Dill Pickles - in the refrigerator

Who doesn't love a cold crispy dill pickle in the summertime with a burger or a sandwich? These are ready in 24 hours and gone in just about the same time.  I have very little in my garden this year but I do have cilantro that has gone to seed which is then called coriander and dill.  I had to buy the pickling cucumbers from Whole Foods but they should be at the Farmers' markets too.

pickles in a pretty jar - no canning process necessary

mise en place

Refrigerator dill pickles:
Servings: About 24 spears, or two 1-quart jars 
Ingredients
1-1/4 cups distilled white vinegar 
3 Tbs kosher salt
2 Tbs sugar
2 cups cold water
1-3/4 to 2 pounds pickling cucumbers (about 6), cut into spears
2 Tbs coriander seeds- my cilantro is going to seed-perfect 
6 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
16 dill sprigs- fresh from the garden or farmers’ market

Instructions
Combine the vinegar, salt and sugar in a small non-reactive saucepan over high heat. Whisk until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Transfer the liquid into a bowl and whisk in the cold water. Refrigerate brine until ready to use.
Stuff the cucumbers into two clean 1-quart jars. Add the coriander seeds, garlic cloves, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, dill sprigs, and chilled brine into jars, dividing evenly. If necessary, add a bit of cold water to the jars until the brine covers the cucumbers. Cover and refrigerate about 24 hours, then serve. Cucumbers will keep in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Complements of http://www.onceuponachef.com 

making pickles

making pickles, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Sweet and sour pickled onions

Pickled onions on a burger

What is summer without pickles?  And why not pickled onions?

I have made pickled onions before but this is a recipe that beats the first one.  They are ready in the fridge after 48 hours or you can go through the canning process and keep them in the pantry until needed.  I started with a recipe from a book I love called   Food in Jars  Then I made it my own

mise en place

Recipe: 

2 cups apple cider vinegar

3/4 cups sugar

2 TBS pickling salt

3 pounds red onions, thinly sliced

2 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp ancho chili powder ( red pepper flakes or cayenne)

3 sprigs lavender

Combine the vinegar, 1 1/2 cups water, sugar and the salt in a pot over high heat and bring the brine to a boil. 

Add the sliced onions to brine and stir to combine.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer briefly to soften onions.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining spices in  a small bowl and stir to blend.  Add the spice blend and the lavender sprigs in to sterilized jars,

Using tongs, evenly divide the onions among 3 pint jars.  Pour hot brine into each jar leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Continue typical canning directions or place in fridge for 48 hours.

Canning directions:

Sterilize glass jars and rims and flat lids for 10 minutes in boiling water.  Be careful not to touch the jars or rims with bare hands.  After filling jars and leaving headspace gently tap the jars on a towel lined counter top to help loosen any bubbles before using a wooden chopstick or utensil to dislodge any remaining bubbles.  Check the headspace again and add more brine if necessary.  Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes

Let these pickles cure for at least 48 hours before eating

Garden harvest, preserved

bread and butter pickles, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Pickles: bread & butter, classic dill, green beans Fruits: strawberries, raspberries and peaches in all forms
All found their way into clear glass jars, a hot bath in an old fashion canning pot and then the "pop" of the sealed can on the countertop. Lots of spices and herbs, vinegar & sugar and now they are labeled and ready to retrieve from the quaint little cellar I have in the basement.
This is a very old tradition of preserving foods at the time of their bounty. It was lots of work but much more fun. And now we can have traditional pickled peaches at the holidays.

Abundance, a one week diary of a mad woman

Abundance:  Isn't it what we hope for when we plant our tiny little seeds in the earth in spring or in Colorado really late spring and early summer.  I'm always hopeful and impractical to think that I can plant as early as I do and then I find myself covering my seedlings many nights so they don't freeze.
This year we had at least a dozen of these nights including 6 inches of snow at times. So I am extremely grateful that I have any harvest at all much less an abundance of one.

root vegetables

At the end of one manic week I have 4 pint jars of peach jam

4 pint jars of lavender jelly

 a pint of lavender syrup

a goat cheese ricotta lemon thyme and lavender tart

a 3 pound wheel of cheddar cheese
1 quart of S'mores goat milk ice cream

4 pints of zucchini pickles

2 country loaves of butternut squash bread

4 quarts of corn stock

4 stuffed zucchini with roasted corn vinaigrette

6 pints of corn salsa  

and

lots of zucchini and tomatoes

one week later

My cheesemaking friends decided we'd get together again to make peach jam.  The peaches from the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, called the Palisades grows the state's best peaches.  With that inspiration I decided to make a trial run batch to prepare for our "jamming" day.  I use a great little cookbook called Food in Jars for my basic recipes.  This batch has a peach pie flavor with added cinnamon and nutmeg but next week we will do just pure Colorado Palisades peaches and sugar:

peach jam mise en place

California and Colorado peaches

peaches cut and in the pan

with the sugar, spices and now ready for the jars

Since my canning book was open and I had some zucchini on the counter I flipped through the pages to find my zucchini pickle recipe and continued to process four more pints.

On that same day I was in a hunt for a cookbook that I wanted to use and while in my kitchen library ran into great old favorite: From the Earth to the Table Well my first thought was that with the internet who needs a cookbook anymore but as I thumbed through this book I went a little mad - truly I think I've lost my mind.  But for those who know me I absolutely LOVE to cook.  This little recipe jumped out at me called "Winter squash bread".  Since I had a butternut squash in my cold room (from last year's harvest) I had to make this the next day:

two boules ready for the oven

out of the oven

pretty right?

From the Earth to the Table- my inspiration

goat cheese ricotta with lemon thyme and lavender tart

Well then the recipe: Ricotta tart with lemon thyme caught my eye.  I had some goat cheese ricotta in the fridge since my last batch of cheesemaking and thought adding lavender to the tart would be a fabulous idea.

OK  Now that I had picked one branch of lavender and I had plenty ready to harvest in the garden I decided to make a good lavender tea infusion and try my hand at lavender jelly.  Brad has a vendor in his Seattle Farmer's Market that sells this little taste of heaven.   His girls and I are going to make some when I visit next time but why not do a trial run? Today?  I had a little lavender syrup left so I plopped that in the giant canning pot too:

lavender syrup and jelly

OK  Back to John Ash's book.  Well I have tons of zucchini and have used my favorite recipe several times now so yes there is a fabulous stuffed zucchini recipe in this book too:

I started with the vinaigrette - roasted corn

Roasted corn vinaigrette, mise en place

everything but the roasted corn

roasted corn vinaigrette

stuffed zucchini, mise en place

zucchini boats

eggplant and tomatoes ready to roast

stuffing ingredients

zucchini stuffed and ready for the broiler

stuffed zucchini with green salad and roasted corn vinaigrette

So now I was ready to put the book back on the shelf until I remembered that the Western Slopes Olathe corn was so delicious and also in abundance.  I went back to the book and found a recipe for corn stock - 16 ears of corn added to sautéed onions, celery, carrots and some chili.  So I bought 24 ears of corn, used 16 for the stock and decided to go back to my Food in Jars book and find a good tried and true corn salsa recipe.  Besides I just picked my first tomatoes.  I grilled the last 8 ears of corn along with some poblano chilies in preparation for one more day of food prep and canning

Roasted corn salsa:

corn salsa ingredients

OK now the book IS back on the shelf.  All the stockpots and knives are washed and put away but look there are another 10 pounds of tomatoes and all of these:

miles to go before I rest 

All of this and I managed to get in 40 miles of walking and 20 hours of work

I HAVE lost my mind

Got cucumbers? Here's a nice fresh salad:

creamy cucumber salad

My cucumber plant is loaded. I have already made refrigerator pickles and now I'm trying some new salad ideas.  This recipe came from Lemontreedwelling , a nice blog.  I started with her recipe and then tweaked it a bit:

3 cups thinly sliced cucumbers

1 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/2 cup sour cream

1 Tbs white wine vinegar

1 Tbs fresh dill - fresh is so much better

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 /2 tsp shallot salt

Combine the dressing ingredients and pour the dressing over mixed vegetables.

Chill for at least 2 hours....overnight is what I did and the salad was perfect

We'll try this in Nana camp soon

Now I'm looking for another recipe...maybe without dairy

Summer in a soup bowl Gazpacho

A couple of weeks ago my friends came over for a farm visit and we all pitched in with lunch.

Linda, myself and her 4 Colorado granddaughters

 Sometime during the sit-down Michele remarked Gazpacho is "summer in a soup bowl."  Precisely.  I thought I would share our luncheon menu since a lot of it came right from the garden/farm

Menu:

Gazpacho ( yes- even the 3 year old loved it)

Egg salad sandwiches

Watermelon pizza

Palmiers

Jun tea

Mis en place

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers, chopped into 1" square pieces

4 plum tomatoes, also 1" pieces

1 cucumber seeded but not peeled, 1 " pieces

1 red onion - 1 " pieces

3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

3 cups tomato juice or enough tomatoes to make your own

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup good olive oil

1 1/2 tsp salt

pepper

avocado and or cilantro to garnish

Ina Garten's recipe on Food Network

Yes use a food processor but chop each vegetable up separately

Mix all veggies and tomato juice with olive oil and vinegar and store in the fridge for at least a day or two before serving

I have made this soup 3 times now and love each serving.  I will be sad when the tomatoes are gone.

Next up EGG SALAD sandwiches

Mis en place

EGG SALAD SANDWICHES

Ingredients

farm fresh or store bought pasture raised chicken eggs, hard cooked - I prefer to steam

mayonnaise

dijon mustard

red onions chopped fine

I dill pickle slice, chopped fine

fresh dill

salt and pepper

How to hard cook super fresh eggs:

When I first tried to hard boil my fresh eggs I found that the shells would not release from the white when I tried to peel them..  It happened the second, third and fourth times as well ????? So I did some research and found that super fresh eggs just don't do well boiled.  So I steam.  12 minutes in a steamer.  I could give you all of the chemistry behind this....Ask if you really want to know  otherwise just steam your eggs.  You will be glad you did.

Steam for 12 minutes.  Then cool in an ice water bath

Mix about 2 TBs of dijon mustard with about 1/2 cup mayonnaise to start then adjust as needed.  I used 6 eggs and this worked out well.  

Then add the red onion, dill pickle and fresh dill to the sauce.

Mix into the eggs

I use a box grater to cut up the egg but you can hand cut it as well

Assemble between two pieces of bread after piling on some condiments :  how about pickled onions?

I'll add the recipe to the end of the post

Add lettuce and as we did one nasturtium leaf.  The nasturtium leaves and blossoms are edible and add a bit of spice - kind of like arugula.

Egg salad sandwich with pickled onions, lettuce and nastursium leaves

Next up WATERMELON PIZZA

So much fun.  You can see that it is made up of a wedge of watermelon topped with blueberries and reap berries,  The "Cheese" is cream cheese mixed with powdered sugar and pushed through a pastry bag.  Linda's previous performance was with a little smaller hole in her bag thus a narrower stream of cream sheese/sugar

And for dessert:  PALMIERS - Gluten Free!!

Palmiers are a classic French pastry made from the pastry dough mille feuilles  (puff pastry)  This recipe is absolutely easy to make from Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry found in the freezer section of the grocery store and just follow Ina Gartens's recipe   But I decided to make it from scratch since I was really rusty from my school days at The Cordon Bleu in Paris.

Did you know that there are 739 layers of dough/butter/dough in the finished pate ?  You start out with a pie crust round then add a butter layer, wrap the edges of the pie pastry up and over the butter layer.  Now you have 3 layers.  With a sequence of rolling out and folding into thirds six times you end up with a beautiful uncooked dough

Roll the dough in sugar and cinnamon and then roll into a log by folding the outside edges two times each and meeting in the center,  Chill the dough again. 

Classic palmiers do not have cinnamon adulterating the flavor but what American does not like cinnamon sugar?

Then cut the chilled dough into slices

Put them one more time back into the fridge or freezer for a final chill then pop them into a preheated oven

450 degrees for just 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle again with cinnamon sugar. 

These will go fast - especially with 9 people for lunch

I made this dough gluten free because my sweet Kate cannot have gluten.  But like any normal teenager she love loves pastries and bread.  Since she was coming for a visit I wanted to make these G-F palmiers for and with her,   She loved it 

We made this batch into twisted sticks.  Kate loves churros so this was our version of a G-F churro/palmier.  You can buy G-F frozen puff pastry in some markets @ $9/box l Yikes.  On the other hand the ingredients for making it at home was not much less.  Good news is I'm not rusty at the technique any more!

And that was our summer lunch!  

Hurricane Hilary has just past through here leaving a mess for all of us to clean up but not any damage here,  I think I have some time to make the pickled red onions 

I have an entire post dedicated to this condiment   Please click on this link to go to that post 

I use Marisa McClellan"s  Food in Jars book many times every summer and throughout the year.  You can also follow her website https://foodinjars.com for many additional ideas 

3 pounds of red onions, thinly sliced

2 cups apple cider vinegar

3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups water

2 TBs Kosher or pickling salt

2 tsp whole mustard seed

1 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a pot over high heat and bring the brine to a boil

Add sliced onions to brine and stir to combine,  Reduce heat to medium and simmer briefly to soften onions.

Combine the spices to blend and then divide among 3 pint size jars

Evenly divide the onions among the jars.  Use tongs to transfer.

Pour brine over onions.

Pickles need to cure 48 hours before eating.

I used to water bath preserve these but I find they last in the fridge just fine.....they never last too long.  If you make 3 jars - give one jar to a friend,