I have a weakness for pickles. It doesn’t matter what kind: sweet, sour, dill, garlic, spicy, it doesn’t matter to me. Nor am I picky about what vegetables to pickle though I am most partial to cucumbers, the “traditional” pickle, green beans and mushrooms. The only think I demand from a good pickle, especially a cucumber pickle is that it be crispy.

A few weekends ago we headed down to the Bristol Renaissance Faire, one of my favorite summer time activities. We have a great time each time we go and spend a lot of time eating and drinking our way through the festival. Dotted throughout the faire are pickle sellers selling giant pickles. You can’t go wrong for $1.50 and I usually really like them, but this year the pickle I bought was soft and mushy on the inside, and although the flavor was really good, I couldn’t get past that softness. Pickles should be crisp and there is just something wrong with a soft pickle in my opinion.

Of course, I’ve had more than my fair share of pickles that have failed on this point. Hopefully this year’s batch of fermented pickles won’t suffer from this common malady. Luckily, I have one full proof recipe that makes crisp pickles every time. It’s a recipe for refrigerator pickles that my parents have used since I can remember. I’m not sure where it came from originally.

While the upside to this recipe is that it always produces nice, thin, crisp pickles, the downside is that because the jars are not processed and sealed they must be refrigerated at all times and should be eaten within a few months (most extension offices will tell you that refrigerator pickles should be consumed within 2 months, but I have often eaten them at 4-6 months old – they never last longer than that no matter how big a batch I’ve made).

When making pickles it is important to use the proper type of cucumber. Those large, waxy skinned that are sold at most supermarkets are not good for pickle making. No matter what you do, they will always end up soft and mushy. Look for the smaller, bumpy skinned variety. They often go under the name Kirby cucumbers. Pickles will be at their best if the cucumbers have been freshly picked or are no more than a few days old. Make sure to use only unblemished cucumbers in pickle making. Save any bruised ones or ones with small amounts of mold for slicing and using on salads.

While I really like my family’s recipe, this time I decided to change it up just a bit. I left out the turmeric that is in the original and added some fresh jalapenos. I wanted a spicy pickle this time around, and to be honest I left the turmeric out because I was out and was too lazy to go to the store to pick some up. While I like the subtle flavor the turmeric lends to these pickles, they also tasted fine without it.

Since no cooking is involved this is a great, hot August day pickling activity. No stoves or pots of boiling water to heat up the kitchen and house!

Spicy Refrigerator Pickles

2 quarts pickling cucumbers, thinly sliced
1-2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2-4 jalapenos, thinly sliced (depending on the heat level you want)
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. pickling salt
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. mustard seed
1/2 tsp. dry mustard

Pack cucumbers, jalapenos and onions into a nonreactive jar (glass, stainless or a crock). Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour over cukes making sure all the vegetables are submerged. Place in refrigerator and allow to mature for at least 1 week. During the first 3 days, occasionally invert the jar to make sure that all the vegetables are getting covered with the pickling solution. After 1 week start to taste the pickles. While they are ready in 1 week, I usually allow 2 full weeks before I break into them. Keep refrigerated.

I have no idea why I decided to make Lime Marmalade today. The idea popped into my mind yesterday though I don’t know why. I think the idea first took seed last Friday (New Year’s Day) as we were sitting at our regular breakfast place, waiting for our food to arrive. On the table were those little packets of jelly, one of the flavors being Orange Marmalade. I’ve seen it there many, many times but that day for some reason it caught my eye and stuck with me. The funny thing is, I don’t even really care for marmalade all that much. I don’t dislike it, it’s just not my first, second, or even third choice when choosing a preserve to slather on toast or bread. Raspberry jam is always my first choice (well actually Spicy Raspberry Jam is even better), along with strawberry, and apricot, though my wife makes a killer spiced grape jelly. Again, though, I am not overly particular, and can’t remember coming across a preserve that I couldn’t stand.

For whatever reason I latched on to marmalade this week, I knew I didn’t want to make orange. It was either grapefruit or lime. I love the flavor of both, but ultimately decided I was in the mood for something lime flavored. I have made numerous jellies and jams before, but can’t remember ever making marmalade so I headed to my bookshelves and the internet to study up on making marmalade and to develop a recipe.

I have found 2 schools of thought when it comes to making marmalade. Some recipes call for a 3 day process where you boil the citrus in water for 10 15 minutes then let it sit overnight, repeat, and then on the third day you finish the marmalade. The other school of thought is to do it all at once, but with a long cooking time to ensure that the peel is tender and that all the pectin is extracted. I chose to do the one day method, though in the near future I want to try the other method and compare the two.

I was very happy with the way my first batch of marmalade turned out. Sweet, tart, with just a bit of a bitter edge this marmalade makes a great spread for toast, english muffins, scones (especially berry studded ones) and a whole host of other “breads.” And I expect it will make a great ingredient in a whole host of other dishes and applications.

One thing about this marmalade; it has a slightly soft set to it. It definitely is not as thick or as tight as many jellies and jams you might be used to eating. That’s the risk of not using store bought pectin. If you want a firmer set you can try adding some liquid pectin, towards the end of cooking, but I rather like the slightly looser set of this preserve.

Lime Marmalade

2 pounds limes, washed under warm water to remove any wax if not using organic limes
4 cups water
3 pounds sugar

Zest all the limes. The easiest way to do this is to invest $7-$10 in a citrus zester. They come in handy quite often so are well worth the few dollars. If you don’t have a zester the thinly peel the limes with a peeler trying to avoid as much of the white pith as possible. After peeling the limes cut them into very fine strips. If you had a zester, you would have been done 15 minutes ago!

Cut the limes in half and squeeze all the juice into a nonreacative pot along with the lime zest. Finely chop the remains of the limes, including all the membranes and pith. You can also roughly chop them and put them in a food processor to finish the job, just don’t turn it into a puree. Place the finely chopped lime into a cheesecloth or muslin jelly bag.

Tie it closed and toss into the pot along with the juice, zest and the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours. During the last half hour remove the lid. Remove the pulp filled cloth and carefully squeeze out all the liquid that remains the in pulp. Add the sugar to the liquid in the pot, increase heat, bring to a boil and cook until a thermometer reaches 220. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove all scum that has floated to the top and pour into jars. Cover, and if not processing, place into the refrigerator once they have slightly cooled. If you want to process the marmalade then place in a bath of boiling water that comes at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars and process for 10 minutes. Remove from bath and allow to cool. Check seals on jars and if one didn’t seal properly, move to the refrigerator.

It’s hard to believe that it’s October already. This year seems to have flown by. I’m still trying to figure out where summer went. Some would argue that we never really had summer due to the unseasonably cool weather we had. I wouldn’t disagree with that sentiment, but I am glad to see fall arrive. With the advent of Fall, I start to think of the holidays that are just around the corner. Yes, I know that they are still a ways away, but some preparations need to be made now. My family often gives “homemade” gifts for Christmas, and in my family that usually means food, and more specifically home canned goods and homemade cordials. These are items that need to be started now as they often take months to cure and/or mature. This also gets me to thinking of our holiday meals. Our meals tend to be traditional, but elaborate affairs complemented by a number of pickles and relishes, most of which take a number of weeks between initial preparation and the time they are ready to eat.

One of my favorite of all these relishes are the homemade pickled beets and the purple pickled eggs made using the liquid from those same beets. Normally these are prepared using standard red beets, but this past Saturday, while perusing the local farmer’s market I came across some beautiful golden beets.

These were too nice to pass up so I decided to use them instead of the traditional red. I imagine that later this month I will also pickle some red beets also, as Thanksgiving and Christmas just aren’t the same without purple pickled eggs. I also plan on using the liquid, from the golden beets to try and make some yellow pickled eggs also. Don’t know how it will work, but I’m sure I’ll share my attempts here. (continue reading…)

It’s been a week since I last posted, an unusually long time for me, but I had a good excuse.  For the better part of last week I have been on Isle Royale, or traveling to get there and home again.  If you are not familiar with Isle Royale-don’t be ashamed, most people aren’t-it is a large island in the middle of Lake Superior.  To access the island one must travel to the northern most tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan then take a 3-5 hour ferry ride out into the lake.  It is truly one of the remotest places in the continuous 48.  As such it is the least visited National Park, making it a haven for those seeking solitude and nature.  It is also an important research center for many scientists wishing to study wildlife, their interactions with their environments and mankind’s impact on that environment.  It is also amazingly beautiful!  It is no wonder that, although it is the least visited National Park, it also has the highest return rate. So what prompted this journey to this remote island?  A wedding of course!  Both my brother and wife have spent numerous summers working on the island as park rangers.  They met on the island, got engaged on the island and felt that the island was the most appropriate place to exchange their vows.  It was a small, intimate wedding held on the shores of one of the 400+ smaller islands that surround the large one.  I’ve been in weddings large and small, extravagant and simple, but this one was one of the most perfect ceremonies I have ever had the pleasure to witness.  For those of you thinking what a great idea for a wedding, please realize that the park discourages larger groups due to their impact on the environment and you won’t find any amenities.  Remember this is first and foremost a nature reserve and everything they do revolves around that. (continue reading…)