Picklethon

Making pickles is real a pleasure; I love all cooking, but preserving feels like weird and wonderful chemistry. It's nice to make something in the kitchen that has longevity and it feels like you're doing justice to things that you've tended for months in the garden.

This weekend's project was two lots of pickled vegetable; first a big jar of plain, pickled shallots and second a startling ochre Piccalilli, made from a veg patch cocktail of courgettes, cucumbers, shallots and cauliflower.

Piccalilli

100g of salt

Half a head of cauliflower

50g courgette

half a cucumber

1 small onion

5 shallots

First, I poured a liter of boiled water over the salt and dissolved it, then added all the veg chopped to cm squares and placed a plate over the top, keeping the veggies submerged for 24 hours.

The following day I boiled up 175ml of pickling vinegar with 75g of caster sugar and a clove of garlic crushed with half a teaspoon of coriander seeds, before adding the veg (strained and patted dry) and simmering for 10 mins.

Then I mixed 1 and a half tbsp of plain flour with 1 of mustard powder, a desert spoon of turmeric, a sprinkle of chopped, dried chilli and a tsp of ground ginger. Then I whisked in 175ml of cider vinegar and simmered the lot, adding in the earlier vinegar solution slowly until it turned to a thick and rich gold sauce. I added the veg and decanted into sterilised jars.

Pickled Shallots

100g salt

500g shallots

375ml of pickling malt

50g brown sugar

1/2 tsp of peppercorns

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2 cloves of

Dried chilli flakes

Mulled spice bag

1 bay leaf.

As with the piccalilli, prepare the shallots and then put in brine solution of 1 litre of boiled water and salt and leave over night, weighed under by a plate. The following day, heat up the vinegar, sugar and spices in a stainless steel pan. I used mulling spices to give a wintery taste when the pickles are ready to eat in November. Leave the heated vinegar to cool for two hours, drain and pat the shallots dry, place in a large kilner jar and pour over the vinegar with the bayleaf and a few peppercorns. Leave both pickles for at least two months, if you can resist.