November is already with us, it crept in almost unannounced.
November means the start of my annual Pickle Campaign. Slices of late-December cold Turkey would not be the same without pickles, so now is the time to start.
Onions are always the first to be done as they improve after a month or so. Red Cabbage comes later as it deteriorates after a few weeks. Christmas simply wouldn't be the same without both.
Usually I leave my peeled onions in brine overnight, but this year I forgot and put them directly into the vinegar/sugar mix, together with a few peppercorns. I don't suppose it'll make any difference. I shall buy one more bag of pickling onions today, and use the pre-brining method to see if I can detect any difference.
The red cabbage will be done mid-December, and will follow much the same process, although usually I dilute the vinegar a bit.
Pickles are great with the Christmas left-overs, and are wonderful with a good Pork Pie, or slices of Gammon. I'll probably buy a jar of ready-made Piccalilli; far too fiddly to make myself. I'm looking forward to it all already.
That takes me back to my childhood Cro. My Grandmother always made her own pickled onions and they were the crunchiest .... far better than shop bought. It's something, along with others, that reminds me of a simpler time ..... we didn't have anything like the presents they have now or the extensive selection of food but, it was still magical and the food was just as delicious. { I don't think I'm looking at it through rose coloured glasses ! }XXXX
ReplyDeleteI do my own pickles because (dare I say it) they're better than shop bought. Also I love the whole process of preserving. I've just this minute finished doing another lot of Onions.
DeleteMaking pickle and relish has been a life long passion of mine. I come by it naturally as I am a true southern American man. In the south in the summer months it is often way to warm to eat heavy meals containing meat. Even with the summer kitchen out back away from the house it was just to hot to cook. At harvest time and throughout the year at certain times fruit and vegetables are preserved as pickle, jams, preserves and relish. Homemade applecider vinegar was employed in the process in vast amounts. Special blends of spices were used and the recipe never shared outside the family. In the south during the hot months we always had cold dinners and suppers. Once a week out in the summer kitchen a big old roast of beef would be prepared and then that meat would be used throughout the week for meals. The same would hold true for meat birds like chicken, duck and turkey. All those big canning jars containing wonderful pickle were stored in the root cellar. Everyday a variety of jars were opened and the contents served in beautiful bowls from the sideboard or a groaning board on a shady breezy screened side porch. Breads, biscuits, honey an lots of butter were available. If company arrived unannounced a ham would appear from the smoke house or maybe a city ham from the larder. The holiday season always called for special pickle reserved just for the occasion. Now, decades later, this old man keeps refrigerator pickle at the ready at all times. Contents could be most anything. Cucumbers, onions, green pepper, thinly sliced carrot and celery are often in the mix. Cranberry relish is always available as I like to spread it on bread or biscuit with or without cold lefyover meat. Cro, thank you for makin me recall my southern roots and memories of distant days gone bye. I am going to spice some pears today in preparation for the holidays. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI still used to do many of the things you describe when I lived full-time in France. I made Paté, Bacon, Hams, and all sorts of preserved vegs and fruit. Our lives are a bit different now, so I do less. I miss it.
DeleteI eat and prepare pickles in small quantities all year round. I am puzzled as to why you only do it at Christmas time as your diet presumably includes things like cold meats and pork pies through the year.
ReplyDeleteI've only just found the small pickling onions in the shops. I could do other pickles but the only ones I eat at other times are onions and gherkins, there are no small fresh gherkins around.
DeleteI made a new recipe yesterday - Mango and apricot chutney. It seemed to have a lot of sugar and turned out more like a marmalade but with vinegar and garlic - think it will be good.
ReplyDeleteStill eating pickled gherkins done in the summer
In France I used to grow gherkins for the pickling market. A merchant would pass by each morning and collect them. Gathering them every morning was hard work, but it paid the bills.
DeleteI was thinking it's just about time to pickle some onions for Xmas. I've got out some suitable jars. Now I just have to find suitable onions.
ReplyDeleteThe Onions have only just appeared in the shops here. Grab them whilst you can; a bit like Seville Oranges.
DeleteAs Jackie says, my childhood memories of Christmas are also of things like pickles and cold meats. I don't tend to bother with all that these days.
ReplyDeleteChristmas wouldn't be the same for me without my home-made pickles. I'm now saving big jars for the Red Cabbage.
DeleteI have 6 pints of roasted beets pickling in the pantry.
ReplyDeleteLovely, I might do some myself too.
DeleteMy grandmother and my mother were both excellent "picklers" but as they always did an extra jar or two of onions and red cabbage for me, once I'd married, I've never bothered. I can buy jars of small white onions which taste exactly the same as home pickled onions.
ReplyDeleteI cannot agree about your last sentence. I buy large jars of pickled onions throughout the year, and they don't come anywhere near home made. I cannot wait for the small pickling onions to arrive in the shops so that I can do my own.
DeleteI do hope your brine v no brine experiment will be carried out properly under double-blind conditions with the null hypothesis rejected only by a p=0.05% threshold of significance.
ReplyDeleteThe product test will be carried-out blindfolded and wearing rubber gloves.
DeletePickled onion and cabbage sounds delicious. I bought a red cabbage yesterday and now I have to figure out what to do with it. Either pickle or stir fry? May a bit of both...
ReplyDeletePickle some, and cook the rest. Nice too (finely shredded) raw in salads.
DeleteSounds like you have got yourself in a bit of a pickle!
ReplyDeleteEach time Lady M goes to walk the dog, she returns to find more jars of pickles in the kitchen; as if by magic.
DeleteIt is that time..I am forgoing pickled cabbage and gherkins this year...and sticking with hot pickled shallots and beetroot (so that they keep better). How do you deal with the onion fumes when processing them? Specs help...but possibly a full mask would be best ?!
ReplyDeleteYes, pickled red cabbage needs to be made and consumed within about two weeks. As for the fumes, I simply suffer for my later delight.
DeleteI remember eating pickled onions as a teenager but none since, I don't know why I stopped, but I do still eat gherkins and sweet mustard pickle spread, similar to piccallilli but less spicy I think. I have never tried pickled red cabbage, but have tried sauerkraut.
ReplyDeleteI gained my love of Sauerkraut from living in France. It appears in huge mounds on the deli counter at this time of year, along with all the different charcuterie that accompanies it. I love it.
DeleteWould you believe my mouth actually watered when I read this!
ReplyDelete