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.

The Freezer from Hell Returns: Use It Up Quick Pickles

I have been accused of not having any actual, ready to eat food in my fridge or freezer. Just ingredients. That's pretty close to right. Ingredients, and spur-of-the-moment purchases. Upon inspection on Saturday morning, I found that my basement freezer looked like a wall of food. There was a jigsaw puzzle around a few years back, of an open fridge door showing the crammed-in contents. I think the fridge model for that shot is in my basement.

So far this week has yielded a few odds and ends that I would normally just toss in the freezer, but this past summer it seems to have made that impossible. There is no choice but to cook and eat from the freezer and fridge for a few weeks to make room for inevitable stash of holiday foods that'll start to appear. This is a mini lesson in making do. Use what you have.

Today's lasagna started with 3 big bags of frozen plum tomatoes. From last summer. You can freeze them whole if you are short on time, and if you rinse the still-frozen tomatoes in warm water, the skins practically fall off. Problem is that when you freeze them this way, they take up a lot of valuable freezer real estate. So into a pot they went. There was also a bag of plain Ikea meatballs, bought in June during a fit of nostalgia. And a lost, vacuum sealed bag of swiss chard from 2011. Also a package of Wegmans whole wheat fresh lasagna sheets. Popped into the freezer God knows when. With garlic and basil from the garden, and a long, all day cook, the meatballs and tomatoes made a great base for our lasagna tonight. I only had 1 container of ricotta, so I mixed in a container of cottage cheese, some Romano and garlic, and the chard, thawed and well squeezed out and ...we had a really tasty lasagna for dinner.

There is no recipe for this, but I didn't have to visit any kind of store for ingredients. There is always cheese in my refrigerator, more than there should be. But I have substituted crumbled tofu for ricotta on occasion, or left it out entirely, and made a thick, cheesy béchamel to layer with meat and sauce. Think out of the recipe box every now and then, and using what's there is a good exercise. There are a few homemade pie shells in there, and that chard could have been combined with the cottage cheese, some eggs, milk and bacon for a quiche-like filling for one of those shells. Or a few of those frozen pork chops could have made it into the sauce.

On Friday, I showed you the lovely and killer hot sauce I made from fermenting a batch of red, ripe jalapeño peppers. I nearly choked my boss, Matt, but he's the one who insisted on tasting it straight. Sorry.  Hahaha! Anyway, Remember I told you to keep the leftover brine that didn't get used up in the sauce? It's salty and hot, and the perfect thing to use to make a quick pickle. It's also taking up space in the fridge. You'll also need some cider vinegar, some honey, and some hard vegetables. I had carrots and turnips leftover from that pot roast we made together last weekend, so those got cut into appropriate pieces, including one slice of turnip, about 1/4" thick, and larger than the mouth of the jar. Pack a clean quart canning jar with your vegetables. You can use whatever you like--green beans, onions, cukes, daikon... but use some carrot, since the sweet carrot is a great foil for the hot and salty brine. Obviously this is vegetarian, gluten free and grain free.

Take the big piece of turnip or carrot and wedge it into the shoulders of the jar so it will hold all the other vegetables under the liquid. Pour in the leftover hot pepper brine, add 2T of honey, and fill the jar to the top with cider vinegar. If you have a lot of brine, then just fill the jar 3/4 of the way with the brine and top it up with the vinegar. Let it sit at room temp for about 12 hours, and then chill. In 3 days or so, the most wonderful pickles, from leftovers.

Quick Pickle with Leftover Fermenting Brine