Tuesday, September 10, 2013

What's purple and yellow inside?

Well, at one point, it was the purple heirloom carrots. For this post it's Italian plums (or prunes) from Rutger's Garden Farmers Market.
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Yellowish green on the inside

Got these last year and made a batch of jam that so sweet and delicious. They are great for eating but the jam is great and easy. I make small batches about 2.5–3lbs a batch, about 2 pints. And I don't add anything special with these just the fruit and the sugar. That's all it needs. 

Here's what it looks like cooking down.
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It really turns this beautiful plum-y color.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

To Pickle

UPDATE: I tasted it after day in the refrig. This so delicious. The brine is like a namasu (Japanese cucumber salad) with a little bit of the sea taste from the kombu. The beets are crispy and add a bit of the sweetness to the pickle. I'm thinking maybe a different slice and I can add it to to a sandwich. 

Yes, of course. Veggies for my garden and my local farmers markets, why would I say no. And add to that my latest obsession with beets of all colors and the perfect recipe, there's no stopping me.

Let me back up a bit. I was chopping up my veggies for another batch of pickled veggies slaw (I'm on my 3rd batch). And was wondering if I could add my beets to the slaw. I had a bunch in my frig and waiting for me to roast them up. I wasn't sure if I could pickle raw beets so I googled pickle raw beets and I first found a Martha recipe that looked good but then I saw it, Momofuku Beet Pickle recipe from Chow.com. The recipe has rice wine vinegar and kombu (dried seaweed) and that was all it took for me to dig out my cheap Japanese version of a mandoline to slice the beet thin.



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Beets and Kombu stacked in the jar

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The kombu I used. Hope to make some dashi with the rest.
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All brined
This needs to sit for at least a day so I can't tell you what it taste like. I'm excited to taste it. I'm thinking it will have that umami taste to it with the kombu in it. Will post an update after I have a taste. Still need to make my pickled veggie slaw. Probably tomorrow.