How to Make Perfect Pickles

I LOVE a good dill pickle.  And after making them homemade, the store-bought ones are often second-rate.  But I've read that many people have trouble making their pickles have the taste and the texture they are looking for.  I have now successfully made PERFECT PICKLES twice, and I want to share what I did so you can enjoy the dilly, salty, crisp goodness yourself!

The secret is in the method. Pickles can become soggy if they cook too long in the brine. But you want the jars to cook enough to seal correctly and safely for preservation of the food.  I will share the method that has worked for me. More information on safe pickling procedures can be found here: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can6b_pickle.html.

I started with this mess of cukes from Bountiful Baskets. They were ripe and ready for pickling. They were too big to pickle whole, so I decided to do spears and slices.

1. First, prepare your pickling brine: 8 1/2 cups water, 2 1/4 cups white vinegar, 1/2 cup pickling salt.  Bring brine to a full boil, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Second, prepare your cucumbers.  I sliced mine lengthwise into sixths for spears, and into about 1/4" slices.

3. HERBS: One thing I LOVE about this recipe is the simplicity of the ingredients.  You'll need fresh dill, fresh garlic, and fresh parsley (optional). 

4. In each sterilized quart-size jars, place a clove of garlic, and 1 sprig each of parsley and dill.

5. Now, STUFF the pickles into the jar. Spears should stand up and and have seeds turned inward as much as you can.  Finish each jar with another sprig of dill, parsley, and garlic clove.

6. Prepare your water bath canner by filling about halfway with water. Bring to a low simmer.

7. Pour brine into filled jars, leaving 1/4" of headspace. You may need to tap the jars gently on the counter a few times to remove air bubbles and make room for more brine. 

8. Wipe rims and place sterilized seals and rings (tightened just slightly) on the jars.

9. Place the jars into the simmering water, making sure the water only comes to the neck of the jars. Process pickles for 15 minutes, beginning timer as soon as you place them in the water. Avoid letting water reach a rolling boil, but keep it simmering. This will seal the jars, but won't cook the heck out of the pickles. 

10. Remove jars and cover with a towel as they cool. Listen for the glorious POP that lets you know they have sealed.  Wait at least 3 weeks to enjoy your pickles. The "pickling" happens as the cucumbers sit in the brine and soak in all the yummy flavors, so don't cheat and open them early.  We had to put a countdown calendar up in our house so the kids would know when they could dig in! 

Perfect Dill Pickles

Makes 7 quarts

Ingredients:

8 1/2 cups water

2 1/4 cups white vinegar

1/2 cup pickling salt

Picking Cucumbers (30-40 medium or 10 lbs), washed and cut into slices or spears

Fresh dill

Fresh parsley (optional)

Fresh garlic

Directions:

1. Prepare your brine by boiling water, vinegar, and salt, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. In the bottom of each sterilized quart-size jar, place a sprig of dill and parsley, and one peeled garlic clove.  Fill the jars with cucumber slices or spears, turning spears seed-side in if possible. Finish with another sprig of dill, parsley, and a garlic clove.

3. Fill water bath canner about half-way with water and bring to a simmer on the stove.

4. Use a funnel to pour brine into the stuffed jars, leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Wipe rims, and top with sterilized lids and rings. 

5. Place jars in water bath, making sure the water reaches just to the top of the neck of the jars. Process in water bath for 15 minutes, avoiding a rolling boil, but maintaining a simmer.

6. Remove jars from water bath and cool on the counter, covering cans with a dish towel.  Store in a cool, dark place for at least 3-4 weeks before opening.

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The No Peeling Applesauce Experience

Have you ever made applesauce? Last year was my first year. It turned out unbelievably delicious, but I only made about 3 quarts because it was SO MUCH WORK--the peeling, coring, slicing, cooking, mashing-- for a small yield. 

This year I had pretty much decided it wasn't worth all the work, until I saw this post from SewCreative. She made applesauce without peeling her apples. She just mashed them after they cooked in her slow-cooker. I was intrigued. 

I live in Washington, and yes our apples are delicious, so when I had a chance to get 40 lbs for $24, I jumped on it, and decided I would try the no-peel deal.

SUCCESS! I will show you what I did and why I was so happy with the MUCH LESS WORK approach.

You will need: 

• Apples (duh.)  I used half Fuji and half Sunny Sweet (a sweet variety that the farm I purchased from has developed--similar to Honey Crisp).
• Bottled lemon juice
• Water
• Honey 
• Cinnamon, if desired

• A slow-cooker
• A blender
• Canning supplies 

1. Core and slice your apples. I cut mine into 8ths. Fill your crockpot with the apples. Mix 1/4 cup of lemon juice with 1 cup of water and pour over the apples. (This is for a 4 quart slow-cooker, but would work fine for larger. Cut back the water for smaller cookers).

2. Drizzle honey over the apples. I didn't measure this. but you can see that I was fairly generous. I would estimate 1/3 cup of honey. Sprinkle with desired amount of cinnamon. I probably sprinkled 1.5 teaspoons. Give the apples a good stir. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours. 

3. After the time is up, uncover and stir gently. Look at how much water they produce on their own while cooking. I made multiple batches, and I never added extra lemon water after the first batch. I just left an inch or so of liquid in the bottom and added the apples.

4. Spoon the cooked apples into the blender. It is okay to get lots of juice in there, too, just not so much that it covers the apples. Blend on high 2 minutes, or until all skin is pulverized. (If you have one of those blenders that can obliterate a cellphone and keep on going, you may only need to blend for a few seconds. I'll withhold my jealousy.)

5. Look how pretty it is! See the tiny dark specks? That's the pulverized peels. They are completely undetectable in the texture when you eat this. It is smooth--like buttah, baby.

6. Pour hot sauce in to prepared jars. Place lids and rings, and process in a water-bath canner for 15 minutes (pints), 20 minutes (quarts). 

My yield: 9 quarts! This was from three batches in the slow-cooker.  I went on a run, taught an exercise class, cleaned (parts of) my house, shopped, picked up and took kids to and from their activities, made dinner, did some blog maintenance, and made apple pie filling all in the same day as making this applesauce. NO WAY I would've accomplished so much if I had had to peel all those apples! 

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Canning Peach Salsa

Peaches are here! So many uses, so little time! One of my favorite ways to use peaches when they are in abundance is in Peach Salsa! 

I made some last year, but the recipe didn't include tomatoes. We had tomatoes to use this year, so with my neighbor (and partner in canning/crime), we came up with a delicious new recipe! It is just the right combination of spicy, savory, and sweet. Chunky and rich in flavor--you will love it!

First peel and chop peaches. Ours were so ripe, I just peeled them with my fingers right out of the crate.  If your peaches aren't so easy, here is a great method from Our Best Bites.

Then, chop tomatoes. I recommend Romas or some other more-meaty, less-juicy variety.

It already looks so pretty, huh?

I used my hand-crank food processor to chop all the peppers, onions, and garlic. I still chopped the cilantro by hand. Add all these ingredients, along with lime zest and juice to the tomato and peach mix.  Then, stir in 1/2 cup of sugar. 

Put your pot on the stove over medium-high heat.  While you are waiting on it to boil, mix 4 tablespoons of fruit pectin and 1/2 cup sugar. Once it boils 3 minutes, mix this into the pot, stirring well. Let it boil 3 more minutes. 

Ladle the hot salsa into sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch of head-space. Wipe rims, and set sterilized lids on each jar. Screw on rings to finger-tight. Process in a waterbath canner: 10 minutes for pints, 15 minutes for quarts.  

Let them cool on the counter, then store in a cool, dry place.

I love eating salsa I have canned throughout the cold winter months! And peach salsa is such a rare-find.  You will love serving it to family and guests through the holidays!

Peach Salsa (Canned or Fresh*)

Makes 10 pints

Ingredients:

14 cups peaches, peeled and chopped

6 cups Roma tomatoes, chopped

2 red bell peppers, chopped

3 cups sweet onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped/minced

1 cup jalapeno pepper, chopped

3/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1.5 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons lime juice

1/2 teaspoon lime zest

1 cup sugar-divided

4 tablespoons powdered fruit pectin

Directions: 

1. In a large stock pot, mix tomatoes, peaches, bell and jalapeno peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro, salt, lime juice and zest.  Stir in 1/2 cup of sugar. (*If you are making fresh salsa, add full cup of sugar and refrigerate until ready to use.)

2. Place pot on stove over medium-high heat.  Stir together remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and fruit pectin.

3. Bring salsa to a full boil.  Boil 3 minutes, then stir in sugar and pectin mixture. Return to a boil for 3 more minutes. 

4. Ladle hot salsa into prepared canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch of head-space. Wipe rims, apply sterilized lids and rings. Process in a water bath canner--10 minutes for pints; 15 minutes for quarts.  Remove and let cool.  Store for 1+ year. 

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Homemade Salsa!

I like chips, but this salsa is so yummy, I could really just have a spoon and be happy to eat it alone. And it's a good thing it's so delicious, because along with my neighbor, I canned 26 quarts of it. ¡Olé!

This is my family's "go-to" salsa.  It has qualities the whole family consistently enjoys--lots of flavor, not too much heat.  My neighbor and I originally started out canning with this recipe from Food.com. We made some changes through trial and error, and we have been thrilled with the final product!

This recipe can be pared down to make much less. You can even skip cooking and canning and just have a yummy fresh salsa. You'd better believe we tasted it before we cooked it, and it was GOOD!

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Salsa

makes 6-7 quarts

Ingredients:

15 cups chopped tomatoes (I prefer Romas because they are less juicy)

5 cups chopped sweet yellow onions

5 cups chopped green bell peppers

1 1/2 - 2 cups chopped and seeded jalapeno peppers (see my post: De-Seed Jalapenos the Easy Way for help)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups apple-cider vinegar

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

9 oz tomato paste

Directions:

1. If you are canning, prepare cans and lids. Have a water-bath ready.

2. Mix all ingredients except tomato paste in a large pot. Heat on medium heat until boiling. Simmer uncovered 15-30 minutes, until close to desired thickness. 

3. Stir in tomato paste. 

4. Fill jars for canning leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Wipe rims, place sanitized lids and screw on rings to finger-tight. Place in boiling water-bath and process 15 minutes. 

5. If you are not canning, just mix all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve. Mmm, mmm.

My neighbor took this picture of it as it was cooking down on the stove. I love all the pretty shades of red and green! 

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Saturday Dishes

Zucchini Salsa Verde--Canned or Refrigerated

You go one morning to check the garden for any ripe produce. There's a zucchini there that is still a bit puny, but should be ready by the next day. You forget to check in the morning, but remember and look after dinner. It has gone from the size of a hot-dog to the size of your arm in less than 2 days! Yikes! What are you going to do with all that zucchini?!

I have the answer! SALSA! My sister canned some delicious zucchini salsa last summer (that I sampled on a recent trip to her house--YUM!), but I hadn't considered a zucchini salsa verde until I stumbled on this recipe from Everyday Southwest. It looked delicious, but with the large quantities of zucchini I had, I was hoping to can some for the coming months. So I found this recipe for canning salsa verde from Ball. I pulled from both to come up with my version. 

We loved it! I hope you do, too!

In a large stock-pot combine finely chopped (I used my food-processor) zucchini, tomatillos, jalapeno and poblano peppers, sweet onion, garlic, and cilantro.  Add lime juice and zest, cayenne pepper, oregano, salt, vinegar, and honey.  Mix well. 

Bring mixture to a boil and simmer for at least 5 minutes, until all ingredients begin to soften.  

Prepare 2 quarts of canning jars.  Fill to 1/4 inch from rims. Process in water bath for 15 min (half-pints), 20 min (pints), 25 min (quarts). 

Or serve it right up. Store unused in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. 

I had two of these soft tacos. And then spooned some more salsa right onto my plate and ate it with a bit of sour cream.  Tortilla chips are optional. :)

Zucchini Salsa Verde

Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients:

5-6 cups finely chopped zucchini (adjust according to how many peppers you use)

3 cups finely chopped tomatillos

1 large sweet onion, chopped

4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped

1 poblano pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional, depending on your heat preference)

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 cup of chopped cilantro

Zest of 2 limes

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more = hotter salsa)

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp salt

2 tsp honey

1/3 cup white vinegar

Directions: 

1. Mix all ingredients in a stock pot. Heat and stir until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 5-10 minutes, or until all ingredients have softened.

2. To Can: Ladle hot salsa into prepared canning jars (this will make approximately 2.5 quarts).  Wipe rims, place sanitized lids and rings. Process in a water bath for 15 min (half-pint); 20 min (pint); 25 min (quart).  Remove and let cool. Store for 1 year. 

3. To use soon: May be served warm, or cooled and stored in the fridge. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2 weeks. (This is my best guess--the vinegar should help it last at least that long).  

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