Pickled Broccoli Stalks with Ginger & Red Onion

Some days, when I'm not feeling particularly flush, the price of fresh vegetables I buy just astounds me. I buy organic, for both my health, and because I feel we vote with our dollars even more than our actual votes. But the price of a head of organic broccoli set me back on my heels a bit last Saturday. OK, granted, it was at Whole Foods, and for whatever reason, their organic produce is more expensive, for the most part than it is at my local Wegmans, but I was there for something else, so I bought it. I was thoroughly wishing my garden was producing at top speed. 

After using the top third of the broccoli head in a recipe, I put the big stems back in the fridge, figuring at the price, I'd peel them for a stir-fry. Busy week, no stir fry. As I was cleaning the crisper out for a "Scrap Salad" for lunch, I figured, I should do something with the broccoli stems that would be good, really good. Love them pickled. But as I reached for my usual Mediterranean seasonings, I took a turn East.

There were more but I ate 4 pieces trying to take a picture...

Pickled Broccoli Stalks with Ginger  & Red Onion

Four (4) thick broccoli stems, florets used elsewhere
1/3 cup red onion, in  1/4" slices
3/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3/4 cup water
3T organic sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced
2" fresh garlic, peeled and minced
1T coriander seed
3T kosher salt
1 pinch red pepper flakes



Peel the broccoli stems and cut into 2" long x 14" thick sticks. Bring a small pot of hot water to the boil and blanch the broccoli stems for 3-4 minutes until just barely tender. Drain well, and place in a heat-proof bowl. Add the raw onion to the hot broccoli and stir.

Bring the remaining ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, and stir until the salt and sugar have dissolves. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for 5 minutes off the heat.

Pour the seasoned brine over the broccoli and onions, and let stand 15 -20 minutes until cooled to warm, and then cover and chill. Best served chilled, and even better each day late. keeps about a week, though you'll eat it all before that...for sure.

Easy Pickling: Delicious, Fermented Pickles for Idiots

Little pickled tomatoes on the left, and Anahiem peppers on the right.

First off, I am not going to tell you that you'll be healthier, your gut will function better, and your immune system will flex its muscles all winter if you eat fermented foods. I will tell you that they are one of the best things you'll ever eat, and that you can probably get a big jar of pickled carrots or green tomatoes, or baby cukes going in about 5 to 10 minutes.

You don't need any fancy crocks, special jars with airlocks or any thing other than kosher salt, a clean quart canning jar, water, some spices and garlic you probably already have, and enough clean, firm smallish or sliced vegetables to fill a jar. It's been done for centuries, and trust me, our grannies didn't buy pickling tools off a fancy website. They used what they had, and so should you. They used fermentation for two reasons: it preserved the harvest, and it tastes good. This easy method I'm showing you is lactic fermentation in its simplest form. Idiot proof.

Right before our first frost, I picked of a lot of too small green tomatoes, and Anaheim peppers. Not good to eat or cook with as is, but waste not, want not… They are now becoming wonderful, easy, fermented pickles and I just use whatever I have in my kitchen: kosher salt, water, jars, coriander seed, garlic…don't let the food gurus scare you off. Pickling is pretty much idiot proof. Carrot sticks, baby cukes or sliced cukes, whatever you have can become something entirely new. If you can stir salt into water, you can do this. I'm sure, once you make your first batch, you'll be hooked. Just remember you can double, or even triple your batches, using the proportion of 1/4 cup of kosher salt  to 4 cups of water.

Here's how:

Into a bowl, measure 4 cups of water. Dump in 1/4 cup of kosher salt, and stir furiously until it dissolves. You just made a brine.

 Into a clean quart canning jar, pack your sliced carrots, or baby green tomatoes, hot peppers or whatever you want, tossing in the occasional peeled garlic clove, and a few pinches of your favorite spices, like coriander seed, dill seed or cumin seed and even a few cloves or bay leaves between the layers of veg. You can layer in a few small, hot peppers if you like spicy. The veggie pieces should be bite size.  Pack it full, right up to the shoulder of the jar. If you put the smaller pieces in the bottom, and the bigger at the top, fewer of the small pieces will float up out of the brine. Go find a smaller jar, or a bowl or a ramekin that will fit into the mouth of the jar and give it a good scrub.

Place the jar in a coolish spot, and set it in a pan or a tray to catch any overflow. Now, pour in the salt - water mixture-- your brine, right to the tippy top, and set the little container you scrubbed into the top to keep your vegetables submerged. If you have extra brine left, keep it in a jar to use to top up your pickle if it evaporates too much.

Check your pickle jar every day, and it should be sour enough to eat in a couple of weeks…or wait longer. remember that the colors of things will change a bit, green vegetables will dull a bit. Remember those wonderful sour pickles in the barrel in your favorite deli? Make sure the vegetables are always submerged. A little mold  floating on top is OK,  you can skim it off and top up the jar with the leftover brine. If it really smells awful, or goes moldy down in the jar, toss it all and chalk it up to experience. Use common sense; if it looks or smells bad, toss it. I like to label my jars with the start date, nothing elaborate, just a piece of masking tape and a waterproof marker.

I generally go about 3 weeks before I screw the lid on the jar and pop it in the fridge. I like my pickles cold, and it's all I can do to wait to taste the results. So freaking good!

R-Rated Pickles: Quick Gin Pickled Carrots & Zucchini with Rosemary

These are supposed to be a cocktail nibble.  They are best after about 5 days soaking in their gin-bath. And not to be shared with kids, because there is actually gin in them. Two of those  three statements are absolutely true. I can't vouch for the second statement, really, because I always start eating them within 3 days. Can't help myself. My third batch in a week, and there are only two measly carrots and a single zucchini stick left from the first one. Very little more of the second is left, and the third jar is intact  only because I really needed a good picture, and I did just make them today. They may be quick pickles, but I love them so much they aren't as quick as I'd like them to be ready to eat.

I call these pickles R-rated because they are so damn good, and with the gin, they're not for children. There is something like a happy marriage between juniper, which is one of the main flavors of gin, and rosemary, something cool and evergreen-ish in these pickles. A little spicy, a little sweet and a little martini like. Perfect.

Note: If you can actually get baby carrots at a farmer's market for these pickles, or grow them yourself, please do. Those things called baby carrots in bags at the supermarket are really big carrots that have been cut into tiny shapes on something the looks like a woodworker's lathe. Just cut some nice, full sized organic carrots into sticks if you can't find real baby carrots. Use either a regular quart canning jar, or if you have a cute 1 liter Weck jar like my pal Amy got me out in California, use that.  Just use something tall.

R-Rated Pickles:
 Quick Gin Pickled Carrots & Zucchini with Rosemary

R-Rated Pickles: Quick Gin Pickled Carrots & Zucchini with Rosemary

Makes 1 quart jar

4 or more real baby carrots depending on size, trimmed
2 young zucchini, each cut in 6 strips lengthwise
1 mild Anaheim or Jalapeño pepper, in 1/2" wide strips
1  5"  fresh rosemary sprig
1 3" strip of lemon or lime zest
3 oz. gin
5 garlic cloves
1T whole black peppercorns
1T whole coriander seeds
6-7 dried juniper berries
1 T kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup white distilled vinegar
1 cup water


1. In a medium saucepan, put the peppercorns, coriander, juniper berries, salt, sugar water and vinegar. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat. Cover the pot and let stand while you prep the jar.

2. Place the garlic cloves into the bottom of a clean 1-quart or 1-liter canning jar. Trim the carrots, zucchini and pepper strips so that they are about 3/4" shorter than your jar. Pack the carrots, zucchini and hot pepper strips alternately into the jar, arranging for both aesthetics, and for even flavor distribution. The vegetables should come to about 1/2" from the top of the jar, packed tightly. Slide the zest, and the rosemary into the jar, and then add the gin.

3. Bring the vinegar mixture back to a boil, and skim out as many of the spices and add to the jar first, then pour the boiling liquid over the vegetables. It may not all fit, but scrape in as many spices as you can. Cover the jar, and let it stand on the counter until it reaches room temperature., and then refrigerate for at least 3 days before tasting. Should keep refrigerated about 1 month, although you'll have probably eaten them all within a week...

Now all I have to do is wait.