What’d You Do Last Weekend?
Chicken and Waffles? Yes!
Pickled Carrots and Raisins
Todd's been enjoying the pickles from the Boat Street Cafe, especially their carrots and raisins (I had a pickled fiddlehead at a dinner there recently - it was lovely). We knew we wanted to make our own pickled carrots, but we have such lousy luck in the garden with carrots. Not enough heat, hungry critters, you name it. But this weekend we got lucky. We took a stroll through the U-District Farmers' Market and came upon some real beauties that immediately made it into the pickle jar.
A couple of standout ingredients I have to mention really made the difference in the pickle this time. Well, sneaky and early taste tests seem to suggest it, anyway. Our orange thyme is flowering and it has the sweetest honeysuckle delicate flavor, and we stuffed a bunch of it in the jars along with the carrots and golden raisins. Also, Todd used a couple of different vinegars in the brine, one of which I'd gotten from a recent shipment from Corti Brothers. They sell a Moscatel vinegar from Italy that I can imagine drinking straight over ice. It's sweet and tangy but has a really complex flavor compared to good old apple cider vinegar.
Pickled Carrots
Baby carrots
Moscatel wine vinegar
Pickling spice (allspice, cloves, bay leaves)
Fresh orange thyme
Golden raisins
Pili pili pepper
- Blanch the baby carrots quickly and plunge them in ice water to keep them from over cooking.
- In a small saucepan, add the vinegar, pickling spice and pili pili pepper to a small amount of water and bring to a boil. Adjust seasonings as necessary.
- Place the carrots, thyme, and raisins in a sterile jar and pour the hot vinegar over the carrots.
- Cover and refrigerate.
These are refrigerator pickles and do not require processing or canning. Consume these within a few weeks for best results.
