Yooper Food

Pickled Vegetables

Asparagus, Pickled Baby Asparagus with Tarragon

• 4 lbs. very thin, young asparagus
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 medium onion
• 3 cups white wine vinegar
• 1½ cups water
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 5 tsp. mixed pickling spices
• 5 tsp. dried tarragon
• 20 black peppercorns

Wash 5 pint jars in hot, soapy water. Rinse, keeping hot in the oven until ready. Wash asparagus, and trim the ends so that the stalks are ¾-inch shorter than the jars, then set aside. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan, then boil for ten minutes. Cut bell peppers into thin strips and set aside. Cut onions in half lengthwise. Place each half cut-side down, then thinly slice. Line the bottoms of the jars with the onion. To each jar, add 1 tsp. pickling spices, 1 tsp. tarragon, and 4 peppercorns. Pack in asparagus spears, heads up, alternating with red pepper strips to give a striped effect. Be sure to leave ¾-inch headspace. Add boiling vinegar mixture to cover, leaving ½-inch headspace. Release any trapped air with a long wooden skewer or pickling fork. Wipe rims of jars with a clean, damp cloth. Seal and process by water bath method for 20 minutes.

Beans, Dill Beans

• 1 peck (¼ bushel) wax beans
• 4 quarts water
• 1 cup vinegar
• 2 large stalks dill
• ½ oz. black peppercorns
• 6 bay leaves
• 6 grape or cherry leaves, fresh
• 1 cup salt

Remove strings, and cook beans in boiling, salted water (1 tsp. salt to 1 quart water) for 5-7 minutes, then drain. In a crock or pickling jar, pack, in layers, the beans, then a few peppercorns, a little dill, some pieces of bay leaf; then repeat, covering the top layer well with dill and adding the grape or cherry leaves. To 3 quarts of water, add the vinegar and the remaining salt, and boil. Set it aside to cool, and when cool, pour to cover the beans, and seal. Keep cool in a dry place.

Beans, Pickled Beans

• 1 peck (¼ bushel) wax beans
• 5 quarts water
• 1 cup vinegar
• 5 tbsp. salt
• ½ cup sugar
• 8 pint cans

Add 5 tbsp. salt to 5 quarts water, and bring to a boil. While waiting for the solution to come to a boil, remove the strings from the beans, and cut the beans into 1-inch pieces. Wash, and then cook in the boiling, salted water, until tender, but still crisp. Drain the beans, but save the water in which they were cooked. Reserve enough of this bean liquor to fill cans, then add the sugar and vinegar. When hot, add drained beans. When boiling, pour at once into the cans. Use as a salad or sweet-sour vegetable.

Cabbage, Pickled Cabbage

• 4 quarts cabbage, red or white, thinly sliced
• 2 quarts vinegar, not too strong
• ¼ cup mustard seed
• ¼ cup mixed pickle spices
• ½ tsp. pepper
• 4 tsp. fine salt
• 1 cup sugar

Select large, heavy cabbage. Take off the outside leaves, cut into quarters, and then in thin shreds, using a cabbage cutter. Sprinkle the salt over the cabbage, and mix thoroughly. Let stand overnight. Drain slightly, and add the pepper and mustard seed, mix and place in crock. Add sugar and pickle spices, tied in a bag, to the vinegar, and bring it to a boil slowly. Pour boiling vinegar solution over the cabbage to cover. If vinegar is too strong, dilute it with water. May be used cold or, when heated, as a vegetable, in place of sauerkraut. Will keep indefinitely.

Cabbage, Sauerkraut

• 15 heads cabbage
• 2½ lbs. salt
• 24 tart apples
• a wooden stamper
• a round board
• a small square of cloth
• a heavy stone
• an 8-gallon stone jar

Select large, heavy cabbages. Remove the outer leaves, cut into quarters, remove the core, and slice very fine on large cabbage cutter. Into a large granite pan, place 5 pounds of the shredded cabbage, sprinkle with ¼ cup of salt, mix thoroughly, and then pack into the large crock. Add, if desired, a cup of apples, cut fine; then pound and stamp down the cabbage with a wooden stamper until the brine flows, covering the cabbage. Mix another 5 pounds of cabbage and ¼ cup of salt, and pack again into crock, cover with 1 cup chopped apples, and pound as before until covered with brine. Continue until all cabbage is used, always pounding until covered with brine. Now cover the cabbage leaves, lay on the fitted square of cloth, then the board and stone, to help keep the contents under the brine. Use large crock and leave enough space on top for the cabbage to swell or ferment without overflowing. Put in a warm place to ferment. In two weeks, examine. Remove the scum, if any. Wash the cloth, picking it up at the corners to catch all of the scum. Wash the board, the stone, and the sides of the crock, then cover again with cloth, board, and stone. Then move it to a cool place. Remove scum and wash cloth, etc. weekly. Or, you can pack the sauerkraut, when fermented, into jars. Cover with the brine, heat thoroughly in a water bath, and seal. If there is not enough kraut brine, mix ¼ cup salt with 1 quart water to replace.

Onions, Pickled Onions

• 4 quarts small white onions
• 2 quarts vinegar
• 1 cup salt
• 2 cups sugar
• ¼ cup mixed pickle spices

Pour boiling water over onions to cover. Let stand for two minutes, then drain, cover with cold water, and peel. Let stand in salt water overnight. Place in colander, pour over cold water, and drain. Tie spices in bag and boil with sugar and vinegar. Remove spices, throw in onions, and let it boil up. Pour at once to overflowing, in jars, and seal.

Onions, Pickled Onions

Use small silver-skinned onions. Remove the outer skin, so that each one is white and clean. Put them into brine that will float an egg for 3 days. Bring vinegar to a boiling point, add a little mace and whole red peppers, and pour hot over the onions, well drained from the brine. --1890

Tomatoes, Green Dill Tomatoes

• 100 small, firm green tomatoes
• 1 large bunch dill
• 1 small horseradish root, diced
• 10 quarts water
• ¾ cup vinegar
• 1 cup salt

Soak the tomatoes in salt water (1 cup salt to 4 quarts water) overnight. Drain, and wipe dry. Place in sterilized jars with layers of dill and small pieces of horseradish. Boil 4 quarts water, ½ cup salt, and ¼ cup vinegar, and pour boiling hot over the tomatoes, being careful not to crack the glass. Put on rubber and seal in 2-quart air tight jars. If brine should ooze out, within a week, do not disturb, and when active fermentation stops, pour over enough fresh cooled brine to cover, and seal.

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