Best Sour Pickles

This summer I was on a quest to make the BEST Sour Pickles ever. I already knew in order to achieve this I'd need the freshest pickling cucumbers, so I sought out my local farmers market and farmer and quickly purchased a bag full of crispy, firm pickling cucumbers. If you are not near a farmers market, buy the firmest pickling cucumbers you can from your local grocery store.

Now normally you would not think of sour pickles containing pickling spice, but trust me when I tell you the pickling spice, and the salt soak, is what made these turn out so well ... so do not skip it, unless you want limpy pickles and no one wants those.

What do you need to make Sour Pickles?

• Pickling cucumbers
• Pickling salt
  
• Whole peppercorns
• Yellow mustard seeds
• Whole allspice
• Stick cinnamon
• Water
• Vinegar

RECIPE
Ingredients
For the pickling spice
3 tbsp whole black peppercorns
3 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
4 tsp whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick, crumbled

For the sour pickles
3 3/4 - 4 pounds pickling cucumbers
1/3 cup pickling salt, plus 1 tsp for the pickling liquid
2 1/2 cups distilled white or apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp pickling spice (see above, or use store-bought)
Fresh dill and garlic (optional)

For the pickling spice: blend 3 tablespoons whole black peppercorns, 3 tablespoons of yellow mustard seeds, 4 teaspoons of allspice and 1 cinnamon stick, crumbled. Makes 1/2 cup (store remaining pickling spice in a mason jar for use another time).

On the first day:
Trim blossom ends from cucumbers and cut lengthwise into quarters or halves. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with pickling salt. Cover with cold water and mix to dissolve the salt. Place a small plate inside the bowl on top of the cucumbers to keep them submerged. Let stand at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator for 18 hours.

On the second day:
Drain cucumbers, rinse, and drain again. Bring vinegar, water, and 1 tsp pickling salt to a boil. Put pickling spice in a spice bag and simmer in the pickling liquid for 5 minutes. Remove before filling jars.

Fill your canning jars (pints or quarts) with the cucumber spears (It helps to lay the jar on the side and fill the edges first, then the center; this keeps the cucumbers from falling over.) If desired, add 2 cloves garlic and 2 or 3 sprigs of dill (or 1 tsp dried dill weed or seed to each jar). 

Pour brine over top of cucumbers leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Slide a plastic knife between cucumbers and jar to remove air bubbles adjusting brine as needed to maintain 1/2-inch headspace.

Wipe rim and threads of jar with a clean, damp cloth. Cover jars with lids and bands. 

Process pints and quarts 15 minutes in a boiling water bath or steam canner.

Remove jars from canner and set them upright on a dry towel or rack to cool. Let jars cool for 24 hours. Jars are sealed when button on top of the lid is fully depressed and won't flex up or down.

Store in pantry for up to one year. Open jars must be refrigerated.

Cook's note - For best results let sit for 4 weeks before opening a jar to allow all the flavors to meld together.

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Cowboy Candy Relish

While we all love my Jalapeno Pickle Relish, I recently had the idea to make Cowboy Candy Relish using the same brine as Cowboy Candy ... and ... oh ... my ... goodness! It's soo good y'all and extremely versatile.

What do you need to make Cowboy Candy Relish?

• 3 lbs jalapenos
• 1 medium white onion
• White vinegar
• Sugar
• Celery seed
• Turmeric
• granulated garlic
• food processor or sharp knife and cutting board
• Measuring cup
• Mesh strainer
• Water bath or steam canner
• Half-pint canning jars

How to use it?

• Top it on burgers, brats or hot dogs
• Mix it into Jalapeno Popper Dip or Crack Ranch Dip
• Mix it into pimento cheese for a punch of heat
• Add it to egg salad, potato salad or chicken salad
• Mix it with mayo for a twist on tartar sauce
• Add it to Queso 
• Sprinkle some over Nachos

Jalapeno Popper Dip (cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese,
Cowboy Candy relish, panko crumbs, shredded parmesan and melted butter)

RECIPE

Ingredients
3 lbs jalapenos, fresh and firm

1 small to medium onion, minced
2 cups distilled white vinegar 
6 cups granulated sugar
1⁄2 tsp turmeric
1⁄2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Method
Wearing gloves if desired, slice the stems from the jalapenos and discard. Slice in half and seed if desired, or leave the seeds in. Dice or mince the peppers and onion in a food processor using the chopping blade. 

In a large pot, bring vinegar, white sugar, turmeric, celery seed, garlic and cayenne pepper to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the minced peppers, and onion; simmer for 4 minutes.

Strain relish through a mesh strainer over a bowl reserving the brine. Scoop the relish into canning jars leaving 1/2 inch head-space.

Add the syrup back to the pot and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 6 minutes.

Using a ladle, add the boiling syrup to the jars over the minced peppers, distributing it evenly between all the jars, leaving a 1/2-inch head-space. Use a small knife, or a plastic canning tool designed to remove air bubbles, and run it around the insides of the jars, moving it up and down to remove any air bubbles. Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary.

Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel and top jars with lids and bands.

Process jars in a boiling water bath or steam canner 10 minutes for half-pints adjusting for your altitude.

Transfer the jars to a dish cloth-covered space on your counter-top and let jars sit undisturbed for 24 hours.

Cooks note - yield depends on size of peppers used and how fine the peppers and onion are diced or minced; approx. 4-6 half-pints.

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Mixed Peppers Pepper Jelly

All summer long we had a a variety of peppers growing in our raised bed garden. It's truly amazing how many peppers just a few plants will produce, but the peppers kept coming and coming. At times I felt like I was part of some sort of never ending story! Bear in mind all these peppers all summer long came from ONE of each type of plant ... wow!

I made a variety of pepper products such as pickled peppers, pepper relish, Cowboy Candy (candied jalapenos), Cowgirl Candy (candied mild peppers), then suddenly thought why not a mixed peppers pepper jelly? You know, one with all the flavor but much less heat that would be great for those folks who just can't handle the spice.

So with some Mad Hatter Peppers, Mild Hatch Chiles, Banana Peppers and just a handful of Jalapeno Peppers this Mixed Peppers Pepper Jelly was born. And oh my goodness, it is sooooooo delicious.

What do you need to make Mixed Peppers Pepper Jelly?

• 2 cups mixed minced mild/sweet peppers such as red or orange bell peppers, Mad Hatter peppers and mild Hatch chile or Banana peppers (any combo of mild peppers works)
• 1/2 cup seeded and minced jalapeno peppers
• Sugar
• Sure-Jell (yellow box powdered fruit pectin 1.75 oz)
• Vinegar (apple cider or white vinegar 5% acidity)
• 1 tsp butter

RECIPE
Ingedients

2 cups any combo of mild peppers minced

1/2 cup seeded and minced jalapeno peppers
1 cup apple cider or white vinegar (5% acidity)

1 tsp butter (to reduce foaming)

1 box yellow Sure-Jell fruit pectin

5 cups sugar

Method

Cut and seed peppers then mince in your food processor using the chopping blade. Measure to be sure you have 2 1/2 cups and scoop it all into a stock pot.

Add vinegar, butter and Sure-Jell; stir to mix well. Bring to a boil over high heat  and cook 3 minutes stirring often.

Carefully add sugar all at once and return to a rolling boil stirring constantly. Boil hard one minute.

Remove from heat and ladle into half-pint jars leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe rims with clean cloth and top with lids and bands.

Process in boiling water bath or steam canner 10 minutes. Remove from canner and allow to sit on a kitchen towel on your countertop 24 hours undisturbed. Jars are sealed when the button on the top is fully depressed and won't flex up or down.

Store jars in pantry up to one year. Open jars must be refrigerated.

Yield: 5 1/2 half-pint (8oz) jars

Enjoy,

Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Pumpkin Apple Cake

When the first hint of fall comes to the south in October I love buying a few small baking pumpkins at the farmers market and cooking them for pumpkin puree. It's so easy to make it yourself and takes no time at all. Bonus, save the seeds for roasted pumpkin seeds, a favorite fall treat!

Pumkin puree freezes great, so I store mine in 2 cups containers in the freezer. That way I have some readily available for all kinds of fall treats. Yes, you can absolutely make this cake using a 15 oz can of pumkin (plain and not pie filling) if you don't want to bother making your own. 

Now let's talk about this cake y'all! It is so tender and moist ...plus it's chockful of good for you ingredients with the pumpkin, apples and raisins. And don't leave out the bourbon, brandy or spiced rum. You can use it in place of the vanilla extract in the cake plus it gives the frosting such a nice burst of flavor! Of course you can leave it out and substitute with a non-alcoholic flavoring if you want to.

What do you need to make Pumpkin Apple Cake?

• Flour
• Sugar
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda
• Salt
• Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, Ginger
• Pumpkin Puree
• Vanilla
• Farm Fresh Eggs
• Vegetable or Canola Oil
• 1-2 Crunchy Apples
  
• Golden or Regular Raisins
• Pecans (or walnuts)
• Confectioner's Sugar
• Cream Cheese
• Butter
  
• Bourbon, Brandy or Spiced Rum

RECIPE
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 cups fresh pumpkin puree (or one 15 oz can 100% pure pumpkin)
*1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 1/2 cups fresh apple peeled and petite diced (1 honeycrisp apple yielded 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup golden raisins (or regular)
*Use 1 1/2 teaspooons bourbon, brandy or spiced rum instead

Nutmeg Frosting
1-8 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter or margarine softened
1-1 lb. box confectioners sugar
4 teaspoons bourbon, brandy or spiced rum (your choice)
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2-3/4 cup peans chopped to sprinkle over top

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla, pumpkin and mix well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and apples and continue mixing until well blended.

Fold in raisins and pour batter into a prepared 9 x 13 cake pan or two 9 x 9 cake pans. Bake 9 x 13 cake 45 to 50 minutes or 9 x 9 cake pan 35-40 minutes. Test for doneness by piercing the cake in several places with a toothpick. Cake is done if the toothpick comes out clean with no cake batter on it.

Nutmeg Frosting
Mix all ingredients with mixer until you get the spreading consistency you want. Spread on cooled cake and sprinkle top with chopped pecans. (Frosting covers 9 x 13 cake or two 9 x 9 cakes).

Cooks note - This cake freezes very well, so I almost always bake this cake in two 9 x 9 cake pans and wrap one up for the freezer (not frosted). Cake will keep well in the freezer for 2-3 months.

Recipe adapted slightly from The Southern Lady Cooks

You may also enjoy:
Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Pumpkin Oat Cranberry Muffins

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.