I only make a few different chutneys now, just my favourites - like the sweet onion 'marmalade' chutney and my red hot or not so red hot tomato/pepper. But after buying and enjoying a jar of cornichons for Christmas last year and finding and growing the tray of gherkin plants, I now have a jar of pickled gherkins. ........and even though vinegary things weren't my favourite I now also have 4½ jars of Sweet Cucumber Pickle.
All because 4 small cucumbers appeared all at once when I already had 1½ in the fridge. So I found a recipe and had all the ingredients in the house.
The recipe - Oxburgh's Sweet Cucumber Pickle, came from the National Trust book of Jams, Preserves and Edible Gifts and used the 4 small cucumbers plus onion, celery, salt, cider vinegar, mustard seeds, soft brown sugar with a little turmeric and ground cloves.
There's enough sugar to make it sweet and sour which is good, I've eaten the half jar already and I'm thinking of making more but leaving the cucumber in bigger pieces.
Another lot of gherkins have appeared on my plants so I need to sort them out today. And now I can see I should have left the first lot I picked to get much bigger.....like this
Although I found I'd run out of jars and decent lids so needed to stop at the floristry supplies/party stuff/cake decorating/ packaging supplies shop on my way home from Stowmarket....very handy having this shop so close. It's easy to spend Way too much there - I was very good and only bought jars, lids and a jar of the local honey that they sell. The lady who owns this place was just back from her weeks of being a line judge at Wimbledon. She does a talk about it at WI's etc - very interesting to hear how it all works.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I bought some local honey yesterday, it was over £8 and my daughter chided me for buying it. Luckily I don't go in for Manuka Honey. But my argument is that the processing of real honey has to be reflected in the price paid by the consumer. Pickles are delicious as long as they are not too vinegary.
ReplyDelete£6 is the going rate here for proper honey, there are two places I can get it.
DeleteI've surprised myself by liking pickled gherkins and the sweet pickled cucumber as I never used to. Must be connected to going right off chocolate last year
Lovely-looking gherkins.
ReplyDeleteThey suddenly grew much bigger!
DeleteOh that shop looks wonderful! Online delivery is not cheap, but if I were nearby I'd definitely pop in...
ReplyDeleteThey have so much packed into the shop - it's like a maze. She started selling from her garage many years ago and just grew
DeleteYou can slice the gherkins horizontally and make refrigerated dill pickle chips. [not french fries/ chips, just means round circles]; you may call them something else.] Love homemade pickles, lucky you to have such pretty home growns.
ReplyDeleteThe job is done - plenty for winter now
DeleteIsn’t it strange how our taste buds change as we get older. I used to make chutney four times a year to keep my cycling to work husband in cheese and pickle sandwiches but I could not make it nowadays because of the smell. Luckily our local smallholder makes several varieties of delicious chutney from his own produce - £4 for 500g jar which sounds a lot when you are used to making your own but I think is worth it. I used to spend a whole day chopping and stirring chutney in two vast stainless steel stock pots, enough to fill 8 x 500g Le Parfait jars once cooked right down and the children’s reaction when they got home from school was priceless, especially if they had brought friends home but good for visiting children to experience domestic economy I always thought. Local honey here is still £6 for 500g jar, and has been for ages so I expect the honey men will be increasing prices if only to reflect the cost of jars and lids. I always return the chutney and honey jars to the producers and they are allowed to reuse them, but not the lids which have to be new each time. I have a small collection of old pottery honey jars and I use them as salt cellars, to hold nutmeg and garlic and to stand the pepper grinder in, maybe one day they will be used for honey again. Sarah in Sussex
ReplyDeleteI used to make chutneys and relishes to sell and when I was cooking couldn't smell it at all - but everyone else could smell it upstairs and outside and everywhere.
DeleteThose latest gherkins look really good, your larder is going to be very healthy with all this pickling going on, and of course your Christmas hampers will be easy to plan.
ReplyDeleteI might not give them away!
DeleteYou reminded me that I used to make dill pickles but haven't done that for years. I will have to see if my brother has some cucumbers in his garden to share...
ReplyDeletePerhaps you will be making some soon!
DeleteI make dry brine clear pickles like my mother did. I have never followed any recipe. Basically you can throw in any summer green vegetables esp. beans and cucumber and, cover and salt over night then rinse and jar up in vinegar with sugar and peppercorns. I have never used courgettes with this because mum never grew them. In winter you can do the same with cauliflower.
ReplyDeletePickled cauliflower doesn't appeal at all. I'll stick to the gherkins!
DeleteYour pickles look delicious. I have fond memories of my grandmother's bread and butter pickles using her own cucumbers. They were cut in slices with a combination sweet and vinegar taste. I wish I had her recipe.
ReplyDeleteOh - that's a memory I'd forgotten - Bread and Butter pickles were what the cucumber /onion combo was called years ago - I remember making them when we were first married but no one was keen
DeleteThe pickles look great. I enjoy experimenting with different vegetables to see what works. I particular
ReplyDeleteY like some of the recipes for Indian pickles. I make a mean aubergine pickle.
I've already put some aubergine/tomato pasta sauce in the freezer - which is my preferred way of using them. I made enough last year that I was still eating in May!
DeleteOnly have one aubergine plant this year - watered it today and noticed it had been “trimmed” - ruddy muntjacs!
DeleteThe gherkins look very tasty. It's one pickle I can eat without it 'repeating ' - sorry that's too much information!
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x