Pickling’s the sweet way to can your vegetables

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Every summer I find myself in the same quandry: so many vegetables, so few dinners. But pickled vegetables have always served me well as colorful and delicious alternatives to fresh preparations.

Which leaves one last point to realistically ponder: time. Who has enough of it these days for an activity so all-consuming as canning? The lugging, the chopping, the boiling. Not to mention the quarts of sweat sweated and the havoc wreaked upon one’s psyche after sequestering yourself in a steamy kitchen all day.

But there is a way to capture the very essence of summer produce in a jar with a lot less labor. I call it Little Put-up Jobs. Nothing so major as keeping your family fed all through next winter with a home-canned cache from your pantry.

Fresh vegetable pickles are a simple and beautiful, approach to canning – particularly when attention is paid to color-coordinating the contents. The benefit of preparing small batches is that your attention can be focused on design in each jar. Imagine a brilliantly hued stratification, ranging from blazing orange carrots, rubied strips of sweet bell pepper and jade-green beans, to delicately formed florets of ivory cauliflower.

Of course, even a singular variety can be inspiring when each piece of produce is trimmed to match the others, and extra care is taken to pack them uniformly into the canning jars. Adding sprigs of dill and other fresh herbs increases the drama as well as the flavor.

The following recipes are the ones I’ve had success with year after year. If you make a few jars every three weeks or so, you will have acquired a decent collection by fall. They make wonderful hostess gifts and add an elegant splash of color to a holiday basket of goodies. Of course, you don’t need to wait until December to enjoy the pickled vegetables, but do give the pickled mixtures at least four weeks to develop in flavor.

In order for pickled vegetables to maintain good color, texture and flavor during storage, start with high quality produce, and use it within 6 to 12 hours of harvest if possible. Vinegar must be of at least 5 percent acidity, and for these recipes, where color is important, I prefer white as opposed to cider and wine vinegar. Use pickling salt since any other kind may produce sediments in the jars and discoloration of the vegetables.

As the vegetables are packed into the canning jars and the pickling liquid added, pay close attention to headspace, the unfilled space above the food and below the lid. For pickled products, as well as fruits and tomatoes, 1/2-inch headspace is needed for expansion of the food as jars are processed, and for forming vacuums in the cooling jars. If there is not enough headspace, the liquid inside the jar may bubble over and prevent a good seal upon cooling. Too much headspace and enough air won’t vent during processing; at best, this leads to discolored vegetables, at worst, an unformed vacuum and failed seal.

After filling the jars with vegetables and vinegar solution, try to release as many air bubbles as possible by gently inserting a flat plastic spatula between the food and the jar. Slowly turn the jar and move the spatula up and down to allow air bubbles to escape. This doesn’t have to be a vigorous process since a minimal amount of jiggling tickles most bubbles away from the sides of the jar and vegetables.

Next, when tightening the metal screw band over the metal lid, exert only enough pressure to hold the lid firmly in place. If the rings are twisted on too tightly, air can’t vent during processing, leading to discolored pickles during storage. On the other hand, rings that haven’t been screwed on tight enough may allow liquid to escape from the jars during processing, and the seals will probably fail.

After removing the jars from the boiling water bath, do not retighten the lids, even if they appear loose. This is the point when a vacuum is being formed, and the self-sealing material on the lids is being pulled firmly into place.

And finally, once the jars have cooled, the USDA recommends removing the screwbands before storing the jars. If left on stored jars, they often rust and become difficult to remove.

These layered pickles look beautiful in the jars and they taste just as wonderful. Choose your vegetables with an eye to color and take time to pack the jar carefully. It will make an excellent gift.

31/2 cups white vinegar, 5 percent acidity

2 cups water

2 teaspoons pickling salt

4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

2 quarts mixed vegetables (cauliflower, green beans, green tomatoes, sweet green peppers, sweet red peppers, onions, carrots

4 sprigs fresh basil

Combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt in a non-aluminum saucepan. Bring to boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the 8 tablespoons chopped basil leaves. Cover and let the mixture steep overnight.

Wash 2 quart jars. Keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.

Uniformly slice the vegetables: Cauliflower should be broken into florets; green beans trimmed to be about 3 inches long (all the ends should be cut at the same angle); carrots sliced on the diagonal; small green tomatoes and white boiling onions left whole if only 1/2-inch wide, otherwise cut into appropriate sizes; peppers cut in 1/2-inch strips.

Place 1 sprig of fresh basil in the bottom of each jar. Carefully pack the vegetables in layers. Plan to have 5 to 6 layers of vegetables. An attractive arrangement begins with carrots, followed by green beans, cauliflower, red pepper, green beans and carrots. Any colorful arrangement is fine, however. A chopstick will help you arrange and hold the vegetables in their proper positions as you pack. Try to keep the most attractive part of the vegetable facing out: the florets of the cauliflower, the skins of the peppers.

Midway through the layering, insert one of the final 2 sprigs of basil into each of the jars, then continue layering. Leave about 1/2-inch headspace.

Strain the vinegar solution, then reheat just to boiling. Ladle the solution into 1 hot jar at a time, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rim with a clean, damp cloth. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Yields 2 quarts. Recipe can be doubled.

Tarragon jardinere: Substitute fresh tarragon leaves for the basil.

Adapted from: “Summer in a Jar: Making Pickles, Jams &More” by Andrea Chesman

3/4 cup cut and blanched green or yellow beans (as described below)

3/4 cup canned, drained, red kidney beans

1/2 cup canned, drained garbanzo beans

1/4 cup peeled and thinly sliced red or yellow onion (about 1 medium onion)

1/4 cup trimmed and thinly sliced celery

1/4 cup sliced green peppers

1/4 cup white vinegar, 5 percent acidity

2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons oil

1/4 teaspoon pickling salt

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water

Wash and snap off ends of fresh beans. Cut or snap into 1- to 2-inch pieces. Blanch 3 minutes in large pot of boiling water, then plunge immediately into cold water to stop the cooking process. Rinse kidney beans with tap water and drain again. Prepare and measure all other vegetables.

Combine vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, and water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add oil and salt and mix well. Add beans, onions, celery, and green pepper to solution and bring to a simmer. Marinate 12 to 14 hours in refrigerator.

Wash 3 half-pint jars. Keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.

After the vegetables have marinated for 12 to 14 hours, return mixture to pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Fill clean, hot jars with solids. Add hot liquid to 1 jar at a time, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rim with clean damp cloth that has been dipped in a very mild soap solution, then wrung out (the soap helps cut the oil on the jar rim). Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. Process in a boiling water bath 15 minutes.

Yields about 2 or 3 half-pints. Recipe can be doubled.

“Complete Guide to Home Canning, Guide 6” by United States Department of Agriculture

8 cups green beans, trimmed to fit into the pint jars, about 4-inches long.

4 cups white vinegar, 5 percent acidity

2 cups water

2 teaspoons pickling salt

4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

4 heads dill or sprigs of fresh dill

4 fresh hot peppers (such as jalapeno), or 6 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

Wash 4 pint jars. Keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.

Combine vinegar and water in nonaluminum pan. Bring to boiling, then keep hot.

In each of the 4 hot jars, place 1/2 teaspoon pickling salt, 2 garlic clove halves, 1 dill head, and 1 hot pepper (or 1-1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes). Pack each jar with the beans, aligning them carefully in a verticle position and leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Ladle the hot vinegar solution into 1 hot jar at a time, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rim with a clean, damp cloth. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Yields 4 pints.

“Summer in a Jar: Making Pickles, Jams &More

Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contact her by e-mail at janrd@proaxis.com.