It's A Pickle Party In Puyallup

I'd have to say that honestly I am pretty content living in Iowa. There is a lot of cool stuff here. Incredible pork. The world famous state fair. All the corn you could ever want. One hundred wineries and growing, plus an impressive collection of breweries. Gourmet restaurants and foodie events. Templeton Rye. Apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Yes, I would say that this is my happy place. Recently I heard about a very unique business in Washington state that spoke to my heart and my love of home canning and quick pickling. How about a cucumber farm that not only sells cucumbers grown on the premises but offers pickling parties? I am sooo there !!! Well....I wish anyway.

So what is this farm called? Where is it? What is this all about? Tamara Harden, who lives in Puyallup, Washington, shared this story with me, about Duris Cucumber Farm, a very unique business that's part farm, part store and part pickle factory in Puyallup. I visited the company's website and learned all about the history of this business and how it all started back in the mid-50s when Hazel Duris asked her husband Al to help her get a garden started. She wanted to grow cucumbers for pickles, as well as other fresh vegetables. Like so many gardeners experience, Hazel soon had cucumbers in abundance and began selling her extra produce. Little by little their garden plot grew into a farm, now operated by their children. The farm's chief crop is pickling cukes and with that, everything you need to make pickles. The farm also features a shop where you can find everything you need to make fresh quick pickles- spices, jars, cookbooks, vinegars, and of course, the cucumbers. They even have cute labels and twine for your finished pickles, as well as pre-made canned and pickled foods and other cute canning-themed items for you to purchase.

Customers make their selections from different sizes and
varieties of farm fresh pickling cucumbers.

Every Saturday the farm's shop has a pickling demonstration. They teach customers the cold-pack method, what I call quick pickles or fridge pickles- fresh cucumbers, spices, pickling brine, and no heat processing. These are not shelf-stable pickles- they go into the fridge, and believe me, the best pickles are made this way- always crisp and crunchy. Their recipe is featured on the website and interestingly, they use two sizes of cucumbers in each jar. Just looking at all the pictures made me crave pickles!

The shop features pre-packaged spice mixtures for
different types of pickles- so easy!

Let's talk about this pickle party. Tamara tells me it's a ton of fun and very versatile- you can come just by yourself or bring friends (up to 23 people per party). You just schedule a time and when you get there, they have everything you need on a tray for each party-goer. You get the jars, a paring knife, one grape leaf per jar, sliced onion, sliced red pepper, fresh dill, garlic cloves, spices, and a label for your jar. 

What an awesome setup, all ready for the Pickle Partiers

The center of the table is piled with different sizes of pickling cucumbers. The first thing you do is choose your cukes and fill your jar, then you return to your tray, remove the cucumbers from the jar and get ready to pickle. 

Shaking those pickles!

The instructor walks you through each step, how to add ingredients to your jar and in what order, and you make your jars of pickles, topping with the pickling brine. The cost of the class is per jar- $8 for quarts and $6.50 for pints, and you can make one jar or many many jars- totally up to you. This sounds like so much fun!

They even sell commercial mixes for people who want to
make pickles with a minimum of fuss and measuring.

Luckily for those of us who don't live nearby, the Duris Farm shares their pickle recipe on their website. Let's make some Duris Cold Pack Refrigerator Dills. For each quart jar you will need:

(add in order)
1 grape leaf
1 stalk fresh dill wound in a small circle
3 peeled cloves of garlic
1/8 sliced white onion
3 teaspoons pickling salt
2 teaspoons mustard seed
15 whole black peppercorns
1/2 to 1 dried red chili pepper
1/4 teaspoon alum
1/4 fresh jalapeno pepper, sliced
1 slice sweet red bell pepper (place against the side of the jar)
5 medium cucumbers, blossom end removed
2-3 small cucumbers, blossom end removed
1/2 cup of 5% apple cider vinegar

Fill the jar to 1/2 inch headspace with tap water. Top with a lid and ring, tighten, and shake to dissolve the powders. Store in the refrigerator. Pickles will be ready to enjoy in 3-4 3 weeks. Enhanced flavor is achieved by allowing them to cure in the fridge longer.

Pickle jars in every size and color!

How easy is that? I am a huge fan of fridge pickles- no need to drag out the big bulky canning pots and I can make every jar a little different. The pickles are always so much crisper and fresher than heat processed pickles and they retain their color better too.

Tamara is a big supporter of local producers and frequents the produce stands all over her area. She tells me the Puyallup Valley has some of the most fertile soils anywhere as well the areas surrounding eastern Washington, which is a huge agricultural area. Tamara likes keeping in touch with local growers so she gets a heads up on great deals so she can preserve fresh foods for her family at home, and is an avid home canner. She really loved sharing the Pickle Party with her granddaughters. Maybe they will be the next generation of home food preservers!

Abby and Tamara show us each step

**All the photos in this story were taken by Tamara on her recent visit to the farm.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

A Peck of Pickled Shishito Peppers

Ok, well not quite a PECK but....... hey it's shishito season! What the heck is a shishito, you ask? It's a cute little pepper, Japanese in origin, the name compares the pepper to a lion, and some people think the end of the pepper resembles a lion's head- I didn't see it, but what do I know? 

Shishito peppers are bright green, crispy and glossy

If you haven't had a shishito pepper before you simply must seek them out and try them. They are curious little things. Bright green, thin skinned, crispy and amazingly NOT hot they are a super quick pepper to cook up- Pop them under the broiler for a quick minute, just to start to blister the skins, or grill them in a hot skillet, toss with seasonings and a little olive oil and serve just like that for a quick and easy snack. Thread them on skewers and grill for barbeque fun. Be brave and try them- they really are not a hot pepper.

I found them at Trader Joe's this time but I also see them in
the regular grocery store during shishito season.

With that being said, there is always an occasional rule breaker in the basket- and in this case every once in a while you will encounter a shishito that is a bit on the hot side. How does that happen? Pepper growers think it's caused by stresses to the parent plant, or excessively hot weather during fruiting. It's fine with me because I enjoy hot peppers, and especially in a quick pickle recipe, like we're doing today. 

Shishito Quick Pickles

1/2 pound fresh shishito peppers

1 teaspoon mustard seed (I went with brown seed)

3 cloves garlic

1 dried hot red pepper (or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper)

1 teaspoon salt*

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper*

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 1/3 cups water

* Instead of the salt and pepper I used a generous teaspoon of Montreal Steak seasoning- I keep the stuff in a ceramic pot on my stovetop and use it to season everything!

Wash and sort the peppers. Cut a slit on each side of the peppers (two slits). Pack the peppers into a clean quart jar. Canning jars work great, so do repurposed commercial jars, since this is a quick pickle ad will not be sealed and shelf stable. Just make sure the jar seals tightly.

Peel the garlic cloves and cut several slits in each clove. Pack into the jar with the peppers. Add the red pepper (I used a dried Red Flame chili), salt, black pepper and mustard seed to the jar.

In a small saucepan bring the water and vinegar to a boil. Pour over the peppers in the jar to cover. Seal the lid and give the jar a gently couple of shakes to distribute the seasonings and dissolve the salt. Allow the jar to rest at room temperature for a couple hours to cool, then pop in the fridge.

Sadly.......you have to wait a good two or three weeks before eating the peppers. It's difficult, but so worth the wait.

When making quick pickles you can be as creative as you want with the ingredients. Since we don't have to worry about shelf stability we can use any herbs we want, so let your tastebuds be your guide. I like to use all different kinds of dried hot peppers in pickles and chose a Red Flame chili for this batch because I wasn't looking for something super hot, just a tiny hint of heat. Pickled shishitos remind me so much of pepperoncini, like you see used in salads and they are absolutely wonderful drained, sliced and sprinkled over a pizza- they add a kick of pepper taste and keep their fresh crunch because they're not processed in a canning bath.

I'm still trending on quick pickles!

Not surprisingly, my obsession with quick pickling continues. As a member of an online home canning group I see all kinds of recipes for pickles and relishes, and yes.... it enables me to grow my hoard of food. Being a household of just two people though, we don't normally need 10 to 12 jars of everything. This is where quick pickling comes in. 

While it's never recommended to alter recipes for home canning it is perfectly ok to alter a recipe to use as a quick pickle, since we aren't concerned about pH and acidity and shelf stability. We just want fresh, good flavor and jars that sit in the fridge. 

With that in mind, a recipe was shared in that canning group the other day that really caught my eye. I love using unusual ingredients and this recipe is a kohlrabi pickle. You might remember, kohlrabi was the bane of my childhood. My dad grew it in the garden, my mom cooked the life out of it and served it boiled with butter. Not the best way to showcase any vegetable. Just last summer I finally got brave enough to buy a kohlrabi at the farmers market. I did not cook it, I used it in a slaw and fell in love, so of course I wanted to check out this pickle recipe.

This recipe is a hybrid of bread and butter and garlic dill, with crunchy kohlrabi and tart Granny Smith apple, it's sure to be a favorite around here. I am changing the amounts of ingredients to make it more "us friendly" and just a quart jar at a time, but will also include the complete directions for home canning, as provided by FreshPerserving.org. Let's get started.

Kohlrabi Apple Pickles

For each quart jar, you need:

1 purple kohlrabi*

1 large Granny Smith apple

2 garlic cloves

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

2 sprigs fresh dill**

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

freshly ground black pepper

Wash, peel and julienne the kohlrabi and apple. I like a substantial "matchstick", not really small pieces. Pack into clean quart jar. Add garlic cloves (I like to split mine in half or crush them slightly, to release more flavor), the mustard seeds and dill.

In a saucepan, heat the vinegar, water and sugar together until sugar is dissolved and mixture is almost boiling. Add a grind or two of black pepper.

Pour the brine over the pickles in the jar. Pop the lid on and stick in the fridge.

Allow the pickles to age at least a couple weeks before using. If you like a little heat in your pickles, tuck a cayenne or other dried hot pepper in the jar too. Poke a few holes in it to allow the brine to infuse better.

* If you can only find green kohlrabi, those are fine also

** If you don't have fresh dill, use a teaspoon of dill seeds, slightly crushed or a tablespoon dried dillweed.

Since I am not processing in a canner I can use any kind of jar I want. This is a great way to recycle commercial jars- like glass mayo jars or old pickle jars, or even those cool jars with hinged lids that you find in the store. I also skipped the salt/rinse step- when I make quick pickles I don't do this at all. I like the veggies to be pretty much in their natural state when I make these recipes. If you decide to make these to store on the shelf- FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS completely!! Don't skip any steps! This recipe is tested as written for safety. Here is the recipe as written by Fresh Preserving-

Purple kohlrabi (relative of the cabbage) and granny smith apples thinly sliced, in a sweet pickle with spices. Best to open a jar 6-8 weeks after you've made a batch to allow time for the vinegar to mellow. Serve cold with grilled meats or as part of an antipasto platter.

Ingredients:
6 purple kohlrabi
3 tablespoons kosher or pickling salt
2 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
2 1/4 cups water
2 1/4 cups white sugar
freshly ground black pepper
6 large granny smith apples
6 large garlic cloves
6 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
6 sprigs fresh dill

Prepare kohlrabi.
Wash, trim and remove stalks. Julienne finely. Stir in kosher salt and rub to distribute. Cover, refrigerate for 3 hours. Then press gently in a sieve to remove liquid. Taste, if too salty rinse gently then drain well.

Prepare jars.
Prepare jars by covering in water and boiling for 10 minutes.

Prepare apples.
Wash, peel, core. Finely julienne (same size as kohlrabi).

Prepare pickling solution.
Measure vinegar, water, sugar and pepper into a pan. Heat over medium until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil. Add kohlrabi and apple, stir gently and bring back to a boil, then turn off the heat and bottle immediately.

Prepare lids.
While you are packing the kohlrabi mixture into hot jars, place the lids into a pan of previously boiling water. Do not simmer or boil, just let the lids heat through for a few minutes while you fill the jars, removing lids from the water when you are ready to place them on the jars to seal.

Ladle hot vegetables into hot jars.
Place a peeled garlic clove, 1 teaspoon mustard seed and a sprig of dill into each pint (450ml) jar, and spoon the hot vegetables into the hot jars, leaving 1/2 in headspace. Ladle hot pickling solution to the 1/2 inch headspace. Remove bubbles, check headspace is correct, then wipe rims and seal.

Boiling water canner processing.
Process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes. Start your timer when the water returns to a full boil.When the time is up, turn off the heat and rest jars in the water for 5 minutes before placing on a towel-covered counter overnight to cool.

Next day: check for seals.
Check jars have sealed before labeling and storing in a cool, dry, dark place for up to 12 months. Lids should not flex up and down when pressed. If jars have not sealed, refrigerate immediately.