non-canners but you should have some of last years to nibble on while this is ready.
You’ll end up with a spicy, melony, pumpkiny semi sweet treat that goes really well with chili, duck or rabbit as a side or great on an platter with some cantaloupe and cold cuts in a finger food setting. It’s very friendly to Serrano hams and the like.
Oh and yes you can use this same recipe for most squashes too but butternut would look the closest. Great for those that have lots of both in their gardens and you want something different.
Enjoy, make it and freak out your friends and relatives.
*Great Big Hugs*
Comments
One question...
When are you going to compile The Bailey Summers Cookbook? :D
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
I've actually tried on a few occasions.
But there's so much to do and to write. I might try it when/if I retire and have the time.
Or that cloning project finally works.
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey Summers
I prefer leaving it 24 hours as it gets better penetration.
I got a bit distracted there. = )
I have been trying
To compile what you have been posting on the board here. I have the installments you have posted as a block and I have been collecting those you post in your Blog. The next step is to reread all of your stories and capture them.
That's nothing compared to what you have locked up in your memory vault. Good grief my friend you have such an eclectic pallet of tastes where or who were your inspirations.
Your misbehaving faerie
Huggles
With those with open eyes the world reads like a book
From Watermelon Pickle To Unrequited Love
You know what I love most about this site? (Warning, stream of consciousness follows.)
Well, I read this recipe and I thought yeah, I have friends who are really into this sort of thing. They won't follow it to the letter, but they're always willing to experiment with unusual ingredients. The result usually turns out to be some sort of cocktail, but no one ever complains.
So I get as far as the reply that suggests compiling a cookbook, and suddenly I'm thinking hey! I can make anything except pastry. Stir fries? I'll have one done in 10 minutes. Bread? Piece of cake (pun intentional). Yorkshire puddings? When I was at college my flatmates used to drag me out of bed on Sundays, no matter how much rough cider I'd guzzled the night before, because I was the only one who could make them properly.
Pastry? I just can't do it. I know how, I'm familiar with all the tricks of the trade, yet it always goes wrong.
And that got me on to a song I once heard by I think it was Owen Brannigan. The chorus went 'the steak an' kidney puddins, the roly poly puddins, the great big Yorkshire puddins that me mother used to make'.
I believe - though I could be wrong - that this song was written by Joe Wilson, who lived in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the 19th century. He also wrote the heartbreaking 'Sally Wheatley'. And bugger me if I didn't find a version of it that had me crying my eyes out.
http://youtu.be/Guhp4es2RgU
Always click on the blogs here. You never know where they'll lead you.