In a pickle...

I've always wondered about that saying...I guess being in trouble could be likened to being crammed in a tight space with vinegar and spices. At a stretch. Hmmm, they also say "in a jam". Maybe I should start a new saying? "Oh dear, I'm in a bit of a chutney!"

Mel mentioned in her last post that we also made a couple of other preserves from things we got on our market run. We found some lovely small cucumbers and some plum sized brown onions and couldn't resist making pickles! The cucs were turned into simple pickles with some apple cider vinegar, peppercorns and celery seeds. But we came across a tasty idea for the onions over at Cook (almost) Anything. We haven't tried the onions yet but the cucumbers are delicious! The recipe is a simplified version of a recipe found on one of my favourite blogs, Food in Jars.

Pickled cucumbers

makes about 5 small jars

1 kg small lebanese cucumbers
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup filtered water
2 teaspoons sea salt
celery seed and black peppercorns(but any spices will do)

Wash and dry the cucumbers. Chop ends off and slice into spears. Set aside.

Combine vinegar, water and salt in sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Put half a teaspoon of celery seed and half a teaspoon of peppercorns in each jar. Pack the cucumber spears into the jars tightly.

Pour the brine into the jars, leaving 1cm headspace. You may need more vinegar brine, if so, just mix up another batch in the ratio described. Put lids on the jars and boiling water bath them for 15mins. Resist eating them for at least a week to allow them to cure.

Markets and Preserves

On the weekend Lucy and I took a quick trip to the Mt Gravatt market to see what was on offer.

Tomatoes are a bit of a staple for both of us but ripe ones were a rarity, so we decided to see what was abundant and economical. A few things caught our eyes but we ended spending a very affordable bit of pocket change on mandarins, small brown onions and bendy, dark green cucumbers.

What followed was a very satisfying few hours of kitchen time, with some lovely looking and tasting results. Have a guess what we made and we'll be back with more photos and the run down very soon.