Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Welcome to a new episode of Ligia's Kitchen!
Today we have a special guest, Izabela Panescu,
who is the host of a show called "Forever Young" on Digi24 [a Romanian TV station].
Welcome, Izabela! Today we're making pickles! Let's hope they'll come out great!
Autumn is here, and I want to find out the proper recipe for home-made pickles, because there are many recipes out there but not all are healthy. Right?
Right. We'll use a pickle recipe that only needs water and salt -- no vinegar is needed at all.
You'll be pickling green tomatoes and I'll be pickling cucumbers.
Wonderful! I love pickled green tomatoes!
See how quiet Sophie [our newborn daughter] is? She's busy looking at us.
I: We only add cauliflower to pickled green tomatoes, right? L: Yes.
I: Is there some rule about pickling green tomatoes? L: You should always add dill when you're pickling them. Thyme is optional.
We can also add coriander and mustard seeds and various other condiments we like.
I: So there are no rules
The first step [after prepping the vegetables] is to add sea salt to the water so it can dissolve.
You should add 1 tablespoon of non-iodized sea salt to a liter of water. We have 1.5 liters here so I'm adding 1.5 tbsp of salt.
If you'll hand me that lid over there, I'll help the salt dissolve by shaking the bottle a bit.
Once the salt has dissolved, we can add it to the pickle jars. Now let's start adding the pickles!
Let's see what we do now.
You have the green tomatoes, I have the cucumbers.
The idea is to make a layer of cucumbers or green tomatoes then add condiments, then another layer of things to be pickled and so on.
Some people prefer to arrange them in special ways. I just want to pack them in nicely.
I: I'm going to add the cauliflower. L: You can add whatever you like.
Add bell peppers, carrots...
I: Should we pack them in as tightly as possible? L: In principle, yes.
L: I should mention here that we're using cold water. I: Of course! If we were to add hot water, we'd ruin the vitamins in the pickles.
Alright, let me see how it looks. Superb!
A few garlic cloves...
Diced celeriac root.
A hot pepper would also be nice.
I: Can I add a hot pepper to the green tomatoes? L: Yes, one or two at most. I don't like it when the pickles are hot.
I: I'll add a red one. L: Right, and also add a green one.
Keep going like this until you fill up the jar.
Let's not forget the horseradish.
Not a lot of it, because it'll make the pickles too soft.
Horseradish makes pickles soft? How much is too much horseradish?
Too much is 3-4 roots to a jar. I put a finger-sized horseradish root in a 3-liter jar.
That's what we're using here, 3-liter jars. You can use 5-liter jars if you have them [but adjust the recipe accordingly].
Let's add the dill.
I: Is there a limit for the dill? L: Eyeball it. Not too much. Dill gives the pickles a nice taste.
Let's continue to fill up the jars.
L: How's it going? I: A little difficult, I've got a few empty spots. L: No problem.
L: Some people love to focus on the arrangement of the pickles inside the jar. I: True, but not on the first try.
I: Next time I'm sure to get it right!
You'll see that the final product somehow looks much better than this.
I: How much do these pickles last? L: They'll last 2-3 years if they're well-pickled and if quality salt was used.
The salt you use needs to be high quality, non-iodized, otherwise the pickles won't come out right and they won't last.
Don't fill it to the top. You can add a little bit more but that's it. Here, I have some green cherry tomatoes for you.
I: So we don't need to use hot water or vinegar for our pickles to last. L: Right. Use this cold-water recipe and you'll be fine.
Oh, it looks great! Let's not forget about the dill stalks.
I: Did a jar of pickles ever go bad for you? L: One year, one of the four jars I made didn't last.
I pickle cabbage the same way. Some people like to pour hot water over it but there's no need.
L: Did you add horseradish to your jar? I: Not yet, I'll add it now.
L: There's not much left but I think it'll do.
I'm adding some diced celeriac. Don't forget to add some garlic to your jar.
I: I haven't added any yet. L: You must.
I: Other than dill stalks, when do we add the other condiments? L: At the end, on top. When we then pour the water into the jar, it distributes them evenly.
I: How much (of the mustard seeds) should I add? L: One measure for me, one for you. Just pour them in.
Now for the pepper.
Not too much.
Now we'll pour the water.
The salt is almost completely dissolved.
That's Sophie singing in the background.
Stop there. During the fermentation process, the pickles swell and the water level rises.
The idea is to cover them with a strainer or with gauze so they can leak out if the water rises too much.
What I do is keep the lid half-tightened and every few days, I tighten it and turn them upside down to recirculate the salt and condiments in the jar.
Let's add some more dill stalks on top.
What you should also add (I forgot to prepare this for the video) is a sour cherry twig with a couple of leaves on it.
The twig will help the pickles keep much longer.
I: So you don't need to keep them in the dark? L: No, they just need to be kept in a chilly place, otherwise they'll ferment too much and spoil.
That's about it.
Your jar looks great!
To add color, you can add red beet.
The salted water will then turn red, and the cauliflower will also turn red.
I: It's not hard at all. L: No, it isn't. It's a simple recipe that we can follow even if we're not skilled in the art of cooking.
I: Even if we don't live in a house? L: Yes, you can keep them in the cellar or in the pantry, they just need a cool place.
It's just me and the pickle jars, Ligia had to feed Sophie, she's behind the cameras,
I saw how difficult it is to make one of these videos, how difficult it is to have a child [and make one of these videos]
You can see an exclusive "making of" video filmed in Ligia's studio on my show, which is going to air on 9/22/13 at 1:30 pm on Digi24 [a Romanian TV station].
I hope you'll make healthy pickles this year, just like Ligia and I have shown you!