A blue dot kitchen
  • Kitchen Blog
    • Food Shorts Audio Sunday
    • Revisionist Baking Monday
    • Technique Tuesday
    • Foodwise Wednesday
    • Culinary Curiosity Thursday
    • Local Food Friday
    • Amandine Audio Saturday
  • About
    • Meet the Chef
    • Food Explorer
    • Food Philosophy
    • The Art of Food
  • Recipes
    • Baking >
      • Gluten Free Baking
      • Levain/Sourdough/Fermented
      • Rye
    • Chef's Touch
    • Fermentation >
      • Lactofermentation
    • World Foods >
      • Ethiopian
  • Activism
    • FolkArt and Food Camps >
      • bards and bread camp >
        • Painting and Pastry Camp

​​

​

Make Five Flavors of Pickles in one Afternoon

7/26/2016

 
Make Five Flavors of Pickles in one Afternoon

10 quarts of Lacto-fermented Pickles in 5 Flavors

    The honest answer is I love cucumber pickle brine. I love the pickles too, but the brine is a cook’s dream. I use it in soups, sauces, in salads, to drink…. The thought of making five different herbal pickle brines in one afternoon is my idea of heaven. Not only that, but you will have a pickle to suit every mood, or pregnant friend. Let’s face it dill is no longer the only pickle. Pickles are practiced the world over, and in a variety of spice and herb flavors. I’ve channeled a few for you, and me.
    The miracle is that once again we can initiate the transformation of basic ingredients into something as complex as pickles. It’s just vegetables, herbs and spices, water, salt and the aid of our microbial friends. Once you’ve passed lacto-fermentation 101. If you haven’t read Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz it’s time, if for no other reason than it’s literature, and great summer reading. But really, it’s simple to get started. This post won't answer everything but it will give you successful  pickles, fingers crossed behind my back. ​

Five Inspired Pickling Mixes

Make Five Flavors of Pickles in one Afternoon

 French Inspired

Tarragon flavor prominent, this will be good with fish dishes
1 cup fresh tarragon, 2 bay leaves, ½ cup celery tops

Make Five Flavors of Pickles in one Afternoon

Turkish Inspired

Subtle chili heat, mint takes on a background note with spicy warmth of cumin
1 cup Fresh Mint, 2 teaspoons toasted cumin, 2 dried Thai Chilies
Make Five Flavors of Pickles in one Afternoon

Sweet Pickle Inspired

Complex but subtle-like a chow chow done right.
1 cup fresh wild fennel leaves, heads and stems, 1 stick ceylon cinnamon, 4 cloves,
​1 teaspoon black pepper   
​
Make Five Flavors of Pickles in one Afternoon

Slavic Inspired

Dill is prominent, with a horseradish bite, mustard and turmeric lend a warm support the dill flavor
1 cup fresh dill leaves and heads, 2 horseradish leaves,
​2 teaspoons black mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon dried turmeric powder
Make Five Flavors of Pickles in one Afternoon

Italian Inspired

Like an antipasto platter- all the flavors marry well with nothing predominate but wanting to return to the flavors.  
½  cup fresh basil, mix of varieties nice, ½ cup wild fennel leaves and heads, ½ cup fresh parsley leaves and stems, large head garlic cloves peeled and separated.
Chichkov stepped up to kiss her hand, and she almost shoved it inside his mouth, giving him the opportunity to notice that she washed her hands in pickle brine
Nikolai Gogol
​Dead Souls

How to make  the Pickles

Clean five wide mouth half-gallon mason jars, and five pint regular mouth jelly jars
Rinse 10 pounds of pickling cucumbers
Carefully make sure the blossoms and any remains of the blossoms are removed off the blossom end.
Create 5 % Brine
Dissolve 15 tablespoons 200 grams
(one cup minus 1 tablespoon) sea salt in 5 quarts filtered water, stir until salt is dissolved.

Gather and Measure Herbs and Spices
Put them on separate plates ready to use. Make sure you have 2 grape leaves per jar or other tannin rich leaves. 
Pack the Jars
Lay a grape leaf at the bottom/ Put 5-6 cukes upright in a circle/ add herbs and spices/ keep layering until all of the herbs are used and about 10-11 cukes are in a jar/ leave 3 inches of head-room at the top of the jar.
Set Jars in something to catch spill over. I use a large chafing dish
Pour Brine into each packed jar leaving one inch or so of head-room, lay a grape leaf over the top, tuck it in creating a barrier with brine over the top.
Apply jelly jar weights
Push jelly jars in firmly so everything in well under the brine, two inches of brine over the top of grape leaf.
Set in a cool place, I set mine in a cool back room near the floor, between 65-70F Cover with a light cloth to keep out the dust.

When are They Done?

Depends on the temperature and rate of fermentation, but between two and four weeks. You will know because their color will change to a dull green, they will be sour instead of salty. And, you will keep snitching them. 

Things you may notice

Brine becomes cloudy, this is due to lactic acid bacteria growth during the fermentation period. Safe and ok.

Scum on brine surfaces while curing, cucumbers caused wild yeasts, molds and bacteria--clear off the scum as it appears and make sure that everything is kept well below the brine, pickles still fine.  

Your  pickles are fabulous. Great, enjoy them and use that divine pickle juice. 

​Oh NO ! Turned mushy, and foul.
Sorry, don’t eat them, throw them out. Probably fermented at too high a temperature, or blossom ends had rot.  Try again don't give up ! It's happened to the best of us. 

Brains behind the Brine

Q: What is a pickling brine?
A: It’s a solution of pickling salt and water.


​Q:What does it affect?
​A: The sourness of the pickle, the rate of fermentation, and how long the pickles will keep. More salt will slow fermentation, traditional brined pickles use about a 5% brine or 3 tablespoons salt per quart of water. Krauts use a lower 2-3 % brine.
 


​Q: What is brine strength and how do I calculate it? A: Brine strength is the weight of the salt as a percentage of the weight of the solution.
​An easy way to calculate it for the kitchen is to remember that every time you increase the amount of salt in the same amount of water you increase the brine strength.


Brine Chart
​1 quart water (946 ml) + 1 tablespoon salt (17g) = 1.68 % bn
1 quart water + 2 tablespoon salt (34g) = 3.35 % brine
1 quart  water + 3 tablespoon (41g)  salt = 4.94% brine
1 quart water + 4 tablespoon salt (58g) = 6.46 % brine 


Temperatures do Matter
Lower and slower makes the best pickles.
Room temperature 65-70F is best.
Keep them out of the heat.
Right now it’s 69F inside my pickle jars


​Under the Brine Doing Fine

Pickle fermentation is an anaerobic process, the microbes who do the bulk of the work, don’t need air. Too much air hitting the vegetables will provide the bacteria we don’t want a place to thrive.  Under the brine doing fine, keep everything well submerged in the 5% brine and you will be ok.  
​
Make Five Flavors of Pickles in one Afternoon

Pickling Favorites


The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich
    I have workhorse cookbooks, those books you return to for reference and ideas often. This is one of those books. I trust that she knows her stuff, it's well thought out and precise, plus lots and lots of marvelous recipes. She writes in an easy and engaging way with stories, and quirky quotes. I know I'd like Linda, even though
​I only know her on the page.  

Rye Herb Focaccia--- Lievito Naturale

7/25/2016

 
Rye Herb Focaccia--- Lievito Naturale

Revisionist Baking's Method Monday

Rustic Rye FLavors

    Focaccia is one of those bake day breads, feed the family while you are doing the week's baking. So simple, it can stand on its own, or with added herbs and olive oil. Its life purpose is maximum crust with a chew. But, and it’s a wonder, how wrong some renditions I’ve had, can be. 
     This Focaccia recipe is good, primarily because
​of the overnight fermentation and the rustic rye flavors. T
he flavor's maybe even better than the
pain a l’ ancienne, which has always been my favorite. 

    Because I can’t eat wheat, I find I use this recipe often. Sometimes, when I can’t decide what to make for a meal I’ll just start with a pan of this fresh out of the oven rye focaccia, and then everything else falls into place; there are no complaints.
Rye Herb Focaccia--- Lievito Naturale

Crusty and flavorful

      That’s what happened today. I started the ferment last night, and put some puy lentils to soak, but that’s about as far as my thinking went. Then it all came together as I caramelized onions and carrots, added wine and when that had cooked off, the lentils; roasted potatoes, cauliflower and zucchini from the garden...harvested some Italian bitter greens. The focaccia came out crusty, and flavorful with herbs and tang. Great combo with the rich lentils and roasted veggies. Interestingly, we had some focaccia with raw honey at the end of the meal, and it really brought out the subtle herb flavors in the bread. I'll have to remember that.
​ Life is Good.    

​
Rye Herb Focaccia--- Lievito Naturale

 Method Monday Recipes

Rye Herb Focaccia--- Lievito Naturale
Rye Herb Focaccia  
Lievito Naturale


​Evening Fermentation Ingredients

2 cups rye flakes
1 cup all purpose gluten free flour mix
1 cup light rye flour
1 cup dark rye flour
½ cup or one ball firm gluten free levain
2 cups filtered water

Morning Ingredients

2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, thyme, marjoram, and basil

Method
I use a food processor for mixing, but it can be done by hand.  

In The Evening
Measure rye flakes into food processor and spin until fine.
Add gluten free flour and rye flours and spin
Crumble firm levain over flours and spin for a minute.
Transfer to a mixing bowl
Add water, stir until combined, cover and let sit at room temperature 65-75F  for 12 hours or until fermented.

In The Morning
Turn oven on to warm 145F
Cover a large baker’s sheet
(mine is 13 x 18 inches) with oiled parchment paper

Sprinkle salt over fermented dough 
Add honey. olive oil and herbs to dough  Combine well (I do this with my hands in the bowl.) 
Put all of the dough into the center of the sheet--it's a wet sticky dough.
Pat into a thick rectangular shape, generously drizzle on olive oil 
Press the dough evenly out from the center until it reaches the sides of the pan.
Dimple the dough all over with your fingertips. I love it when the olive oil is in the dimples.
Turn the oven off
Let the focaccia proof in oven for 1 ½ hours or until puffy.
Take the proofed focaccia out of the oven. 
Preheat for baking to 500F
Place focaccia in oven and reduce heat to 450F
Bake for 12 minutes.
​Rotate the pan 180 degrees
Continue baking for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
The internal temperature of the dough should register 200F measured in the center.
Remove from the pan and let cool for 20 minutes before serving.

With Love Enjoy!


​

Food Shorts Audio Page Finished

7/24/2016

 
Picture
Take a Look and Play a Food Shorts Audio
<<Previous
Forward>>

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Fermentation
    Gluten Free
    Legumes
    Levain
    Pies
    Rye
    Sourdough
    Vegetables
    World

    Archives

    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016

    Author

    Hi I'm Sido Maroon,
    chef, food writer and culinary educator. I cook, teach, and write to bring you into the heart of the kitchen. 

    Print Friendly Version of this pagePrint
    roasted-beets-for-summer-sweet-sour-baltic-beet-salad
    roasted beet salad
    rye herb focaccia
    rye herb focaccia
    Kitchen Blog
    Ethiopian Injera
    Kitchen Blog
    tables are important
    Picture
    tibicos corn tortillas
    Picture
    crock pot sourdough rye bread
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” 
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own


  • Kitchen Blog
    • Food Shorts Audio Sunday
    • Revisionist Baking Monday
    • Technique Tuesday
    • Foodwise Wednesday
    • Culinary Curiosity Thursday
    • Local Food Friday
    • Amandine Audio Saturday
  • About
    • Meet the Chef
    • Food Explorer
    • Food Philosophy
    • The Art of Food
  • Recipes
    • Baking >
      • Gluten Free Baking
      • Levain/Sourdough/Fermented
      • Rye
    • Chef's Touch
    • Fermentation >
      • Lactofermentation
    • World Foods >
      • Ethiopian
  • Activism
    • FolkArt and Food Camps >
      • bards and bread camp >
        • Painting and Pastry Camp