“In the past, I have publicly expressed my dislike of bread and butter pickles.”
That’s how Tim of Lottie + Doof starts his post about making this recipe from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. We’re friends already, Tim and I, only he doesn’t know if yet. That’s not creepy, right? Honestly, I just don’t love sweet pickles either. The whole brine-y-ness of it all makes me picture a vat of acid taking over my digestive tract. But it seems like the canning world is obsessed with pickles, and Montreal is always BBQ-ing, so put the two together and you have the perfect potluck gift – A little sweet, a little sour, a little crunchy, a little liquid-y, and very beautiful.
So try this recipe or order a jar of these beautiful guys from me. I, of course, quadrupled the recipe…Below are the original measurements)
Zucchini Pickles (from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers)
- 1 pound zucchini (I used pattypan squash, the weird UFO-shaped summer squash, but use any zucchini you want. The different kinds will end up crunchier or softer depending on their size and density, so it’s all an experiment. AND I actually weighed the squash. Messing with quantities in canning is dangerous)
- 1 small yellow onion
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed yellow and/or brown mustard seeds (mortar and pestle or in a coffee grinder, as I did)
- scant 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
If you’re canning, sterilize some 500mL pint jars. I usually try to say how many you’ll need exactly, but err on the side of too many (maybe 4? Or 8 250mL jars?). If you’re just keeping these in the fridge, clean a glass jar with hot soapy water or run it through the dishwasher. The dishwasher method is also fine for actual canning too. Keep the jars warm.
Rinse and scrub (if you have to) the zucchini. Do not peel. Slice them 1/16th of an inch thick (or just as thin as possible if you don’t have a precise way of measuring) on a mandolin. You can do it by hand, but they need to be ridiculously thin, and with a mandolin it’ll turn out evenly. Head on down to Chinatown or an Asian grocery store and see if you can pick a little one up cheap). Slice the onion thin on the mandolin too while you’re at it. Toss the onions and zucchini slices together in a large bowl with salt. Add cold water to cover with a few optional ice cubes to keep it all cold, and then stir to dissolve the salt in the water.
After an hour pick up a zucchini slice. It should be fairly soft and fall over like a wilted…flower. Drain the zucchini (removing the ice cubes if they haven’t already melted), and dry the slices using clean kitchen towels, wasteful paper towels, or in a salad spinner (preferably followed by some air drying or towel drying as the zucchini needs to be VERY dry or it won’t be crisp).
In a large saucepan combine the vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, mustard seeds, and turmeric. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Set the pan aside and let it cool to room temperature. Then add the zucchini to the saucepan and stir to combine. Ladle into warm jars, remove air bubbles, wipe rims with clean, damp paper towels, top with warmed lids, and tighten metal screw bands before processing 10 minutes in a hot water canner. OR skip the processing and anal rim cleaning and topping, and just put the jars in the fridge for at least a day to mellow. These keep for ages in the fridges. As in months upon months. You don’t even need canning jars. Any glass jars will do as long as long as they’re clean. If mold somehow forms from the jar not being properly cleaned, sterilize it properly next time and chuck the contents.
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