Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Eating and Drinking => Cooking, Storing and Preserving => Topic started by: GrannieAnnie on August 04, 2006, 23:25

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: GrannieAnnie on August 04, 2006, 23:25

Last year, my shallots from the sets I bought at a garden centre were lovely, so I saved some of them for this year.  However, I was very disappointed with the results.  Some of them had divided into 10, but most of them stayed as one and just got bigger, or only had 2 or 3 shallots on each plant.

Still, I have got 6 jars of pickled shallots for nothing!

PS, just put a photo on the allotment album!

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: Jake on August 05, 2006, 18:32

Hi grannieannie

How do you go about pickling them?

We've tried once but they were really acidic. Do you dilute the vinegar or anything?

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: GrannieAnnie on August 05, 2006, 21:25

My Dad used to have lovely pickled onions.  He always covered them in salt overnight, then rinsed them, dried them and put them into vinegar that he had cooked with his own spice mix, but I am very lazy I'm afraid.  I use the pickling vinegar from the supermarket and sometimes I salt them sometimes I don't, but I find that mine stay quite crispy even if I don't salt them.  In act when I have salted them, they go softer.

I don't dilute the vinegar, as the onons still have their own water in if I don't salt them, and maybe the clear vinegar isn't as acidic as the brown.  If you don't like the acidity, what about making some of the little ones into piccallilli? with all the other veg from the plot?  I made some last year, must get my head around to having another go!!

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: Jake on August 05, 2006, 21:36

Oh I love picallili :D Mouth warters at the thought.

Its got to have caulli in though IMO, and I haven't tried to grow that yet.

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: GrannieAnnie on August 05, 2006, 21:40

My caulis were very small, so didn't get into any piccallilli, but if its your piccalilli, it can have whatever you  like in it, mind you, I will probably BUY a cauli for mine as I like cauliflower in my piccallilli (sorry for rude word BUY!!!!!) lol

Title: Picallili
Post by: Oliver on August 05, 2006, 23:32

Quote from: "Jake"

Oh I love picallili :D Mouth warters at the thought.

Its got to have caulli in though IMO, and I haven't tried to grow that yet.

Our Delia makes a lovely pickled runner bean recipe that tastes very much like picallili - is very easy and very very delicious. My human has used runner beans and a mixture of runner and french beans when she has not had enough runners
Pickled Runner beans (http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/spiced-pickled-runner-beans,1290,RC.html)
This is one of my human's main Christmas Presents. She can never make enough of it! Yum yum.

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: GrannieAnnie on August 05, 2006, 23:34

Mmmmm, sounds nice that one Oliver!

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: John on August 05, 2006, 23:50

I fancy a go at that runner bean pickle - do you cut the beans lengthways and sideways?  My culinary skills taper off beyond poached eggs on toast.

Just thought, I could have used my golf ball cauliflowers in picalli.

Title: Re: Picallili
Post by: Jake on August 06, 2006, 11:15

Quote from: "Oliver"

Pickled Runner beans (http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/spiced-pickled-runner-beans,1290,RC.html)
This is one of my human's main Christmas Presents. She can never make enough of it! Yum yum.

I think I'll try that with French Beans, I only got 3 runners (out of a whole pack). Does look very good.

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: GrannieAnnie on August 06, 2006, 21:06

Did you eat your golf ball caulis John?  Were they nice?  Mine were small too, but more grapefruit sized.  They wer nice though, All Year Round variety.

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: John on August 06, 2006, 22:47

Afraid not, I recycled them into the compost bin in disgust.
The decent cauliflower (purple grafitti) looked incredible but the flavour was nothing special, I'm afraid. Worth growing for the novelty value though.

Title: Spiced Pickled runner beans *(or french beans)
Post by: Oliver on August 07, 2006, 11:29

Quote from: "john"

do you cut the beans lengthways and sideways?

She cuts the runners both ways (but not in the same batch)
Long ways: she uses a little gadget cutter - a little plastic thing, about 1" x 3/4" with 4 tiny blades in it. This cuts the beans into long strips which are then cut to about 2" long.
'Sideways': she uses a food processor - feeds the beans into the 'spout' and turns on the machine. The resulting slices (across the bean) are about 3mm thick. !!! :lol:

If you can't visualise this, give us a shout and I'll get her to take some pictures to post up here!

Can't eat the cucumbers fast enough so pickle them ... she is currently making 'Pickled Cucumber Slices'. They are fabulous with cheese or cold meats - again a Christmas present.

Title: Pickled shallots
Post by: John on August 07, 2006, 12:25

Thanks for that, Oliver.
I'm not too keen on pickled cucumber since I ate a lot of it one day, whilst hiding in the pantry. I was very, very sick. That was some 43 years ago.
And my mum wasn't greatly pleased either.