Pickled courgettes

After using up some of our home-grown courgettes in a loaf cake, the plants are producing yet more. Pickled courgettes are a good thing to make, so we can enjoy the mid-summer bonanza all year round.

I found a simple ‘pickled zucchini’ recipe on the Bon Appetit website to which I made just a couple of little tweaks. I couldn’t find any dill seeds or saffron threads in the supermarket, so I used fennel seeds in place of the former, and omitted the latter completely.

Instead of simply slicing the courgettes with a knife, I used our mandoline which gave the slices attractive grooves.

We’re really looking forward to trying the pickle – served on the side or incorporated into the dishes themselves. We’re thinking burgers, sandwiches, salads and stir fries.

They need to steep for at least a week, but we’ll probably wait till the autumn before tasting ours.

Click here or on the image below to save the recipe to Pinterest

Pickled courgettes

Bon Appétit

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Course Condiment

Cuisine British

Ingredients

1 kg/2lb small courgettes preferably about 4 or 8 inches long, trimmed
4 tbsp coarse sea salt or pickling salt divided
12 sprigs fresh dill
2 tsp yellow or brown mustard seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp dill seeds
¼ tsp saffron threads
4 cloves garlic halved
4 red chillis split lengthwise
600 ml/21fl oz white wine vinegar
50 g/1¾oz sugar

Instructions

If you're using 10cm/4-inch courgettes, halve lengthwise. If using 20cm/8-inch courgettes, halve crosswise, then quarter lengthwise
Put them into in a large bowl. Add 2 tbsp of the salt and 4 cups of ice. Add cold water to cover. Top with a plate to keep the courgettes submerged. Allow to sit for 2 hours. Drain and rinse
Divide the dill sprigs and next 6 ingredients between 2 clean, hot 1-litre glass jars and set aside
Bring the vinegar, sugar, remaining 2 tbsp of salt and 300ml/10½fl oz water to a boil in a large saucepan
Working in batches, add courgettes and cook, stirring occasionally, until khaki in colour and slightly pliable, about 2 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the courgettes to jars
Divide the hot syrup between the jars to cover courgettes, leaving a 1cm/½-inch space on top
Wipe the rims, seal and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes

Allow at least a week to pickle before eating

Keyword courgette, pickle, preserves, zucchini

Home-made piccalilli

This month, I’ve been making a lot of my usual preserves – raspberry jelly, elderflower cordial and the like. One I’ve not made before is piccalilli.

Growing up, a jar of piccalilli was always prominent on the Christmas dinner table. It used to be a staple accompaniment to the roast ham – and the cold meat sandwiches, cheese and pies in the following days.

I found numerous recipes in my collection of cook books; all much the same, with slight variations on the ratios of spices. I’ve made the recipe my own by adding mustard seeds and a couple of chillies for bite and colour.

The preparation takes place over two days – the veg needs to be soaked in salted water (the brine) for 24 hours.

Once that’s done, cooking is a quick 20-minute affair before decanting into jars.

The piccalilli is best left for at least 3 months before using to allow the flavours to develop. That leaves plenty of time before Christmas!

Save my recipe to Pinterest here.

Home-made piccalilli

2017-07-27 08:37:20

Ingredients

1.4kg/3lbs vegetables (I used 800g cauliflower, 300g courgettes, 160g onions, 125g fine beans, 15g red chillies)
2l/3½pts water
200g/7oz salt
1l/1¾pt distilled white vinegar or malt vinegar for pickling
140g/5oz Demerara sugar
1tbsp mustard seeds
1tbsp mustard powder
2tsp turmeric
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp mixed spice
1tbsp plain flour

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Instructions

Dissolve the salt into the water
Into a large mixing bowl, cut all the vegetables into even sized pieces
Pour the salted water (brine) over the vegetables making sure they're all submerged. Weigh them down with a plate and cover the bowl over with a tea towel. Leave to stand for 24 hours
Drain and put the vegetables into a large pan with the vinegar, sugar and spices. Simmer for 10-20 minutes depending on how soft or crunchy you like your veg
Using a slotted spoon or ladle, decant the vegetables into hot, sterilised jars (I needed 5 mayonnaise-sized jars)
Mix the flour into the spiced vinegar and boil for 1 minute before pouring into the jars of vegetables
Seal the lids tightly on to the jars
Store in a cool, dry cupboard for at least 3 months before using

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Spiced redcurrant & red onion relish

Last week we brought you a sweet, baked redcurrant recipe. This week, some more of our redcurrants are being used in a savoury preserve – spiced redcurrant & red onion relish. We’ve slightly altered a recipe we found on the BBC Good Food website.

We’ve not tried out our relish yet – we’re giving the flavours some time to steep and develop. It’s meant to be really good teamed with a creamy goat’s cheese or charcuterie.

Have you tried this recipe? Let us know how you get on.

Spiced redcurrant & red onion relish

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Cook Time 15

Total Time 15

Servings 450 ml

Ingredients

2 medium red onions peeled & sliced into ½cm square pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried crushed chillies
2 large garlic cloves chopped finely
1 small knob of fresh ginger grated
200 ml red wine vinegar I used some of our home-made blackberry vinegar
140 g muscovado sugar
1 tsp Chinese five spice
1 tsp salt
200 g redcurrants de-stalked

Instructions

In a heavy bottomed frying pan, cook the onions and dried crushed chillies in the olive oil over a medium heat until softened
Remove from the pan and set aside
Without washing out the pan, add the garlic and ginger with half the vinegar, bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes
Add the cooked onion & chilli mix, sugar, Chinese five spice, salt and the remainder of the vinegar
Bring back up to the boil then simmer for about 5 minutes until thickened
Add the redcurrants and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until some of them have burst and the liquid has become syrupy
Remove and pour into a sterilised, 450ml heatproof jar
Screw the lid on tightly while still hot. Once opened, it keeps in the fridge for up to 3 weeks

Gooseberry pickle

This year’s crop of gooseberries has been ever so slightly better than last year’s. We have a gooseberry bush in our back garden and another on our allotment, however both bushes seem to be afflicted by American gooseberry mildew. According to the RHS website, the fruit is still edible, each berry just needs to be given a good rubbing down and a wash – and the bushes need a good prune. It’s a good thing we didn’t have a bumper harvest then!

I went to my trusty vintage Cordon Bleu Preserving book to find some recipes that called for under-ripe (because, in all honesty, that’s what they were!) gooseberries. I found recipes for gooseberry jelly with elderflower, gooseberry jam, gooseberry ketchup, gooseberry pickle and gooseberry relish. The pickle recipe was the only one that specifically mentioned unripe berries.

The recipe in my book required 2 pints of gooseberries – a very strange measurement to use – I guess you just fill up a couple of pint glasses! I worked it out as being 2 pints = 1kg. I only managed a paltry 500g of gooseberries, so I’ve halved the recipe quantities here. The recipe also included cayenne pepper, but we didn’t have any to hand, so I substituted it with an equal quantity of paprika. Once made, the pickle needs to be jarred up and stored away for a good six months. I reckon it would serve as a great accompaniment to fish or cheese board – I’ll report back my findings in December!

Gooseberry pickle

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Ingredients

500 g/1 pint gooseberries
115 g/4oz demerara sugar
salt the book doesn't specify quantities so I added 5g/⅕oz
570 ml/1 pint white wine vinegar
7 g/¼oz mustard seeds
85 g/3oz garlic
170 g/6oz raisins
7 g/¼oz ground paprika

Instructions

Clean, top and tail the gooseberries and put them in a pan with the sugar, salt and half of the white wine vinegar
Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and cook until the gooseberries are tender
In a large heatproof bowl, bruise the mustard seeds, chop & crush the garlic and mix both with the raisins and paprika
Pour the boiling gooseberries over the mixture and add the other half of the cold vinegar
Stir before decanting into sterilised Kilner jars
Immediately screw down the jars and store for at least 6 months before use