Pickle Power Pickling Your Harvest Bounty Doesn’t Have To Be A Daunting Task

For centuries, pickling the summer’s bounty was necessary to ensure an adequate food supply for the cold months of winter. Nowadays, with such a wide selection of good produce and frozen foods available at supermarkets, there’s little reason for us to preserve, pickle and can.

Except for the exceptional homemade taste, that is. To say nothing of the irresistible appeal of farmers markets and produce stands filled with gorgeous baskets of green and yellow string beans, bell peppers, hot jalapenos, tiny golden beets and perfectly crisp cucumbers.

All of that compels as many as 28 million of us to put up a batch or two of homemade pickles every year, according to Alltrista Consumer Products Co., the marketer of Ball and Kerr home canning products.

If you’ve never pickled a pepper, have no fear. Pickling needn’t be the daunting task many of us saw our grandmothers endure. For starters, forget about pickling a peck of peppers.

“If cooks pickle just small amounts of produce, the kitchen stays cool and the process will not feel like a chore - it will even be fun,” says Katie Sutton, an avid picklemaker and the executive chef of the Hess Collection Winery in Napa, Calif.

Also, if you pickle in small quantities that can be used more quickly, you can skip the more complicated water bath canning procedure (recommended for all pickles if you choose to store them on the pantry shelf). Simply store the pickles in the refrigerator for a few weeks.

Sutton made all sorts of pickles with her mother and grandmother for as long as she can remember in her hometown of Stevens Point, Wis.

“It’s supper-club country,” she says fondly, “where folks draw heavily on the Scandinavian tradition that requires seven sweet and sour pickled foods at special occasion dinners.”

At her current home in Napa, Sutton still relishes making all those sweet and sour tidbits. Using recipes culled from her family and a collection of farmhouse cookbooks, Sutton puts up dill pickles and pickled watermelon rind every year. She does admit to adding fresh ginger and more spices to the watermelon these days to complement the foods and wines she serves.

Cookbook author Jan Berry advocates using only the best ingredients and perfectly ripe (not overripe) produce. In her new book, “Art of Preserving” (Ten Speed Press), Berry explains how to pickle everything from mushrooms and turnips to green tomatoes and tiny pears.

Berry says that for true pickles, small pickling cucumbers are preferable to the regular cukes we eat in a salad. The pickling cucumbers offer a sweeter flavor with a denser, crisper flesh suited to a vinegary bath, she says.

Use sea salt (or pickling salt), Berry says, rather than table salt, which may contain additives or anti-caking agents that can cloud the pickling brine. She also suggests cider and wine vinegars for the best vinegar for pickles with brighter color. Just make sure the vinegar label says it is at least 5 percent acidity.

Once the pickles are in their jars, they make great gifts - a perfect way to recall a bumper crop or a sunny day at the market.

Sutton recommends beginners start with a simple pickle recipe, such as a colorful fresh corn relish or sweet-tangy zucchini pickles. Each is easy to make and stays delicious stored in the refrigerator.

Many pickles improve in flavor with some time spent in their jars - from a few days for relishes to a week or more for dill pickles. All of the following recipes must be refrigerated unless you process them in a water bath, which destroys microorganisms that can cause spoilage and lets you store them in a cupboard. Use jars that you can cover tightly, and label and date the jars.

We haven’t given nutrition information because of the difficulties of figuring how much salt a slice of zucchini absorbs, for instance, during two hours in a brine. Published data for commercial products suggest that dieters don’t have much to fear from a pickle, except for its sodium; a 2.25-ounce dill has a third of your daily allotment.

Corn Relish

Adapted from ‘Art of Preserving,” by Jan Berry (Ten Speed Press).

12 ears corn, husked

1 EACH red and green bell pepper, cored and finely chopped

1-1/2 cups cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons EACH salt, mustard seed

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Cut corn kernels from cobs. Put corn and remaining ingredients into large non-aluminum saucepan. Heat mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer 30 minutes.

Ladle into clean, hot jars. Cover tightly; refrigerate up to several weeks.

Yield: About 3 cups.

Zucchini Pickles

Adapted from a recipe by chef Katie Sutton of the Hess Collection Winery in Napa, Calif.

2 pounds zucchini, thinly sliced

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup pickling salt

3 cups cider vinegar

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons EACH mustard seed, turmeric

1 teaspoon celery seed

Mix zucchini, onions and pickling salt in large bowl. Add cold water to cover; let stand 2 hours. Drain.

Put remaining ingredients in large non-aluminum pot. Heat to a boil. Add drained zucchini; return to a boil. Simmer until zucchini is barely tender, about 3 minutes.

Immediately pack hot mixture into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Store in refrigerator up to several weeks.

Yield: About 4 pints.

Green Tomato and Onion Chutney

Adapted from “Art of Preserving,” by Jan Berry (Ten Speed Press).

2 pounds green tomatoes, chopped

4 large onions, chopped

4 large cooking apples (about 1 pound), peeled, cored and chopped

2-1/4 cups white wine vinegar

1-1/2 cups golden raisins

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon EACH salt, ground red pepper

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Put tomatoes, onions and apples into large non-aluminum saucepan; add half of the vinegar. Heat to a boil; cook, stirring often, over medium-low heat, 45 minutes.

Add remaining vinegar and other ingredients. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until chutney thickens, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Ladle into clean jars. Cover tightly and refrigerate up to several months.

Yield: 2 to 3 cups.

Gingered Pickled Watermelon Rind

From chef Katie Sutton of the Hess Collection Winery in Napa, Calif.

1 small watermelon (about 12 pounds)

13 cups cold water

1/3 cup pickling salt

8 cups brown sugar, preferably light brown

3 cups cider vinegar

3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger

1 tablespoon whole cloves

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 cinnamon sticks

2 lemons, thinly sliced

Peel watermelon rind, removing green and leaving 1/4 inch of red melon attached; cut rind into 1-inch pieces. Place rind in large bowl and add 10 cups of the cold water and the salt. Refrigerate, covered, for 48 hours. Drain; soak in cold water to cover, 1 hour. Drain again.

Put sugar, vinegar, 3 cups water, ginger, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon sticks in large nonaluminum pot. Heat to a boil; simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Strain liquid and return to the pot. Add drained watermelon rind and lemons. Simmer until rind is translucent and crisp-tender, 30 to 40 minutes.

Pack hot rind and liquid into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Store in refrigerator up to several months.

Yield: About 8 pints.

Pickled Shallots in the Gibson Style

From chef Katie Sutton of the Hess Collection Winery in Napa, Calif.

2 pounds small shallots or small white boiling onions

3 tablespoons pickling salt

3 cups cider vinegar

1 cup gin

1 tablespoon juniper berries

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Peel shallots and put into large bowl. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the salt. Add cold water to barely cover shallots. Let stand overnight, covered.

Put remaining ingredients, along with remaining 1 tablespoon salt, into a large non-aluminum pot. Heat to a boil; remove from heat. Let stand overnight, covered.

The next day, rinse shallots and pat dry. Heat vinegar mixture to a boil; reduce heat and add shallots. Simmer until shallots are crisp-tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer to clean jars with tight-fitting lids. Refrigerate about 2 weeks before serving; will keep up to 3 months.

Yield: About 6 cups.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SOURCES FOR PICKLING, CANNING INFORMATION Looking for more information about pickling and canning? Here are some sources: Alltrista has a toll-free number for consumers in a pickle over their pickles. Experts are available at the Ball and Kerr Help Line, (800) 240-3340, Monday through Friday from 4:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. PST. The company also offers an instructional video, “Pure and Simple: An Introduction to the Joys of Canning,” with chef Alice Waters, for $4.50, and various printed materials including the “Ball Blue Book Guide to Home Canning, Freezing and Dehydration” ($5.95 including shipping). Food preservation information is also available through the Cooperative Extension services of Washington State University and the University of Idaho. Call 533-2048 in Spokane, or 667-6426 in Coeur d’Alene. For pickling (relishes, chutneys and salsas), the free “Heinz Successful Pickling Guide” is available by writing to: Canning and Pickling Made Easy, P.O. Box 57, Pittsburgh, PA 15230. Allow two weeks for delivery.