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Pickled Garlic
Categories: Sauces & Garnishes

What do you mean, 'why?' Garlic don't need reasons.

Ingredients

2-3 heads fresh garlic, separated and peeled but not cracked
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons fresh dill weed, chopped, or 1½ teaspoon dried dill weed
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 shallot, finely chopped
8 ounces red wine vinegar

Directions


  • In a plastic zip-top freezer-safe bag, combine garlic, salt, dill, pepper, and shallot. Shake to combine and freeze at least four hours or, preferably, overnight. (Trust me.)
  • Remove bag from freezer and dump frozen contents into a clean glass jar (or, if it's just for you and you're not out to impress anyone, you can leave everything in the freezer bag. I have done so with no ill effects). Do not use a reusable plastic food storage container, because you'll never be able to use it for anything else ever ever ever again, which defeats the purpose of "reusability."
  • Pour the vinegar carefully over the garlic, seal tightly, and store in the refrigerator. It will defrost (drawing in vinegar and softening slightly) during the next two or three hours and will develop to its fullest flavor after about six.

Makes one jar, or one big zip-top bagful.

This is a raw and refrigerated pickle and, as such, does not have an indefinite shelf life. Furthermore, garlic itself is notorious for being adored by bacteria the world over, so don't mess around with the germitude - keep it really cold, all the time, and wash your hands with antibacterial soap whenever you handle raw garlic.

I would say don't keep pickled garlic longer than a week, even in the fridge, but, to be perfectly honest with you, I've never had a jar for longer than a few days. Once you add the vinegar, a chemical change occurs wherein the garlic turns into crack cocaine.

The leftover brine, once devoid of garlic, can be mixed in ratios of one part brine and one part cold water to four parts olive oil, thus creating one of the most ambrosial vinaigrettes with which you will ever adorn a salad.

(Elephant garlic, which isn't, technically, garlic, will also work and is milder.)

FUN BONUS

Walk up to people after you've eaten about five or six cloves of this addictive delight and say "Hhhhhhhhhhhhiiiii," in their faces.

Posted by Golfwidow on February 20, 2006



Tomato Relish
Categories: Sauces & Garnishes

Ingredients

6 large tomatoes, diced
2 -3 large onions, diced
3/4 cup kosher or sea salt
1 1/2 - 2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp celery salt (optional)
2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
V-8 juice (optional)

Directions

  1. Combine tomatoes and onions in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle liberally with salt. Toss gently to mix, cover with plastic wrap, and leave on the counter overnight (at least six hours for best flavor).
  2. Strain liquid into a large saucepan and add sugar, curry, mustard powder, and cayenne (and optional celery salt). Stir with a wooden spoon and bring to a boil, making sure the sugar is dissolved completely.
  3. Gradually add flour, stirring constantly, till mixture thickens.
  4. Add the tomatoes and onions and stir well to combine. If it seems too dry or not "relishy" enough for you, you may add some V-8 juice and another tablespoonful of sugar.

  5. Boil for an hour, stirring occasionally.

Either serve immediately and don't plan on saving the leftovers for more than a week, or measure how much relish you wound up with (it varies) and wash enough empty jars and lids in the top rack of the dishwasher to hold the relish. Fill them to the top with the hot relish and cap them the second they come out of the dishwasher. (If there's space on top between the relish and the lid, just put a couple layers of plastic wrap on top before you screw the lid on.) Leave them on the counter to cool. They'll be sterile inside and out and they'll vacuum-seal themselves. It's very convenient. Once they're cool, you can put them on the shelf till you open them, then they'll keep, tightly lidded, in the fridge for a week or so.

Posted by Golfwidow on May 30, 2003





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