Balsamic vinegar, red and white wine vinegar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I thought I would take a step away from baking this weekend (well, there’s thought of bread on Monday) and make some savory creations. First off, I made my dog’s all natural wet food – she has some sort of a reaction – either to a bug bite or to an abscessed tooth – and has to take 7 days of antibiotics. They’re harsh so I thought I’d make a scaled down version of the crock pot diet. I did it to the “T” except I left out rice and instead used barley, quinoa and some chickpeas for the grain. Everything else is the same.
Then, I decided I need to make the okra pickles and regular cucumber pickles I’ve been threatening all week…This was definitely my recipe – kinda like this:
Apple Cider Pickles
20 oz Apple Cider Vinegar
4 oz White balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp salt
4 cloves garlic
6 tbsp Penzeys Pickling spice
3 kirby cukes
10 okra pods
Bring vinegars, salt and 1 tbsp of pickling spice to a boil.
Wash, pat dry and slice cukes to desired shape. Fit into jars along with garlic & dill. Wash okra pods, pat dry and fit into jars along with garlic & dill.
After vinegar comes to a boil, shut off heat, and pour over cucumbers and okra. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate 24 hours.
Some alternatives:
White or red wine vinegar instead of cider
Any pickling veggie – cucumbers, beans, peppers, carrots, cauliflower, onions, celery
Add heat: increase amount of pickling spice from Penzeys (has sambaal chiles), add jalapeno or chipotle, or any type of hotter pepper to be pickled.
Make sweet: add 1 1/2 tbsp of sugar to vinegar.
Lots of variations.
I’m gonna make corn chowder and maybe something else savory. Haven’t decided yet. Cooking is so less exact than baking. It’s creativity on a plate.
Oh, and my camera-phone died. No photos until next week! Eeeek!
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