Half Sour Pickles recipe

This summer I found some really great pickling recipes to preserve our harvest in a jar. I tried so many of them and they are all very good but many of them have vinegar as an ingredient. While the vinegar is great to preserve food, I am trying to cut on acidic foods if possible, so I really like Inessa's (vintageer shop on Etsy)  half sour pickles recipes. The pickles are easy to make and ready to eat in about 3 days. I slice them and put them on a sandwich - delicious!

I don't have the black currant leaves and tarragon but pickles taste great anyway.

 

So with Inessa permission I am publishing her recipe on my blog today.

 

Ingredients:
Small pickling cucumbers (enough to fill 1 Quart jar)
Enough water to cover said cucumbers
2 Tbsp (per 4 cups of water) pickling salt (or sea salt)
4- 5 garlic cloves cut in half
3-4 stems fresh dill (with seeds and flowers)
1 tbsp black pepper corns
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp celery seeds
3-4 fresh black currant leaves (or horseradish leaf)
1 tarragon stem (optional)

Wash the cucumbers well and let them soak in a bowl of cold water for an hour. Put the cucumbers in a clean glass canning jar. Add the spices, the garlic cloves,  black currant leaves, tarragon and dill to the jar.

Dissolve the salt in the boiled water and pour into the jar over the cucumbers. Make sure the cucumbers are completely under the water.

Cover and let sit for three or four days in cool shaded space. Then move to the fridge to chill. Enjoy!

Apple and tomato relish

Canning fruits and vegetables is very common in Ukraine. People often living in small city apartments but pretty often they have a little summer house outside of the city with the little garden. Gardening for many becomes a great way to relieve stress of daily routine and of course, this is an opportunity to make some food preserves for winter. Many using their  family recipes which are often kept as a secret and being passed from generation to generation. Many however are sharing their recipes with others.

This one I got from my mother many years ago. This type of relish is often served as a side dish, with cooked meat or like a snack between meals. It can also be canned.

You will need:

1lbs tomatoes

2 medium carrots

2 medium bell peppers

2 apples

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 chili pepper

3/4 cup of olive oil

Salt and pepper

Thoroughly wash the fruits and vegetables. Remove the steam and seeds from the peppers, core and stem from the apples. Peel the garlic and carrots. Dip the tomatoes in boiling water for several seconds, remove them and peel off the skin.

 Roughly chop all vegetables except the garlic. Add the chopped vegetables to a blender or large vegetable chopper and mince until almost a paste but you can still see a pieces in it. Transfer all the ingredients except the garlic into a large pot and bring it to a boil. 

Reduce heat and cook on a low setting for about 2 hours, stirring as needed. Mince garlic and add it to your pot. Bring to boil, add salt and pepper to taste, stir and reduce the heat to medium and let it cook for additional 15 minutes.

Let it cool and serve it chilled with fresh baked bread.

Enjoy!