Pickled Cauliflower

So, yesterday was "single jar" pickling day. What is "single jar" pickling day, you may ask? It is the day that I decide to take odds and ends that I don't have enough of to really do much with, that are "pickleable" and pickle them, before they go bad. I call it "single jar" because it is usually enough stuff for one large jar of a pickle mix of some sort. This batch contains cauliflower, black olives, sweet onion and a few baby carrots.

So I began by toasting my pickling spices until I could smell them....but not burn them. I then added 4+ cups of white vinegar, about 4 cups of sugar and a cup of water. Of course, you can do this to taste OR use your favorite pickle brine...sweet or savory. 

While the sugar was melting, I broke apart the florets into bite sized pieces, cut the sweet onion into bite sized pieces, and put in a layer of cauliflower then a layer of onion and olive. I continue the pattern till all was gone. I then poked in 3 leaves from my allspice trees (optional) and also poked in a few baby carrots I had found in the fridge. 

Next, pour the pickling mixture over the veggies. And that was it. I wanted to make sure everything was covered, but because the veggies kept floating up, I took a heavy plastic ramekin, set it on top of the veg, put some brine in it to give it some weight, and that kept everything from floating to the top. Place the cover on the jar and let sit in the fridge for at least 1-2 weeks. When ready to eat, the ramekin can be removed (you won't need it at that point.)

 Because these are one offs, and I put the jar directly in the fridge when it cooled, I did not need to go through the canning process, except for the clean jar. If you plan on just putting your jar on the shelf, then you will need to go through the full canning process, for safety.

                                                  

 

ASAP Garlic Relish

If you love sweet pickle relish and you love garlic, but have no time on your hands to make it fresh, here is a great shortcut that is sure to please.

Simply purchase your favorite commercial sweet relish, or pull a jar of your homemade off the pantry shelf, and add 3 to 4 peeled, FRESH, average sized cloves of garlic! Mix the whole cloves right into the relish, cover and let sit. (Clove numbers may vary to your taste and jar size. This is based on a 12.5 oz size.)
Within a few days.....sometimes within 24 hours, the fresh garlic will begin to permiate the relish, giving you a wonderful garlic flavor to your relish!

Leave the garlic cloves in till you have the desired flavor, or as I usually do,  leave the garlic in the jar until it is almost empty, then finely chop the garlic for use in tuna salad or any other culinary use you may find, as the sweet relish will have permiated the garlic as well!

Pickling

I did some simple pickling the other day using a few cukes that I had to pick. I made a simple brine using white vinegar, sugar and cloves to taste, brought to a slight boil then poired over slices cukes, along with a few cinnamon sticks and a sprinkle of mustard seed in the jars.

Because I only made 2 jars of pickles, I did not bother to do the actual canning process after I filled the jars. Instead, I refrigerated the them after they had cooled.