Pickled vegetables are for me an ideal option to keep some of these for longer, and that also adds a delicious taste to some of these, I usually make a jar of about 3 kilos of pickled vegetables once a year, in December, which gives me to use a part in the preparation of the traditional hallacas and I have enough left for a couple of months, since my father also eats them as snacks in some occasions.
The traditional Venezuelan pickle consists of carrots, cauliflower, onions and cucumber, however I usually add some others, or remove them according to my taste or what I have at hand, but what can never be missing in my pickle is the cucumber, because with them I make my beloved pickles, this is the main reason why I make the pickles. Well preserved pickles in a properly sterilized and well sealed container can last up to 2 years, which makes pickles a long lasting way to preserve vegetables and even some fruits.
The preparation of the pickles is a bit methodical and a bit long, but it is certainly very easy, and the results are certainly excellent, it is a recipe that is certainly worth the effort, and you will surely love it as much as I do. Come with me and I'll show you how to make them. Enjoy!
Ingredients
500 grams of carrots, peeled and cut into sticks.
1.5 kg of cauliflower cut into small pieces.
1 kg of cucumbers cut in quarters.
4 Salt Sprays.
3 cups of alcohol vinegar.
100 grams of hot peppers cut in wheels.
2 sugar cubes.
1 Tsp of curcuma powder.
Water Quantity Needed.
Ice Necessary Quantity.
Preparation
Difficulty level: Media
Preparation time: 60 minutes
Baking time: 10 minutes
In a pot with enough space to cook all our vegetables add 4 liters of water, 3 tablespoons of salt and a cup of vinegar, bring to a boil and add the carrots, boil for 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes add the cauliflower and let it boil for about 5 more minutes, after 4 minutes add the cucumber and peppers, and let it boil for the other minute, turn off the fire.
At this point we will proceed to drain the vegetables, keeping this water, and in a bowl we will have water with ice, we put the vegetables still hot in the water with ice to cut the cooking of them and that we have the right texture. Once the vegetables are cold, we drain them again. While we prepare the brine that consists of, the two cups of vinegar remaining, the rest of the salt, sugar and turmeric powder, if you want to add pepper you can do it, I did not do it since the peppers are spicy, we added 2 cups of the cooking water of the vegetables.
Having our containers previously sterilized we started to assemble our pickle, I use a mega giant jar hahaha, since half of it is spent in one preparation and then I only have a little bit of vegetables and pickles left. Once the vegetables are arranged to our taste, we proceed to add the brine, the idea is that this liquid reaches the top of the jars, since this will be the preservative of these vegetables. We cover and pasteurize, for which we put the glass jar in a pot of boiling water, trying to make it reach the middle of the jar, we cover the pot and let it cook for a couple of minutes, until the lid of the jar makes the vacuum and is sealed.
It is advisable to consume them a couple of days after they have been prepared, so that their flavour is concentrated and impregnated with a little bit of vinegar and the spices that we add to the pickle, and in my case the spiciness of the peppers. The truth is that the spice adds a delicious flavor to them, and then I will show you how to use these pickles in a delicious mustard sauce, for our burgers.
Images of my property, taken with the camera of my iPhone 5s and edited with PowerPoint 2013
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Thank you for taking the time to read this publication, if you have any questions, criticisms or suggestions, I would appreciate it in the comments box, and remember, you can also do magic in the kitchen!
