Those pickles

So, the pickle recipe isn't actually printed online anywhere (that I could see). There is a pickle recipe on Jamie's site that I'm sure is plenty good, but I haven't tried it myself so I can't vouch for sure. Though as we all know, everything Jamie makes is delicious.



This recipe is from Jamie at Home and it's pretty darn divine. I will say that I read it and then kind of improvised with what I had so bear with me as I try to remember what I did.

Pickles from the garden

(I think I made a half recipe, actually. But this is the full.)

for the pickling liquid
1 quart cider or white wine vinegar (I used plain vinegar)
1 quart water
2 T salt

for the pickling marinade
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and chopped (I used a jalapeño because that's what I'm growing at the moment)

for the veg, choose one of the following

*I used cukes, mint, thyme, parsley, and chives



but Jamie recommends either

2 pounds mixed mushrooms and a few springs of fresh thyme, rosemary and sage

2 pounds firm eggplant and 2 T dried oregano

2 pounds firm zucchini and 6 springs fresh mint

2 pounds fennel bulbs and their herby tops

2 pounds small onions and 4 bay leaves

2 pounds red and yellow peppers and a few springs fresh thyme


To make:

If you're going to can, make sure you have some small sterilized jars ready to go. Though I haven't canned this recipe yet so again, can't vouch, but I'm sure it's fine.

Bring pickling liquid ingredients to a boil in a big pan. Put the pickling marinade ingredients into a large bowl with your chosen herbs and mix well. Slice up your chosen vegetables any way you like (I used a mandoline for the cukes), but if it's a larger vegetable try to get the thickness around 1/2 inch. This way the flavors and liquid will penetrate sufficiently and evenly.

Place sliced veg in the boiling pickling liquid and leave for 3 minutes or so - the veg might rise to the surface so keep pushing them down with a wooden spoon. Lift the pieces out with a slotted spoon and place them in your bowl of pickling marinade. Toss them together.

Straightaway, put the hot veg and pickling marinade into your sterilized jars. If you're just making one big jar to store in the fridge, you just need one jar. Which is what I did. Fill to the very top. Cover the veg completely with the marinade. I acutally added a lot of the vinegar mixture as well because I wanted them to taste more picklely. But if you do this, I think you would have to actually boil the finished jars to ensure sterilization? I like to err on the side of caution.

If you follow Jamie's recipe exactly, you would just "put the jars to one side" (not sure if this means lay them on their side or just put them aside?), wipe the jars clean and label them as you like. Store in a cool, dark place and if possible wait at least 2 weeks to open. Though he also says this is close to impossible due to their deliciousness. I started eating mine right away because they were just in the fridge, tempting me.

He says they'll last up to three months.

Try them. The herbs and garlic and chilli combo is very yum.

(ps. I will report back if I make them with just the oil).