Since reading Barbara Kingsolver’s wonderful book Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life, I’ve been resolved to try to eat more locally and even grow our own vegetables. A few years ago Cokebaby and I moved from condo living into a house where we have since been growing an urban container garden.
This year we had a decent summer crop of spinach, arugula, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, and cucumbers. We also have an indoor windowsill herb garden that I’m in charge of and failing at miserably. Somehow, remembering to feed, walk, groom, and play with the dog every day is easier to me than remembering to water a bunch of dirt once or twice a week.
Photo credit: redfox from Flickr
Anyway, now as the weather starts to cool down it’s pickling and canning season. Last year saw my first attempt at pickling anything and it was done with great trepidation and fear that I’d be killing us off through botulism. I made what was essentially this recipe for Swedish Pickled Beets but without the pepper. The result was brilliant.
One of the “trade” secrets behind making the job of peeling the beets easier is to boil them whole and then cover them in cold water once they’re cooked. This makes the job of peeling them as simple as popping the skins right off.
The great thing about beets is that they’re actually quite versatile and come in a variety of shades from the standard deep burgundy to candy cane to golden. Not only do they make an excellent side to roast meats and fishcakes, but they’re also fabulous on salads (my fave includes goat cheese and mandarin orange slices).
Recently, I purchased a new recipe book called Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving: 400 Delicious and Creative Recipes for Today to go along with a case of large new mason jars. Out of one afternoon the pantry is already stocked with pickled beets and a red root relish (with beets, cabbage, sweet red pepper, and onion) to keep us going for the year.
Now that I’m more comfortable with the process and have a book to refer to, I’m going to try out some other recipes like jams and preserves. Have you tried pickling and canning before? If so, what was the result? Any tips or fave recipes? If not, what’s stopping you?
Kimberly Walsh is a social media and online community manager. You can follow her on Twitter @AliasGrace.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
i never pickled before but K made spicy pickled beans… they didnt last too long, as they were so good that caesars (v8 though not clamato) became the top menu item until there were none left. now the celery barely cuts the grade.
I love beets and pickled beets too! The only thing I ever made was a peach chutney that was delicious! I was very paranoid about the sterilizing and was also petrified that I would do it wrong and end up poisoning myself. I heard on a CBC show that the old methods are not to be trusted any more because the newer varieties of fruits and veggies have less acid in them. Follow dept of health guidelines.
I love pickling and canning – I am very jealous of your book, it sounds fabulous, I must keep an eye out. We make pickled beets, chow chow, cucumber relish (for hot dogs – yum!) every year, and this year due to the abundance of zucchini in the garden we tried zucchini pickle as well. Worked great and took about an hour. You are welcome to any of those recipes if you get bored with your book.
Maybe we should have a tweet-up/ pickling swap some night!!!
jonathan: Spicy pickled beans for Caesars is a great idea. I think I’m going to make a sweet chutney first then check out my book for a pickled bean recipe..!
shelagh: I think I’m addicted to beets right now. And yes I’m glad I got this book because it makes me feel safer about the whole sterilization process.
Queenie: I would love to do a pickling swap. We’ll have to get more people on board to pickle stuff first though!