Pickled Shrimp and Celery

Shrimp season is on its way out - celebrate the last hauls of the year with this unique preparation. Not as acidic as most vinegar pickles, think of the brine as a marinade, infusing both ingredients with delicacy and aroma. Picked Dungenness crab would make a decadent substitute, though may fare better when tossed with the celery post-pickling (just before serving) to avoid a vinegar takeover of its buttery qualities.

Serve for the salad course or make it the main dish with a side of roasted sweet potatoes or delicata squash slices.

Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients

For the pickling brine
1/2 Cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 Cup mirin
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Thick slices fresh ginger
5 Black peppercorns
5 Juniper berries
1 Cinnamon stick

2 Bunches celery, outer stalks removed until just the tender heart stalks and their blanched leaves remain
1 Cup white wine
8 Black peppercorns
2 Bay leaves
Salt
1 1/2 - 2 pounds shrimp
Really good extra-virgin olive oil
Pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1. Put all of the pickling brine ingredients in a non-reactive pot along with one cup of water and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the brine into a wide shallow dish. Can be make up to 1 week in advance. Keep refrigerated.

2. Keep the celery hearts whole and put them into a large pot with the wine, bay leaves, and a generous pinch of salt. Add just enough water to cover the celery. Cover and simmer over medium heat until the celery is crisp-tender when pierced with a knife, 25-30 minutes. Transfer the celery to a cutting board. Cut the hearts crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces and add them to the pickling brine.

3. Using the same pot and liquid in which you cooked the celery, poach the shrimp until just cooked (if still in their shell, leave it on until after they are cooked to avoid them curling to tightly or flaring into a "butterfly"). Drain the shrimp in a colander, peel (if necessary), and put in a bowl. Pour the celery and pickling brine over the shrimp; make sure everything is submerged. If there isn't enough brine to cover everything completely, just give the celery and shrimp a turn now and then. Cover, refrigerate, and allow the shrimp and celery to "pickle" for about an hour.

4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the shrimp and celery to plates. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with celery leaves and chopped chives. Serve cold.


Based on a recipe from Canal House Cooks Every Day, by Christopher Hirsheimer & Melissa Hamilton.

Sweet Pickles

Entered by Carrie Menikoff
*Winner of Best Combined – Pickle and Best Appearance – Pickle

The judges loved everything about this pickle—it’s beautiful mix of colors and textures in the jar, the satisfying crunch of the vegetables, and the balance of sweet & sour in this perfectly seasoned take on the classic bread & butter pickle.

(Recipe originally published in The Oregonian in 2008 as “Greg Higgins’ Bread and Butter Sweet Pickles)

Makes 7 pint jars

Ingredients
3 quarts pickling cucumbers, unpeeled and washed, sliced ⅛” thick lengthwise using a mandolin
3 large onions, sliced into ⅛” strips
3 red bell peppers, sliced into ⅛” strips
½ cup kosher salt

Pickling Solution
8 cups cider vinegar (5% acidity)
4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon whole cloves
1 tablespoon celery seeds
1 tablespoon allspice berries
⅛ cup yellow mustard seeds
½ teaspoon ground turmeric

Steps

1. Place sliced vegetables in a bowl and sprinkle evenly with the kosher salt. Allow to drain in a colander for three hours.
2. In a large nonreactive saucepan, mix the vinegar, brown sugar, cloves, celery seeds, allspice, mustard, and turmeric; bring to a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Rinse vegetables thoroughly, drain, and add to the hot brine. Bring just to a boil and remove from the heat. Pack into sterilized jars and store in the refrigerator up to three months.
4. To preserve in a hot water bath: Pack vegetables while still hot into hot, sterilized pint or quart jars, leaving a ¼ head space. Run a chopstick around the inside of the jar to remove air bubbles. Wipe the rim clean with a clean, damp cloth and fit with a sealing lid and ring until hand tight. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Check lids after one hour and refrigerate any that that have not properly sealed.

Carrot Pickles

Very Easy Mexican Style Picos (Escabeche)
Makes 1½ quarts

Even if you’re not into canning or “putting up”, you can still make pickles. This recipe comes together very quickly, and then the pickles marinate in the refrigerator; ready as soon as they cool, improved by the next day, lasting about a week.
Serve these pickles alongside tacos, sandwiches, or grilled steak, or on their own as an appetizer.

Ingredients
4 tsp. olive oil
¾ cup sliced white onion (about 1 medium onion)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
4 cups (1 quart) sliced carrot
4 or 5 jalapeno peppers (amount depending on how spicy the peppers are, and how spicy you like your pickles), sliced lengthwise and seeded
a pinch of dried Mexican oregano a large pinch of salt (to taste)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 6-ounce can of pineapple juice

Steps
In a non-reactive pot, large enough to accommodate all of the ingredients, heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the onion and garlic cook for several minutes, stirring often, just until it starts to soften. Add the carrots and continue to cook, stirring once in a while, for several more minutes. Stir in the jalapeno, oregano, salt, and liquids. Bring the mixture to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate the cooled pickles.
Note that these pickles do not contain sufficient acid for canning.

Pickled Cherries

adapted from Chez Panisse Fruit by Alice Waters by Kathryn LaSusa Yeomans

Ingredients

2 pounds cherries (sweet or tart)
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
4 1⁄4 cups white wine vinegar
4 cloves
6 peppercorns

Steps

1. Rinse, dry, and pick over the cherries, discarding or eating any blemished ones. Cut the stems down so that they are a half-inch long.
2. If you would like to can the cherries, prepare eight 1-pint canning jars and self-sealing lids in boiling water, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
3. Stir together the sugar, vinegar, cloves, & peppercorns in a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a boil over a high flame. Cook the brine for 3 minutes.
4. Pack the cherries into a food-grade plastic or glass container, or pack them into the canning jars.    Pour the hot brine over the cherries, cover, and if canning, process them in a boiling waterbath for 10 minutes. If refrigerating, cover, allow to cool to room temperature, and refrigerate, making sure that they are fully submerged in the liquid. Let sit for 2 weeks before eating, or 2 months if you have canned them.

After opening, the canned cherries will keep refrigerated for a year.
Chef Kathryn Yeomans
The Farmer's Feast
http://thefarmersfeast.me/

Basic Quick Pickle Recipe

Lots of vegetables can be utilized with this brine when you want a quick batch of refrigerator pickles. Pour it (hot) over green beans, asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, celery, spring turnips, fennel bulb, Swiss chard stalks, etc. Let the vegetables marinate for a day or a week before eating, and enjoy the pickles for the next month or so. If you make up a batch of brine, you can keep it handy in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, pulling it out to heat and use with vegetables as you bring them home from the market. This recipe halves or doubles easily.

Ingredients
4 cups vinegar (white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar)
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 cup kosher salt
1 tsp. black peppercorns
4 or more garlic cloves

optional spices such as allspice, clove, cinnamon stick, Szechuan peppercorns, mustard seed, fennel seed, dried whole chili or chile flakes, coriander, celery seed, juniper berry, etc.

optional fresh herbs, such as thyme stems, rosemary branch, bay leaves, fennel fronds, dill, oregano or marjoram stems

Combine all of the ingredients except the fresh herbs in a non-reactive pot. Heat over a high flame, stirring until the salt & sugar are dissolved in the liquid. Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat. Pour hot over vegetables, allow to cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

From the recipe collection of Hillsdale Farmers’ Market Chef Kathryn Yeomans The Farmer's Feast http://thefarmersfeast.me/