Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Dilly Beans and Powder Days

I've been experimenting with pickling this year.  I did standard dilly beans and dill pickles.  But I also tried a (sweet) rosemary lemon bean w/ sweet onion instead of garlic and did the same w/ some cucumbers... will report back in a few weeks when I crack them.

This weekend I'll dabble w/ a friend's grandmothers bread and butter pickle recipe.  I've eaten them and they are divine... now it's my turn for a go at it.

Here is the Lemon-Rosemary recipe:

enough beans for 4-pint jars
one small sweet onion - sliced into 4 large rings/rounds
4 springs rosemary
8 two-inch strips of lemon rind
1.25 cups white wine vinegar
1.25 cups apple cider vinegar
2.5 cups water
3 Tbl canning salt
2 Tbl sugar

prepare jars and lids according to canning directions (sterilize, etc...)
start water bath a-boilin'
bring vinegars, water, sale and sugar to a boil
pack sterilized jars w/ a round of onion, one spring of rosemary and 2 strips of lemon and beans
fill w/ prepared brine from above
screw on lids finger tight
boil in water bath for 10-mins
set aside for 24-hours to rest undisturbed, make sure all lids have popped (or are inverted) by end of 24-hours
store for at least 2-3 weeks before opening

Eat up ravinously or enjoy w/ a bloody mary after a Montana Powder Day!

ENJOY!