Pickled Carrots
This could be a fun cooking project for the family to work on together (or, alternatively, a good excuse for you to request some alone time in the kitchen). When carrots are pickled, they retain their crunch but take on the tang of vinegar, making them excellent on salads, sandwiches and roasted root vegetables – a nice ingredient to have on-hand at any time.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Gwen Ihnat at The Takeout last year about making pickles – check out her article for more tips and info: If I Can Make Delicious Refrigerator Quick Pickles, Anyone Can.
(Makes 6 pints)
Ingredients
4 C water
2 1/2 C champagne vinegar
1/2 C plus 1 T sugar
3 T kosher salt
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp red pepper flakes
12 C baby carrots
Directions
In a pot, bring the water, vinegar, sugar and salt to a boil. Keep hot. In a dry sauté pan over medium heat, toast the coriander and fennel seeds, black peppercorns, and red pepper flakes.
Scald 6 pint jars in a large pot of simmering water fitted with a rack – you will use this pot to process the jars. Right before filling, put the jars on the counter. Divide the spices among the jars, using about 1 teaspoon per jar. Soak the lids in a pan of hot water to soften the rubber seal.
Meanwhile, in a pot of boiling, salted water, blanch the carrots for 2 minutes. Drain and pack into the jars.
Transfer the brine to a heat-proof pitcher and pour over the carrots, leaving a ½-inch space from the rim of the jar. Check the jars for air pockets, adding more brine if necessary to fill in gaps. Wipe the rims with a clean towel, seal with the lids, then screw on the bands until snug but not tight.
Place the jars in the pot with the rack and add enough water to cover the jars by about 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil and process the jars for 10 minutes (start the timer when the water reaches a boil). Turn off the heat and leave the jars in the water for a few minutes. Remove the jars from the water and let cool completely.
Tips
I use Mason (Ball or Kerr) jars because they are relatively inexpensive, easy to find, and extra jar lids and bands are easy to come by. You can use a jar indefinitely until it chips or cracks; use bands until they show signs of rust; cap jars with new lids every time.
Find a pot tall enough to accommodate the jars plus at least an inch of water above them, to adequately boil them. A rack cushions the jars as they process, preventing glass from hitting the bottom of the pot and cracking. You can use a round cooling rack, the kind used for cakes. Or you can make your own rack from extra jar bands: tie the bands together until they form a circle that covers the bottom of the pot. You can also buy a pot marketed specifically for canning, and, chances are, it will come with a rack.
Recipe from The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux, by Paul Virant with Kate Leahy, pages 26 and 27