Quick Pickles

Pickles. In the supermarkets they are a frightening pigment of green. It seems as if they are glowing with radiation. Yes they are more convenient, drop them in your cart and pay for them. But if you just give your vegetables a little bit of briny love you’ll be much happier with the taste and crunch.

Pickling is a great way to preserve food, they aid in digestion and like most fermented foods provide important nutrients. You can use turnips, radishes, cabbage, pearl onions (for a homemade twist on a ‘Gibson’) or cucumbers. Right now at the Union Square Green Market 1 large bunch of radishes is $1 but they start to deteriorate drastically after a day so I started to pickle them, there was a carrot in the house and I bought a turnip for the express use of pickling (Because the only way they can taste better is if you roast them and that will not be happening in the summer heat).

This recipe is for a fairly large jar of pickles. So make 1”x1” cubes of the radish or turnip to add to a salad for zing or big rounds to put on your burgers (Lamb Burger) or use them to nurse a hangover. Have fun.

Quick Pickles

Ingredients:

1 Carrot
1 Daikon Radish
½ Cup Rice Vinegar
4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Mirin
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
3 Tablespoons Water
½ Tspn Sriracha
1 Clove

Equipment:

1 1000ml Mason Jar

1. Slice the carrots and daikon in whatever shape you think you’d like to eat pickles, place them in your jar. Rounds are great for sandwiches, the matchsticks for just snacking and the small cubes to add as a complement to a salad and on and on.
2. Combine all liquid ingredients and the clove into a sauce pan and bring up to a boil for 1 minute.
3. Pour pickling brine over vegetables and let sit out on the counter, top off (covered with a paper towel or clean dish towel to aid in fermentation) at room temperature for up to six hours. Refrigerate. They will keep for at least month, but you’ll probably be finished with them by then.