A Love Affair With Southern Cooking_ Recipes and Recollections - Jean Anderson [233]
1. Wash and rinse 4 one-pint preserving jars and their closures and submerge in a large kettle of boiling water.
2. Remove the jars from the boiling water one by one, pack snugly with the beans, then push two garlic halves and two dill sprigs or 1 teaspoon dill weed down into each jar.
3. While packing the jars, boil the two vinegars, water, sugar, pickling salt, and red pepper flakes uncovered in a large nonreactive saucepan over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Keep hot.
4. When all the jars have been packed, ladle enough of the hot pickling liquid into each to cover the beans and come to within ¼ inch of the top. Run a thin-blade spatula around the inside of each jar to release air bubbles; wipe the rim with a clean, damp cloth, then screw on the closure.
5. Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath (212° F.). Lift from the water bath; complete the seals, if necessary, by tightening the lids, then cool to room temperature.
6. Date and label each jar, then store on a cool, dark shelf for about a month before serving.
PICKLED OKRA
MAKES ABOUT 8 PINTS
I’m not a huge fan of okra, I must admit. But I do like them pickled the old southern way.
When choosing okra for this recipe, go for pods about the size of your little finger. Larger ones may be tough. Note: To crisp their pickled okra, southern cooks use pickling lime (see About Pickling Lime, Chapter 7).
4 pounds small okra of uniform size, washed well
4 quarts (1 gallon) cold water, mixed with 1½ tablespoons food-grade pickling lime (lime water)
4 cups (1 quart) white (distilled) vinegar
4 cups (1 quart) cider vinegar
6 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1½ teaspoons celery seeds
1½ teaspoons pickling salt
4 small silverskin onions, peeled, sliced tissue-thin, and separated into rings
1. Soak the okra in the lime water in a very large nonreactive kettle for 2 hours. Drain, rinse well in several changes of cold water, and set aside. Also rinse the kettle well.
2. Wash and rinse 8 one-pint preserving jars and their closures and submerge in a large kettle of boiling water.
3. Bring the two vinegars, sugar, mustard seeds, peppercorns, turmeric, celery seeds, salt, and onions to a boil in the rinsed-out kettle over moderate heat. Add the okra and as soon as the mixture returns to the boil, cook uncovered for 1 minute exactly; no longer or the okra will soften.
4. Remove the jars from the boiling water one by one and pack snugly with the okra and onion slices. When all the jars are packed, ladle enough of the hot pickling liquid into each to cover the okra and come to within ¼ inch of the top. Run a thin-blade spatula around the inside of each jar to release air bubbles; wipe the rim with a clean, damp cloth, then screw on the closure.
5. Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath (212° F.). Lift from the water bath; complete the seals, if necessary, by tightening the lids, then cool to room temperature.
6. Date and label each jar, then store on a cool, dark shelf for about a month before serving.
PICKLED FIGS
MAKES 4 TO 5 PINTS
There were two giant fig bushes in our backyard and my job was to pick the green-skinned figs when they were firm but ripe. From a neighbor woman, who’d just moved to town from the country, my mother learned how to pickle figs the old-fashioned southern way. I never liked fresh figs, but I do dote upon these pickled figs.
5 pounds small firm-ripe figs, washed but not peeled or stemmed
2 quarts (½ gallon) boiling water
3 cups sugar
4 cups (1 quart) cider vinegar
4 cups (1 quart) cold water
1 tablespoon whole cloves, bruised
½ tablespoon whole allspice, bruised
1 cinnamon stick, broken in several places
One 2-inch strip lemon zest
One 3-inch strip orange zest
1. Prick each fig with a sterilized needle (this is to keep the figs from bursting in the boiling water bath), then place the figs in a large, heavy kettle. Pour in the boiling water and let cool to room temperature.