Haloumi and Summer Veget...
2021-12-20
Stunning colours, loads of flavour – high summer veggies are just a feast...
Mastering home-made pickles
Prep 30 mins
Cooking Mature: 2-3 weeks
Serves 1 large bottle
Few things you could get up to in the kitchen are more satisfying than pickling and preserving. It’s much easier than you think, as long as you get the basics right. We share the low-down on mastering pickling at home.
What you will need
- FOR PICKLED ONIONS:
- FOR PICKLED DILL CUCUMBERS:
- 1 bag small pickling onions
- 2 x 250g punnets of baby pickling cucumbers, washed and dried
- ½ cup Natural Herbs and Spices Coarse Sea Salt
- 1 Tbsp Natural Herbs and Spices Coarse Sea Salt
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1½ tsp Natural Herbs and Spices Black Peppercorns
- 4 cloves
- 4 Tbsp sugar
- 1 red chilli, sliced in half lengthways
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- 6 Tbsp sugar
- 1 cup water
- ½ tsp Natural Herbs and Spices Coarse Sea Salt
- 3 sprigs fresh dill, 4 cloves & 4 cardamom pods
- FOR PICKLED CARROT AND CAULIFLOWER:
- FOR PICKLED CARROT AND CAULIFLOWER:
- 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced very thinly
- Head of cauliflower, broken into smallish florets
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp Natural Herbs and Spices Country Herbs
- 6 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp Natural Coarse Sea Salt
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup white spirit vinegar
- ¾ cup water
- ½ tsp Natural Herbs and Spices Black Peppercorns
Method
For the pickled onions:
Place onions in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow onions to stand for a minute. Drain the hot water and submerge the onions in cold water. Peel the onions under water – this keeps the skins very soft, making them easy to pull off with your fingers.
Place onions in a bowl and pour over the half a cup of salt. Cover with a cloth and allow to stand for 6 hours. (You could skip this step, but by doing this the salt will draw out a lot of the moisture in the onions, enabling them to be nice and crisp once pickled.)
Rinse the salt off the onions and dry them. Pack the onions in a clean pickling bottle. Place the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Pour the hot pickling liquid over the onions. Close the bottle, allow it to cool to room temperature and then place it in the fridge. These pickled onions need at least two weeks to mature before they’ll be ready for eating.
For the pickled dill cucumbers:
Fill a clean pickling bottle with baby cucumbers – pack it tight, so you get as many as possible in the bottle. Insert the three sprigs of dill as you’re packing so they’re nestled between the cucumbers. Bring the rest of the ingredients to a boil in a saucepan and pour the hot pickling liquid over the cucumbers. Seal whilst hot and place in the fridge once it has cooled to room temperature. These pickled dill cucumbers will be ready to consume two days after pickling.
For the pickled carrot and cauliflower:
Fill a clean pickling bottle with carrots and cauliflower florets and insert the two cloves of garlic and two bay leaves. Bring the rest of the ingredients to a boil in a saucepan and pour the hot pickling liquid over the vegetables. Seal whilst hot and place in the fridge once it has cooled to room temperature. These pickled carrots and cauliflower florets will be ready to consume two days after pickling.
Recipe concept & photography by Lizet Hartley.
Lizet Hartley is a freelance stills and reel food stylist, food photographer and recipe developer. In her spare time she – rather predictably – cooks. Get more of her recipes on her blog at http://www.melkkos-merlot.co.za
