Dill Crock Recipe

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I stumbled across a great dill crock recipe for preserving vegetables. I'll post it if there is enough interest. I tried the recipe and it turned out very good....

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), August 10, 1999

Answers

Kevin, I would love to have the recipe. Sounds great!

-- FOX (ardrinc@aol.com), August 10, 1999.

That's two of us...hope that's enough for you to post the recipe. I have wondered if there were another way to preserve vegetables. Thanks in advance!

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), August 10, 1999.

This is the third call...so does the recipe come out?

-- Ron Southwick (southwick@a-znet.com), August 10, 1999.

sounds good to me, please post.

-- && (&&@&&.&), August 10, 1999.

KEVIN, WHERE ARE YOU???????????????????????

-- FOX (ardrinc@aol.com), August 11, 1999.


Sorry for the delay. the procedure is somewhat long,and will have it today. I thought i could cut and paste but i'll have to type it in.........

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), August 11, 1999.

Nationally known author and expert of wild foods Euell Gibbons wrote in Organic Gardening and Farming a number of years ago about his own adventures with pickled vegetables,using his "dill crock". This method has great appeal because it not only brines the vegetables,but flavors them as well. Nearly any kind of firm,crisp vegetable is good in a dill crock. Use your imagination along with whatever's on hand from the garden. Euell Gibbon's dill crock is made with dill,garlic,red tabasco peppers,jerusalem artichokes,winter onions,cauliflower,sweet red peppers and nasturtium buds in a brine,covered with a weighted lid, and left to sit for 2 weeks before eating.

Euell's Procedure and comments

Packing a layer of dill on the bottom of the crock I added several crushed cloves of garlic, a few red tabasco peppers, then some corred and peeled jerusalem artichokes,plus another layer of dill. With room still left, i looked around for other things to add. The winter onions had great bunches of top sets, so i peeled a few and made a layer of them. Then i dug up some of the surplus onions and used the bottom sets~shaped like huge cloves of garlic~to make still another layer I then put in a layer of cauliflower picked apart into small florets,and added some red sweet pepper cut in strips, along with a handful or so of nasturtium buds. This was all covered with a brine made by adding three-fourths of a measure of "canning salt" to 10 measures of water. I added some cider vinegar too,but only 1/4 cup to each whole gallon of brine solution. I topped the whole thing with some more dill,set a small saucer weighted with a rock on top to get everything below the brine and let it cure at room temperature. After two weeks i decided it must be finished. the jerusalem artichokes were superb,crisp,and delicious. The winter onions,both the top and bottom set were the best pickled onions i had ever tasted. The cauliflower florets all disappeared the first time i let my grand-children taste them, while the nasturtium buds make better capers than capers do. The next summer i was determinded to get started early and keep a huge dill crock runnning all season. Any sized crock can be used, from 1 gallon and up. I use a 10 gallon one and wish it were bigger. Never try to use a set recipe fo a dill crock, but rather let each one be a separate and original creation. I plant plenty of dill, and keep planting some every few weeks so I'll always have some on hand at just the right stage. What is good in a dill crock? Nearly any kind of firm,crisp vegetable. Green beans are perfect, and wax beans also very good. These are the only two things cooked before being added to the brine, and they should be cooked not more than about 3 minutes. And small tomatoes are great. Nothing else so nice ever happened to a cauliflower Just break the head up into small florets,and drop it into the dilled brine. In a week or two the finest dilled cauliflower pickle ever tasted. If you have winter onions,clean some sets and put them into the crock. It's a tedious process but the results are worth it. Not only do the add to the flavor of all the rest of the ingredients in the crock,but the litle onions themselves ar superb. If you don't have winter onions you can sometimes buy small pickling onions on the market and use them. If not just take ordinary onions and slice them crosswise into three or four sections. These will come apart after curing,but so what ? They are simply great pickled onion rings. I've even cut off the white part of scallions and thrown them in the brine,with some success and one late fall dill crock was flavored with the white sections of leeks,which did wonders. To preserve these pickles, pack them in hot,scaled quart jars along with some fresh dill. Strain the brine,bring to a boil and pour over the pickles. leaving 1/2" headspace. You can also make new brine using 1/2 cup of salt and 4 cups of vinegar to 1 gallon of water, but the old brine is much more flavorful. Seal and process in a boiling-water bath canner for 15 minutues

Kevin's comments.......... It does taste real good. It is similar to the "pickled gardenia" you can buy in the store,but taste much better. If you add okra to the crock limit the amount and don't slice them it will cause a portion of the crock to get slimey...It's not a problem other than it's some what messy. I am currently getting my third Dill Crock going now.

Note pardon any typo's typing is not my strong point.......... :-)

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), August 11, 1999.


Excuse the bad formatting .......

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), August 11, 1999.

Thanks Kevin, you are a doll. I am printing it out.

PS Nothing wrong with your typing. Format is just fine!! :) :) :)

-- FOX (ardrinc@aol.com), August 11, 1999.


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