Tag Archives: pickles

Sauerkraut, take 1 (and 2)

Recipes, Tools,

I have been meaning to try making my own sauerkraut for years, so I finally bought some airlock lids for mason jars and some glass weights and made a couple of 1-quart batches. If these work out well, I might get a nice fermentation crock and try fermenting other things. Maybe kimchi.

Today’s batches: 800 grams cabbage, 18 grams salt, and 750 grams cabbage, 50 grams carrot, 18 grams salt, 5 grams caraway seeds. I’ll check in on them in a week or so and see how they’re looking.

I’ve got a copy of The Art of Fermentation, but today’s experiment is mostly inspired by https://www.makesauerkraut.com/.

Continue reading Sauerkraut, take 1 (and 2) →

Eddie Hall’s Salmon Sandwich

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This is probably Alexandra Hall’s Salmon Sandwich, actually, since in the video we got the idea from, I’m pretty sure Eddie said his wife made the sandwiches for him. And I can’t find the video now to see whether what we’re making is anything like what Eddie was so enthusiastic about, but either way, it’s a damn good sandwich.

Toast one slice of rye bread. I’m using Oroweat Jewish rye right now, but probably anything would be good. Definitely look for something with either dill or caraway, though.

Cut the slice of bread in half to make two very thin slices of bread, each toasted on one side. Basically, go halfway to making Melba toast. We’re not cutting the crust off, but you can see Jacques Pépin demonstrate here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1688198741345173

On the un-toasted side of one slice, spread 1/2 ounce of lowfat cream cheese. Slice a dill pickle (I like Nalley garlic dill pickles, whole, so I can slice them more thinly than their sandwich-sliced version is) into long, thin slices (not rounds) and add a layer of sliced pickle on top of the cream cheese. Put 1 ounce of smoked salmon on top, and cover with the other half of the toasted bread. Lox might also work; I haven’t tried that. Smoked salmon definitely does.

If you’re feeling fancy, you could cut the crusts off these, cut them into triangles, and serve them at a garden party. You might have to add another layer of cream cheese to make it hold together.

These are delicious, and way more satisfying than you might expect for something so small.

Pickled carrots

Recipes,

I made about two gallons of pickled carrots with jalapeños and onions this afternoon, mostly using this recipe. I doubled all the ingredients but the carrots, because I wasn’t sure how many carrots the recipe called for. I used about 4.75 pounds total (after slicing). I’m not entirely sure how many jalapeños I used, either. Slightly less by volume than there were carrots, I know. Let’s say around 30.

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The brine and onions are pink because some of the carrots I used were purple carrots, and the color leached out of them during cooking. The batch filled our white stockpot, which I guess is two gallons. I gave half to my folks and kept half for us. It’s sitting in the fridge now, getting tastier. It should be ready to eat tomorrow, but it’ll probably develop the best flavor over the course of the next few weeks. If it lasts that long. I do like hot pickled carrots.

Next up: firecracker carrots using these weird white carrots they had at Whole Foods.