Category Archives: Pickles and Salsas

Pickles: Dill and others. Salsas: Hot, Mexican, sweet. Condiments and other savory things.

Pickled Mushrooms

  • 1 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 5 whole black peppercorns
  • 1/2 bay leaf
  • 2 t salt
  • 2 cloves garlic, bruised
  • 1 lb. small white mushrooms
  • 1 T oil

In a pot combine vinegar, spices and garlic. Add mushrooms and simmer 10 minutes. remove garlic and place the mushrooms and liquid into a 1-quart container. Slowly pour in oil. Secure with plastic wrap and cover. Marinate, refrigerated, 1 week.

Garlic or Shallot Pickles

Easy refrigerator garlic or shallot pickles can keep in the fridge for up to one month.

Ingredients for Garlic or Shallot Pickles

  • 3 cups large garlic cloves or shallots
  • 1-1/3 cup white vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Preparation of Garlic or Shallot Pickles

Peel garlic or shallots. Cut big ones in half. Mix vinegar, sugar and salt. Boil. Drop in the garlic/shallots. Cook over high heat for 1 minutes. Cool. Store in tightly sealed container in fridge. Can keep up to one month.

If desired, pickling spices such as mustard seed, celery seed, and red pepper flakes may be added to brine.

Garlic

Pico de Gallo Hot Sauce

Pico de Gallo is a uncooked Mexican salsa made with coarsely chopped tomatoes, onion, chiles, and sometimes fresh coriander.  This version has a little vegetable oil and a hint of garlic added.

This salsa will be as hot as the chiles you put into it. An excellent addition to Pico de Gallo is small cubes of avocado

Pico de Gallo literally means “rooster’s beak”–

Ingredients for Pico de Gallo Hot Sauce

  • 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped finely
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 to 3 jalapeño or Serrano chiles, seeded and chopped finely
  • Salt
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
  • 1 small clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil (optional) (olive or avocado is best)
  • lime juice to taste

Preparing Pico de Gallo Hot Sauce

Combine all ingredients and let stand for awhile before using.  The salt will help bring out the pungency of the chiles, and adding oil and/or lime juices makes for a juicier sauce.

If you don’t like fresh coriander, simply leave it out, and the salsa will still work.

Salsa Cruda de Tomatillo

Uncooked Green Sauce

  • 8 green tomatillos
  • 2 serrano chiles, seeded
  • 1/4 small onion
  • 1 small clove garlic
  • 2 large sprigs fresh coriander
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • pinch sugar
  • 1/3 cup water

TomatillosPlunge peeled tomatillos in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove and run under cold water. Grind the chiles, onion, garlic, coriander and salt together in blender. Add the tomatillos, a pinch of sugar and the water and blend well.

For Salsa Verde Cocida (Cooked Green Sauce), substitute vegetable or chicken broth for the water in the above recipe and simmer sauce for 1/2 hour until slightly thickened.

Green Bean Mustard Pickles

Mom always preserved jars of tangy and savory green bean mustard pickles when the beans were being harvested in great quantities from our garden. They make a fabulous condiment and side dish, a way to bring garden beans onto the table when fresh beans aren’t available.

Ingredients for Green Bean Mustard Pickles

  • 5 lbs. green beans
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2-1/2 lbs. brown sugar
  • 1 cup dry mustard
  • 2 tbsp celery seed
  • 2 tbsp turmeric powder
  • 1 t salt
  • pinch garlic powder
  • 3 pints vinegar

Preparing Green Bean Mustard Pickles

Wash and cut beans into small pieces. Cook in salted water 20 minutes. Mix flour, brown sugar, mustard, celery seed, turmeric, salt, and garlic powder. Add vinegar and blend till smooth. Boil 5 minutes. Add beans and bring to boil. Bottle at once in hot sterile jars.

Our House
Our House by Rayna, 2008

Loretta’s Homemade Tomato Ketchup

  • 8 pints ripe tomatoes
  • 2 cups chopped onion
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup pickling spices
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 pint vinegar
  • arrowroot

Wash tomatoes. Chop and cook with onions until soft. Strain and put through sieve or food processor. Add the pickling spice, tied in a cheesecloth bag, the sugar and the vinegar. Simmer for about 1/2 hour and remove spice bag, unless you want a spicier ketchup. Cook for an additional 2 hours. Thicken with arrowroot as desired.

Ukrainian Dill Pickles

  • Small cucumbers
  • Fresh Dill
  • Garlic
  • 20 c. water & 1 c. salt (not iodized)
  • 1 t. pickling spice per jar

Wash and pack cucumbers into sterilized jars, vertically. Put a sprig of dill amongst them and add a couple of cloves of garlic to each jar. Bring water and salt to boil and add pickling spice; while still boiling pour over packed cucumbers in jars, filling to brim. Seal tight. Ready for use in about 3 weeks.