When you think of the term "preserving year," you probably think of seasonal preserving, and in this case, you'd be exactly right. Preserving food is something we can do any time, even with very limited resources, and when I was approached to write this column, my mind immediately went to the countless ways I can help you preserve your harvest and do more with less.
We often think of preserving as something that requires specialty equipment (and sometimes it does, as with pressure canning), however each technique comes with its own challenges and its own gifts, and one gift many preserving methods offer us is the gift of simplicity.
Take fermenting for example: Just a jar, some salt, and some time and you're well on your way to delicious, homemade pickles and sauerkraut. Or look to dried herbs (one of the easiest preserves of all), made simply by bundling herbs up by the stems, and hanging them up to dry.
In this column, I'll be sharing regular preserving tips with you throughout the year, to help you make the most of what's in season from your garden and market, and to help you reimagine preserving as simple, low waste, and most of all, fun.
If you've not met me before, I'm a culinary educator with my own online culinary school, and I also write about fermenting and food preserving in various cookbooks and nonfiction books, including my most recent book, Essential Food Preserving. I've shared two of my favorite recipes with readers of The Cook's Cook before (pickled carrots and homemade sauerkraut), shared the history of sauerkraut, and have waxed poetic about women's history and kitchen knives, and it's a joy to be back in the kitchen with you again.
In addition to writing and teaching about food, I also do a lot of preserving in my own home: Both for myself and to share food with friends and community members. I'm also what you might call a multi-hyphenate creative, in that I always have a bunch of not-food creative projects happening too (art and craft projects, for example, plus my work as a coach for other writers and creatives). I view the world as both magical and rooted in science, something I learned from my mother and carried forward through my PhD research and beyond.
I love to spend time in nature, meet new people, teach and learn about the many amazing features of our world, travel, forage, do calligraphy and, of course, to cook. I like to think all of this gives me a unique perspective, but also makes me especially well-suited to talk about and teach food traditions, because I approach this work as both a researcher and thinker, and as a hands-on maker who's a lifelong learner in her craft. And I hope this column is one way I can impart that connection between the theory and practice of food preserving and food traditions to you.
I have the benefit of keeping a foot in two countries, living most of the year in Cork, Ireland, but also popping back to Atlanta, Georgia in the USA to check on my garden, spend time with friends and pets, and of course to cook alongside some of my favorite folks through events and classes. Being in two places gives me an enormous benefit as someone who writes about food preserving, because I get to experience the seasons in two very different growing environments, and this helps me adapt and learn (and of course to share what I've learned with you).
In this column, you'll learn the practical how-tos of preserving, with a heavy emphasis on simple, hands-on techniques and on reusing and repurposing scraps. This means things like, for example, using woody herb stems for flavoring rather than tossing them out. Or turning carrot peels into something delicious instead of compost (though compost is great too!)
But you'll also get to go deeper, exploring rabbit holes of food history, regional food systems, plant biology, and community building, and how all these seemingly disparate threads can be woven together through preserving food. My hope is that you'll walk away from each issue not just with something nice to make, but also with a spark of curiosity that will inspire you to continue learning about food and the world around you.
Welcome, I can't wait to make some seasonal preserving magic with you!
Bright and Spicy Pickled Carrots: Quick or Fermented
Bright and Spicy Quick Pickled Carrots are one of my very favorite pickles to teach to beginners.
They stay crisp, have great flavor, are easy to work with, and are usually inexpensive and easy to source. These pickles shine thanks to the addition of bright, zesty lemon peel and a kick from crushed red pepper. They’re the perfect topping for summer grilled meats, sandwiches, and salads, or just eaten straight from the jar!
There are two ways to create pickled vegetables, with and without vinegar.
Follow the first recipe for the quick pickles that are made with vinegar and can be eaten within 24 hours, offering a fast option.
The fermented pickle method that follows takes at least several days to be ready to eat. The longer they ferment, the more sour they become.
The health benefits of fermented pickles include improved digestive health due to the presence of live bacteria. Quick pickles, while still healthy, do not offer this probiotic benefit.
Ingredients
QUICK Pickled Carrots
- •473 ml (1 pint) mason jar with lid and band
- •2 large carrots, scrubbed, peeled or unpeeled, sliced into .3 cm (1/8-inch) rounds
- •Two to three 2.5-5 cm (2-inch) strips lemon peel
- •2.8 grams (1/2 teaspoon) crushed red pepper
- •237 ml (1 cup) water
- •237 ml (1 cup) apple cider vinegar
- •16 grams (1 tablespoon) fine salt
- •10 grams (2 teaspoons) granulated sugar
Tip: Save your carrot tops and blend up into a green, delicious pesto or dressing!
Optional, editor’s suggestion: You may want to add 1/2 tsp of sugar and additional herbs to flavor pickles.
Preparation
For quick carrot pickles:
- Slice your carrots into 1/8 inch rounds (you can peel them or leave them unpeeled: just be sure to scrub them first!) Put into the mason jar along with the lemon peel and red pepper.
In a small saucepan, combine 237 ml (1 cup) water, vinegar, salt, and sugar. Place over medium heat, stirring until salt is completely dissolved.
Pour the warm brine mixture over the carrots until completely covered. Allow to cool completely, then top with the lid and place in the refrigerator.
Refrigerate for about 24 hours or until carrots are pickled through. Store finished pickles covered in the refrigerator, where they will keep for several months.
For fermented carrot pickles:
1. Slice your carrots into 1/8 inch rounds (you can peel them or leave them unpeeled: just be sure to scrub them first!) Put into the mason jar along with the lemon peel and red pepper as in recipe above.
- Omit the vinegar and replace with a second cup of room temperature water.
- Reduce the salt to 7.5 ml (1/2 tablespoon) and optionally add 15-30 ml (1-2 tablespoons) fresh herbs.
2. Whisk salt into the 2 cups of room temperature water in a food safe container, until dissolved. If you prefer, you can also heat both to dissolve salt, then cool to room temperature.
3. Pour the brine mixture over your carrots until completely covered. Screw on the jar’s lid, then place the jar on a plate or tray out of direct sunlight.
4.. Allow to ferment at room temperature for 4-7 days, loosening the band on the lid each day to release any built up pressure. Very gently shake or stir your jar once a day, which disrupts the surface and keeps mold from growing on any herbs or pepper flakes that float to the top.
4. The pickles are done when they’re as sour as you like: the longer you ferment them, the more sour they become. Store finished pickles covered in the refrigerator, where they will keep for several months.
Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe
This is the way I learned to make sauerkraut over a decade ago. The person who taught me made sauerkraut in jars, rather than a crock, to keep their small apartment from smelling like cabbage, and I find this method to be so easy (and to work so well in small spaces) that it’s become a go-to for me when I teach fermentation classes. You’ll need two pint jars with lids and bands for this method.
Ingredients
- •1 head cabbage
- •Spices (e.g., caraway, fennel, juniper berries; optional)
- •Salt (sea salt, kosher salt, or other salt with no additives or anti-caking agents)
Preparation
Remove the outer two layers of leaves from your cabbage and set them aside. Quarter and core the cabbage, then thinly shred it.
Add the shredded cabbage to a bowl and sprinkle liberally with salt (I use about 5 ml/1 teaspoon). Toss together and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
Massage the salt into the cabbage until the cabbage releases enough liquid to form a brine (you’ll know it’s ready when it releases a thin stream of liquid when squeezed). If it doesn’t seem like the cabbage is releasing liquid, add a bit more salt and keep massaging.
Give the brine a quick taste: You want it to taste salty like the sea. If it seems like the brine needs a bit more salt, you can always add more and massage it in, though I’ve rarely found that the salt needs adjustment at this point.
Pack the cabbage tightly into glass pint jars. Using your hand—either flat or balled into a fist—or the back of a ladle, or a wooden sauerkraut pounder, press your cabbage down firmly to release any air bubbles and ensure that the brine will cover it. If your cabbage is not completely covered, add more brine. If you find there are still air bubbles, gently slide a chopstick or knife down the edge of your jar to release them.
Fold over one of the outer cabbage leaves you set aside earlier, and place it on top of the shredded cabbage in the jar. This top leaf keeps the shredded cabbage in the brine. Make sure the leaf itself is also sub- merged in the brine.
Place the lid on each jar and set the jars on a baking sheet or plate. Allow to ferment out of direct sunlight for 2 to 3 weeks (or longer, if desired, which will soften the cabbage and make it more sour). Loosen each lid and check your ferment at least every couple days, making sure all the cabbage stays submerged in the brine. If you need to add more brine, use a solution of 5 ml (1 teaspoon) salt dissolved in 473 ml (2 cups) water.
Once your kraut is as sour as you’d like, store it in the fridge in an air-tight container (like the jars you fermented it in), where it can keep for several months if it stays submerged in brine. One note: when storing ferments with metal rings in the fridge, it can be helpful to put a piece of parchment or waxed paper between the top of the jar and the lid to prevent corrosion. Just make sure the paper doesn’t come in contact with the ferment itself.
