Election Hangover and Pickling
Radishes and on to beets
I think the election has affected me more than I have acknowledged to myself. I’m down with some kind of cold/stomach bug and can’t think straight. My body’s reaction to stress is to yell to the world, “I’m OPEN! COME TO ME all things that can make me sick. COMMMMME TO ME!” Speaking of the phrase ‘come to me,’ one of my favorite cuts on the David Olney tribute album is Afton Wolfe’s cover of Titanic. It’s brilliant.
Speaking of Afton Wolfe…
Oh, and speaking of the election…
Ok, this is supposed to be a cooking post. I’m not always good at compartmentalizing, but all those videos are well worth a listen.
In cooking news, the other day at CSA pickup I was moved to get the winter radishes instead of my beloved beets because they were just so damned beautiful. Just look at them!
I must admit however, I’m not a big radish fan. I’m trying but I’m not quite there. I love horseradish…radish not so much. However I was not going to let these beauties go to waste.
And yes, some of that bottle of wine WAS consumed during this process.
I’m sort of fascinated by the way the water looks in this photo.
This is the brine I used, cobbled together from various recipes. We heated the mixture until the salt and sugar dissolved and then poured it over the radishes. We were just quick pickling, no canning involved, so off to the refrigerator they went.
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
2½ tablespoons cane sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt (I used what I had which was kosher salt)
I used white vinegar with the sliced red, pink, and white radishes, but used sherry vinegar for the shredded white ones. I thought we had peppercorns to add. Oops. No mustard seeds either. Oops. If you wait until you have everything just right though, you might not ever do it, so I forged ahead.
That dirt in the sink is from washing the radishes, we’re not that filthy around here.
The day of:
After some relaxation in the refrigerator:
The next day we put some in a bowl and gingerly sniffed them. Smelled like radish. Hmmm. However we nibbled them and were rather delighted. They need some more time of course but they are so good! As pretty as the slices are, I do love the taste of the one with sherry vinegar.
Now, on to my pickled beets. Thanksgiving is coming and that means meat pie, and you gotta have pickled beets with meat pie.
Onward.
Love,
Cynthia