Crystal Lee and I shared our recipes for quick refrigerator pickles and encouraged the audience to be creative and mix and match different shapes, sizes and colours of the vegetables available at this time of the year.
Carrots, beets, peppers, chayote, daikon, and cucumbers of varying shapes and sizes make for some pretty pickles to make meals more colourful and nutritious.
This year I tucked cucamelon seeds in with my tomato pots and the vines climbed up the tomato cages and produced the tiny cucumbers that look like miniature watermelons. Crystal described a giant heirloom cucumber she recieved via Bunz (a grassroots barter system ). Can you spot the lemon cucumber and the Armenian cuke?
I bought the chayote from Fresh Roots at the Riley Park Farmer's market, They are experimenting with growing both smooth and prickly varieties.
Don't forget to use the greens from your daikon radishes! They can be added to stir fries or soups.
What a lovely day and a superb location for a workshop!
Crystal shared three recipes that she uses to make pickles:
Quick Pickled Cucumbers
· https://www.blessthismessplease.com/quick-pickled-cucumbers/
Vietnamese Pickled Carrots and Daikon
https://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/vietnamese-pickled-carrots-daikon/
Lotus Root Salad
https://www.storyofakitchen.com/salad-recipes/lotus-root-salad-recipe/
Meanwhile, I prepared the spicy simmered apple cider:
Ingredients:
1 bag apples
1 handful rose hips wrapped in a tea bag made of gauze
1 lime
Maple syrup to taste
1 tbs grated ginger
2 tsp grated turmeric
1 tbs chai spice
Core the apples and chop up the lime, cover with water in a large pot.
Add the rose hips in a tea bag made of gauze, ginger, turmeric and chai spices.
Simmer for two hours, or until apples are soft. Take out the rosehip tea bag.
Mash the apples against the side of the pot and simmer ten minutes or more.
Strain and clean out the pot—put plant material in compost. Put the cider in the pot—taste and sweeten. Reheat and serve warm.
Crystal Created a beautiful seasonal display and showed how to make an elegant lantern from the pomelo fruit (the largest fruit on the tray). How many items can you name in this display? She recommends checking out this resource on Chinese Mid Autumn Festival traditions:
https://thewoksoflife.com/mid-autumn-festival-foods/
I shared a couple of my pickle recipes and also made cookies and rustic fruit tarts. A cold little bumble bee checked out our pickling veggies!
Beespeaker Bahn Mi Pickles
1 cup carrots
1 cup Daikon
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (I used some infused with horsetail)
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
These pickles can be used in Vietnamese-style submarine sandwiches, or as a garnish for other meals.
I like to use them in Okonomiyaki—style pancakes. They must be kept in the refrigerator.
Step 1: Sterilize jars and lids and put them on a pan or tray.
Step 2: Wash and grate carrots and daikon. You can use a grater or vegetable peeler. I used a “spiralizer”.
Step 3: Fill the jars with the veggies.
Step 4: Put the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Step 5: Pour the solution into the jars, covering the vegetables.
Step 6: Let the jars cool. Put on the lids and refrigerate at least 48 hours before using. (Lasts up to 3 weeks in the fridge.)
Chayote and Daikon Pickled with Shiso
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar infused with currant blossoms
3 tablespoons ume plum vinegar
1 tbs seaweed, chopped finely
1 chayote, cubed
1 daikon cubed
7 shiso leaves, chopped
Put sugar, vinegar, and salt into a bowl and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
Add chayote, daikon, and shiso to the marinade and stir. Put into jars and refrigerate overnight.
Brown Sugar Walnut Sesame Seaweed Cookies
by Madame Beespeaker
3/4 c AP flour
1 1/4 cup spelt flour
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
½ c brown sugar
1/8 cup ground nori
2 rounded TBS ground flax
1-2 tsp fennel seeds
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
½ tsp salt to taste or top with a few grains of “fancy salt”*
Cream butter, sugar and salt. Add flours, sesame seeds, walnuts flax, and fennel. Use your hands to combine ingredients and form a pliable dough. Divide the dough in half and roll each into a long with the desired size of cookie. Wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for a few minutes until the dough is solid enough to slice. Slice into rounds about 3/4 cm thick. Place on pan. If you are using fancy salt, put a few grains on top of each cookie. Bake at 375 for 8-10 min until firm and browned on the bottom.
Makes about 24 cookies. These are actually nice as a cracker with a bit of blue cheese on top.
These are the ground cherries we grew at the farm. After removing the husks they kind of look like yellow cherry tomatoes.
Coronation grapes are so lovely at this time of the year, I mixed the grapes with the ground cherries in a seasonal rustic tart. Adding fennel seeds from the garden really boosts the flavour.
Concord Grape and Fennel Rustic Tart
by Madame Beespeaker
Pastry
½ cup spelt flour
1/8 cup plus ½ cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 tsp salt
½ c butter cut into small cubes
¼ cup cold water.
Filling
About 1.5 c grapes and or ground cherries
½ tsp fennel seeds or more
1 tbs flour
2 tsp sugar
Prepare the fruit: pull grapes off the stems and dehusk the ground cherries
Mix flours together with the salt.
Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to blend the butter with the flour until it makes pea sized pieces.
Add the cold water and knead the dough until the ingredients are combined and hold together.
Divide the dough into four pieces and roll each piece into a rough circle.
Put 1 tsp flour onto the rolled circle and sprinkle lightly with sugar and fennel seeds.
Place the fruit onto the dough and then crimp the sides up to hold in the fruit and keep the juice from leaking.
Bake at 375 Degrees F for about 25-30 minutes, or until fruit is bubbling and the crust is lightly browned.
Cool and serve with ice cream, whipped cream or on its own.
Feel free to e-mail Lori with your own seasonal recipes: beespeaker (at) gmail (dot) com
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