The Dinner Bell: Pickling is not that intimidating
As it turns out! Also: beach yoga, a comfort show, and media to think deep thoughts.
Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of The Bell!
It has been a week. And while you’re getting this newsletter much later than I intended, the activities that caused my tardiness actually prompted a complete change in topic. Hopefully you’ll find it’s worth it!
I realized on Thursday afternoon that for a variety of reasons, I had a huge pile of summer produce that I needed to eat or preserve by the end of the day and only a few hours to do it.
To be specific, I had about 10 tomatoes, five green peppers, five cucumbers, two huge bunches of basil, half a container of mushrooms, one small eggplant, one onion, and three or four heads of garlic. More than one couple can eat for dinner, that’s for sure!
It was time to pickle and can some of it, and cook the rest to freeze.
For a long time, I’ve been dancing around learning how to preserve produce but never quite getting there. Years ago, when I lived by myself in a really cute apartment in Omaha, I bought a huge pack of mason jars at Target on a whim one day, but didn’t own a stock pot big enough to sterilize and seal them. When I moved out of that apartment, I donated the unopened box of jars to Goodwill.
It was a missed opportunity to learn a life skill that could have been serving me well all this time. Because as I figured out yesterday under pressure, canning is not that complicated! But even if you don’t have the tools/desire to can something so it’s shelf stable, it’s very easy to ‘quick pickle’ produce in a way that it will keep in the fridge for up to three months.
So today I’m sharing what I made, the tools I used, and the recipes I followed, so that if canning also intimidates/intrigues you, maybe this can be the sign you need to go for it.
What I made
Quick pickled cucumbers
Canned pickled Chinese cucumbers
Canned pickled green peppers and onions
Canned tomato jam
Tomato-mushroom pasta sauce to freeze
Basil pesto to freeze
The tools you need
Glass canning jars with screw-top lids (If you have space, it may be helpful to have 4oz, 8oz, 12oz, and 16oz on hand. If you don’t have space, 16oz is the best side for pickles, 4oz is the best size for tomato jam, and 8oz is the best size for fruit jam)
Heatproof surface for jars to cool
The recipes I followed
Following the recipe above, I made a few jars of quick pickles with thoroughly washed reused jars I had lying around before my order of mason jars was delivered. These aren’t sealed or shelf-stable, so they’re clearly labeled with a use-by date. I used white wine vinegar and only flavored the jars with black peppercorns and fresh dill. I got four jars and I’ll give most of them away as gifts because—as much as I adore pickles—I simply can’t eat them all in time!
Canned pickled Chinese cucumbers
I followed the same recipe as the quick pickles, but used brand new, sterilized jars that I processed in boiling water to seal and make these shelf stable. You may already know this, but I learned yesterday that Chinese cucumbers are an heirloom, yellow cucumber variety! I had thought they were yellow squash until I sliced into one. Like the quick pickles, I flavored these with black peppercorns and fresh dill.
Canned pickled green peppers and onions
Exact same process as the above, but with green peppers and a few onions. I flavored these with black peppercorns and coriander seeds.
Canned tomato jam
I might be the most excited about this recipe today. I don’t have a link because I copied it into my recipe notebook from a mini cookbook put together by the owners of Of a Kind, the sadly closed design and lifestyle shop that was responsible for so many brand discoveries I made between 2010 and 2019. Here it is:
Ingredients:
4 lb plum tomatoes, peeled, halved crosswise, seeded, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Preparation:
Mix tomatoes and sugar in a large, wide, shallow pot. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Bring to a boil over med-high heat, stirring occasionally. Boil, stirring often, for 15 min. Stir in salt, pepper, and paprika. Cook until thickened and reduced to 2 cups, about 10-20 min. Ladle into clean, hot jars. Wipe rims, seal, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Give as a gift or serve on a charcuterie board.
Tomato pasta sauce
I don’t have a link for this one either, or exact instructions. But that’s the beauty of it: you can make your very own sauce with whatever veggies and herbs you have on hand and I guarantee you it will be delicious.
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 F. On a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil, combine any combination of the below, so that the ratio is about 75-80% tomatoes and 20-25% everything else. Sprinkle 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, and freshly ground pepper to taste. Drizzle with a generous glug of olive oil. Toss to coat. Roast for about an hour, or until soft. Blend until you’ve achieved the texture you want, pour into deli containers, and freeze for up to three months. Thaw when you want a taste of summer and serve with pasta.
Tomatoes, chopped
Zucchini, chopped
Summer squash, chopped
Eggplant, chopped
Mushrooms, chopped
Green, red, or yellow pepper, chopped
Hot pepper, chopped
Garlic cloves (peeled)
Fresh basil
Fresh or dried oregano
Onion, sliced
Shallot, sliced
Red pepper flakes
Basil pesto to freeze
I’m going to give you a few options here. Here’s a recipe with pine nuts, if you’re a pine nut person. And here’s one with walnuts (I recommend that you add parmesan to this one and adjust other proportions accordingly). I’ve read these and they come pretty close to my dad’s pesto recipe that he’s made so many times he texted it to me from memory while at the barber. I don’t have express permission to share my dad’s recipe (my family guards recipes pretty fiercely!) but if you come over to my house, I will make it for you.
Like the tomato sauce, pour into deli containers and freeze for up to three months.
Let me know: do you can your summer produce? Have you made fruit jam? I’d like to venture into that territory next. The tomato jam was so fun and delicious. I’d love to hear your favorite combos and veg to pickle. Hit reply to this email or leave a comment!
This week’s recs
Making: Summer pasta with zucchini, ricotta, and basil from NYT cooking.
You just read all about what I made this week. But I also made this pasta and it was so good. I was a little short on zucchini and added sweet corn, and let me tell you, that was the right decision. I know the recipe is behind a pay wall, but it’s a very cheap subscription and it delivers so much value. The archive is vast. Just subscribe and then send me your best finds!
Watching: Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix
This show obviously needs no introduction, but I started watching it for the first time ever a few weeks back. You know what it is. For when you need to zone out, may I remind you that this is an option. Lol!
Reading: “Great Expectations” on The Cereal Aisle by Leandra M. Cohen substack
This essay is kind of about everything? Creativity, expectations, the masculine/feminine energies, risk taking, sitting still.
Buying: I did not buy anything this week. What should I buy? Let me know in the comments.
Listening: “How to Bask in Joy and Live Gratitude Out Loud, Without Holding Back,” on From the Heart with Rachel Brathen
I loved this episode of the show formerly known as the Yoga Girl Podcast. She talks about how hard it can be to enjoy and be present when things are going well, without waiting for the other shoe to drop. It’s such an important thing to practice, because there will be periods when things don’t go well whether you worry about their arrival or not! Letting good times be good, without guilt and with tons of gratitude, is a life skill.
Doing: Beach yoga on a weeknight
My friend Lauren and I went to the best beach yoga class that’s held weekly as long as the weather is warm enough. It was lovely and relaxing to feel the sun on our faces and feel the breeze off the ocean, and the walk to and from her house gave us plenty of time to chat and catch up, too. If you don’t live near a body of water, I can say from experience that park, backyard, or courtyard yoga is equally magical. Just any yoga outside.
Okay that’s it! I hope you had fun! Sorry if this reads a little manic, it’s unedited and written in a small window of time I grabbed this afternoon. Happy canning and remember: it’s still summer!!!
xx Jane
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