I have six plants with 2" long so called cherry tomatoes that are literaly loaded, they would be a good batch to try pickling maybe?
bread and butter type pickle recipe. Any suggestions.
Tim,
For pickling larger tomatoes, just cut them into wedges, like quarters or sixths.
The info below is excerpted from 11 pages of pickle recipes that I compiled a few years ago.
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Bread and Butter Zucchini (and/or Yellow Squash) Pickles
• Zucchini and/or Yellow squash, sliced 1/8" to 1/4"
• Onions, sliced (1 part onion to 4 parts squash)
• Distilled white vinegar (enough to fill jars)
• Sugar (2 cups per quart of vinegar) [approx. 2 cups sugar per quart of brine]
• Salt (3 tbsp per quart of vinegar) [approx. 3 tbsp salt per quart of brine]
• Celery seed (2 tsp per quart of vinegar)
• Dill seed (2 tsp per quart of vinegar)
• Dry mustard (1 tsp per quart of vinegar)
1. Bring vinegar, sugar, salt and spices to a boil.
2. Pour over sliced vegetables and let stand for 1 hour.
3. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Pack into hot, sterilized jars.
5. Seal. Process 10 minutes.
[4 quarts sliced zucchini; 1 quart sliced onion; 1 quart vinegar makes 6 to 7 pints.]
Bob's Recipe Rosetta Stone
• 3 tsp = 1 tbsp
• 4 tbsp = 1/4 cup
• 1 cup = 1/2 pint
• 2 cups = 1 pint
• 2 pints = 1 quart
• 4 quarts = 1 gallon
• 1 peck = 2 gallons
• 1 bushel = 8 gallons
The True Meaning of the Pickle Universe
There are tens of thousands of pickle recipes floating around. Every one of them has a sacrosanct air about it, once its arcane formula has been written down. All the precise measurements and incantations exist because, when someone tried it that way, he, she or an unsuspecting third party taster liked the results. If it calls for nine black peppercorns per quart jar, and you're going to pack yours into pint jars, well, you might be tempted to split one peppercorn in half in order to stick to the recipe.
Here's my sense of quick-pack (non-fermented) pickle recipes. Regardless of the vegetables, they fall into two groups: sour and sweet.
For sour, use a brine of vinegar and water that ranges from [1 part vinegar : 3 parts water] to [1 part vinegar : 1 part water]. The salt for the brine is usually increased as you dilute the vinegar. It typically ranges from 2 tbsp salt per quart of brine to 4 tbsp (that's 1/4 cup) salt per quart of brine. So we can successfully pickle most vegetables in the following sour brine:
Generic Sour Brine (for damn near anything)
• 1 quart vinegar
• 1 quart water
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup salt
• (some dill seeds or heads and or sprigs)
• (lots of garlic for Kosher style--multiple cloves per pint jar)
• (some whole peppercorns)
• (some whole mustard seed)
• (some celery seed)
With most of my sour pickle batches I add 1 Japanese chile (dried, sold by the bagfull as "Chile Japones") per pint, 2 or 3 per quart.
For most non-fibrous vegetables (see Cooking, below), just place the washed, possibly sliced or chunked, vegetable into sterilized jars. Add the herbs and spices directly to each jar. Pour the BOILING brine (vinegar + water + salt) over the contents of the jar to fill, leaving headroom. Seal. Process 5 minutes for small pieces in pints; 10 minutes in quarts. Double that for large, whole cucumbers, etc. Ready to eat in about 4 to 6 weeks.
For sweet, the salt, if present, is often just for taste, rather than the pickling process. Sweet and Sour is what we're after. The syrup is basically spiced vinegar plus a lot of sugar. Here's the range:
Generic Sweet Syrup (for most sweet style pickles and relishes)
• Select desired syrup:
- A. 2 cups sugar per quart of vinegar: Bread and Butter style (also needs 3 tbsp salt per quart of vinegar, since this is in between sour and sweet)
- B. 4 cups sugar per quart of vinegar: Sweet Relishes (add up to 3 tbsp salt per quart of vinegar for salty relish). Most relishes use only a little brine.
- C. 8 cups sugar per quart of vinegar: Very sweet chunks
- D. 16 cups sugar per quart of vinegar: Almost candied (for kumquats or watermelon rind)
• (some whole cloves)
• (some whole allspice)
• (some whole coriander)
• (some whole peppercorns)
• (some bay leaf)
• (some whole mustard seed)
• (some stick cinnamon)
• (OR mixed pickling spice)
Use the same general procedure as described for the generic sour. For most relish, you may want to use ground spices, or enclose them in a muslin bag for cooking in the syrup and subsequent removal. For whole fruit, you should probably go with a tested recipe, since it may need some carefully timed cooking.
Cooking: A glance at the recipes for specific vegetables suggests that the fibrous vegetables may require various amounts of cooking to make a soft enough pickle. Compare your vegetable to those recipes and just make a good guess. Low acid vegetables, such as green beans, will require a longer processing time, which may be sufficient without additional cooking. Stalky brassicas (like cauliflower and broccoli) need extra cooking in addition to the longer processing. If you undercook a vegetable, it will pickle just fine, but may be crunchier than you would prefer. Whole fruit are often cooked within the pickling syrup until the fruit reaches the desired sugar penetration or it clarifies, like the fruit in marmalade.
The true meaning of the pickle universe is that within some rough bounds, you can and should make up your own vegetable pickle recipes. You can start with one of the generic brine or syrup recipes, season it with just about anything, and still be miles ahead of store-bought pickles.
(Don't try this with low acid recipes, such as meats and herring, etc. Those need to be processed in a pressure canner that will sterilize the food.)
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If you've read down to here, congratulations. I'll add one other pickle "secret." Pickled raw garlic is delicious and crunchy. It's not anything like eating raw or cooked garlic. Pickled onion chunks are likewise wonderful. For garlic or onion or both, fill a jar with peeled garlic cloves or onion chunks, then use a sour pickle recipe for the brine.
Bob