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Bistro Cucumber and Zucchini Pickle
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As we bid farewell to the final shreds of summer, the veggie garden rewards us with its autumn harvest. Here at The Falls Retreat, this means that we are busy pickling, preserving and fermenting in an attempt to capture all of nature’s goodness.
In every garden there is always an excess of certain staples— beans, zucchini, cucumber, far too many to keep using for salads! As a passionate chef, I am always looking for new and interesting ways to utilise this glut of produce, and food preserving has become my new best friend. Preserving is all about capturing a seasonal moment, a wonderful way of shifting the abundance of seasonal produce and ensuring nothing you grow (or buy) goes to waste. It involves many techniques—curing, freezing, boiling, sugaring, pickling, confit and fermentation.
Pickling is an easy method of food preservation that works by immersing food in an acidic solution, usually vinegar, meaning the raw product is naturally preserved—an easy solution to providing your beautiful garden produce an extended shelf life and will see you through winter hibernation when veggie gardens are less productive.
BRAD’S TOP TIPS!
Use the below tips and tricks to make your pickling and preserving easier and more delicious! · Muslin and jars can be washed and reused · Ensure jars have no ridges or cracks, especially edges where lid screws on · Wide rimmed jars are easier to use i.e., Agee jars · Always use refined sugar · Many small batches yield a better result than one big batch! 3kg max at a time.
VINEGAR TIPS!
· Good quality vinegar (or at least 5% acetic acid is essential for long term keeping) · Never use an aluminium pot. The chemical reaction between the acid in the vinegar and the aluminium in the pot is not good for you. · Boil vinegars rapidly and only for as long as needed. The longer you boil vinegar, the more acetic acid evaporates, weakening the solution and losing some of its keeping properties. Boiling for longer means you also lose some of the natural colourings.
BISTRO CUCUMBER & ZUCCHINI PICKLE
1.5kg washed cucumber/zucchini mixed 700g onions 80g sea salt 500ml cider vinegar 350g caster sugar 4 tsp mustard seeds ½ tsp ground cloves 1 tsp ground turmeric 2 tsp coriander seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional) 2 chillies (optional) 150g thinly sliced ginger
Thinly slice the cucumber and zucchini. Use a mandolin if you have one.
Peel and halve the onions, then thinly slice. Then toss the cucumber/ zucchini and sliced onions in salt until well combined.
Using a muslin cloth, tie mixture into a bundle and hang over a drip container to allow water content to filter out (4 hours or overnight). Another technique is to place the cucumber mix into a colander over a bowl and weigh the mixture down with a plate. Combine the vinegar, sugar and spices in a suitable pot and slowly bring to the boil, stirring constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Rinse the cucumber mix well to get rid of the salt, slightly squeezing mixture to get rid of the moisture. Add the well-drained cucumber mixture to the vinegar/sugar solution and bring back to the boil for 1 minute. Mix well so that the spices are evenly distributed. Sterilise your jars and lids—you can do this in the dishwasher or carefully in an oven. Using a sterilised strainer over another pot, drain the cucumber mixture. Place vinegar back on the heat and bring to a simmer. Place cucumber mixture into jars using funnels, leaving a 2 cm gap to the rim of the jar. Pour boiling vinegar into each jar, leaving a ½cm headspace at the top.
