Posts Tagged ‘Brine’
Refrigerator Dill Pickles
I consider unprocessed pickles, those made without water bath canning, a special treat of the summer growing season. When the garden or Farmer’s Markets are overflowing with cucumbers we make enough to enjoy from summer’s end well into fall, then like most homesteaders and gardeners, we start looking forward to the next growing season. It’s not that they go bad in the fridge, but they do lose that fresh crispiness that makes them a rite of the summer harvest. If you want pickles all year long, use a recipe that calls for water bath processing, so the jars will be vacuum sealed.
Our favorite recipe is from a retired railroad conductor. It was handed down from generation to generation and couldn’t be easier.
THE RECIPE:
The Jars: Thoroughly wash quart- size canning jars either by hand or in the dishwasher.
The Brine: Determine about how many quarts of pickles you will be making. Boil one quart of water for each jar, plus a little extra for evaporation. Keep brine simmering. For each quart of water, add ¾ cup distilled white vinegar and 4 heaping tablespoons of kosher salt. NOTE: Do not use reactive pots (like aluminum) for making brine, use stainless or glass for making pickles.
Packing The Jars: Wash cukes. Cut or leave whole. Layer the bottom of each jar with fresh dill and crushed or whole garlic (3 or 4 cloves, more if you want a lot of garlic flavor). Pack cukes tight into jars.
Seasoning The Pickles: To each jar, add 1 Tablespoon of pickling spice and a dash of crushed red pepper flakes, or 1-2 small hot red peppers slit open lengthwise (if you like), plus plenty of fresh dill flower heads (it makes a pretty presentation).
Pour The Hot Brine: Cover everything with the simmering brine.
Put Lids On. Leave jars at room temperature for two or three days then put in the fridge for at least a week before eating. Two weeks is even better, if you can wait that long.
Storing Pickles: Pickles will keep for a couple months in the fridge. Of course, if you see anything funky going on in the jar you should not eat them.
It’s Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving from our little suburban homestead!
After celebrating Brianne’s birthday last weekend we’re here enjoying the rest of our quiet vacation with a few days respite from farm chores. Well – except for feeding. Yah, they all like to be fed too. Dutch and Dakota are enjoying the abundance of food falling on the kitchen floor from all the cooking activity going on. Our bird is soaking in its brine and I’m getting ready to bake a ham, cheese and mushroom quiche and fresh herbed bread. Later tonight I’ll bake my Harvest Pumpkin cakes and make our orange infused cranberry sauce. No one will go hungry this Thanksgiving, not human, nor dog, nor chicken, nor rabbit.
Sadly, no turkeys were raised on the farm this year. Our spring was so busy with travel to sheep shows that I thought it best not to bring new animals to the farm without the proper time to attend them. Hopefully next year will be different. With the success of raising our own meat chickens I’d love to take on turkeys. Incidentally, the bird we will fest on is from a batch we raised right here on the farm.
The evening will be spent by the fire, curled up on the sofa under layers of handmade quilts; doing what we do every year, a movie marathon. This year’s selection: Horatio Hornblower. This, of course, will be watched with copious amounts of cake. I’m excited.
It’s great to be surrounded by family, but I have to admit our decision to celebrate the holiday solo – just Brianne and I, has been a good one. She’s roaming around here somewhere, bouncing between the kitchen and texting friends.
Neighbors stop by throughout the day, concerned that we’re flying solo; seemingly unloved and unwanted. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I don’t miss the commotion, which sends momentary twinges of guilt through me…I think I’m needed in the kitchen, so I’ve gotta fly. But I wanted to check in and wish you all
Happy Thanksgiving!
From Suburban Homesteading.com
photo credit: Nancee_art
A Thrifty Thanksgiving
It’s November 2010, the elections are fresh in our minds and everywhere we go there are the reminders of the coming holiday season. But, the economy still looms heavy on our minds. Fears about jobs, price increases and shortages have us feeling uncertain about what this season will be like.
BUT – here on our little homestead we’re determined not to let this air of uncertainty affect our love of fall and one of the two biggest holidays of the calendar Thanksgiving. We have however decided to make this a budgeted holiday with plenty of memory making activities like free concerts, walks through the decorated areas of town with a mug full of warm apple cider and holiday programs.
So, how does one have a thrifty Thanksgiving dinner? By using what you have on hand, that’s how.
We’ll start a few days before Thanksgiving by thawing out a 9-1/2 pound roasting chicken from a batch we raised last year. I’ll make a few fresh loaves of bread (saving enough dough to make dinner rolls) with herbs from the garden baked in, as a base for our stuffing. When it’s cooled enough I’ll cube it and let it dry out.
On Wednesday I’ll prepare a brine of coarse salt, spices, herbs, apples and cider. The chicken will soak in the brining bucket, submerged in its flavorful concoction for 24-hours.
On Thanksgiving morning, once the animals are fed and morning chores complete, and the chicken is thoroughly rinsed and set out to come to room temperature, we’ll pack up our gear and head to our favorite hiking area. While most people are frantically trying to get their turkeys in the oven by mid-morning we’ll be trekking the hills breathing in fresh air and reveling in the colors of nature. Home by noon and with a light lunch of soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, on home baked bread, we’ll be fortified enough to put our energies into our evening meal.
Brianne will peel and cube homegrown potatoes for our cheesy herb infused mash, while my sister slices a newly harvested Butternut squash that will be baked with brown sugar, butter and spices. Greens will be washed and prepared for a wonderful fall mixed green, pecan, blue cheese and cranberry salad with Blueberry-Pomegranate dressing, all from ingredients in my pantry.
The stuffing, squash and dinner rolls will go into the oven and cook along with the bird.
Once the turkey – I mean chicken – is finished roasting I’ll whip up some gravy from the drippings and all will be laid out on a festive table as a grand feast.
The whole meal will be finished off with individual Harvest Pumpkin cakes, made from our own successful pumpkin patch, and topped with a cream cheese frosting and pecan halves.
There you have it, a wonderfully filling homegrown, homemade Thanksgiving feast.
For the rest of the evening we’ll settle into a roaring fire watching some of our favorite movies. I’ll take comfort in the fact that this years celebration was made mainly from ingredients we grew ourselves or already had one hand, with only a few items purchased at the Farmer’s Market for just a few dollars. I can now rest easy that what had caused me concern will turn out to be a wonderful and intimate celebration of the harvest.
That’s the perfect ending to a perfect day.
photo credit: Alanna Kellogg
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Aenean nonummy hendrerit mauris. Phasellus porta.