My daughter and I are on a road trip visiting friends and attending a con. The drive was very long so when we found an old used bookstore in the middle of nowhere Montana, we had to stop. We found a wonderful cookbook - The Complete Book of Pickles and Relishes by Leonard Louis Levinson, Hawthorn Books Inc., 1965. I'm in love already. I want to make just about every recipe in the book. (Sorry, the Jerusalem artichoke pickles will never happen at my house. I detest Jerusalem artichokes.) I even found recipes for pickled crabapples and Lady apples. Mustard pickles, fruit pickles, vegetable pickles, relishes galore - this book is making me drool. I love pickles.
There's one page the book opens to. Here's the recipe on that page. I'm making this one as soon as I can find the ingredients. I'm making as many of the others as I can. I'll post recipes and my results as I do it. If not this summer, definitely next.
Curry Pickle Chunks
3 lbs. 4-5 inch pickling cucumbers
1 2/3 c. white vinegar
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. curry powder
2 T. mustard seed
1 1/2 t. celery seed
2 t. salt (pickling salt preferred. The iodine in regular salt can make pickles turn a funky brown color.)
Wash cucumbers thoroughly, cut into chunks.
Combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Heat to a boil. Add cucumbers. Heat just to boiling point; then simmer while quickly packing 1 hot sterilized jar at a time. Fill to 1/8 inch from top. Be sure vinegar solution covers vegetables. Seal each jar at once. Makes 4 pints.
If you make these, please let me know how they turn out.
Thanks for posting! I am going to make this over the weekend and will let you know how they turn out.
ReplyDeleteDo they have to sit for a certain length of time before you eat them?
Please let me know how they taste. I've been so busy since I got home I haven't had a chance to look for cucumbers anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI'd recommend letting them sit for a couple days in the fridge if you don't seal them or a week on the shelf if you do process and seal them.
I made these and they turned out great! The curry was subtle but the flavor was good. Really liked the size of the chunks pieces... Right amount of crunch!
DeleteHave you tried any other recipes from this book?
I haven't been able to try any other recipes - health problems and a lack of fresh ingredients that aren't from the grocery store. I don't want to use produce sprayed with wax or other stuff. I'm planning on doing a bunch next summer, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm bookmarking the recipe. I'll be sure to post more. I love those old cookbooks.