Food & Drink

How to pickle veggies like a pro!

by Chef Ryan Wheeler, Lida Ramsey

12/9/11 9:00 AM

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Pickled Veggies

Eat Good Food Group

Pickled pearl onions, left, and pickled eggplant

In 1896, psychologist Edward Bradford Titchener popularized the notion of four basic tastes: sweet, bitter, salty and sour. The latter is often underrepresented in restaurants, but at Virtue Feed and Grain, the new American Tavern in Old Town Alexandria, Chef Ryan Wheeler has introduced some local pickled veggies—like pickled beet roots—to the menu, ensuring all four of Titchener's tastes are accounted for.

Pickling vegetables is surprisingly simple if one is willing to wait. Follow Chef Wheeler's simple recipe below, and seven days later you'll be enjoying pickled perfection of your very own making.

Pickled Local Vegetables

Chef Ryan Wheeler, Virtue Feed and Grain

106 South Union St., Alexandria, VA 22314

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Kosher salt

4 1/2 cups water

Vegetables of choice:

green beans, carrots, cauliflower, onions, radish, pearl onions, eggplant

Method:

Combine salt and water in a sauce pot. Bring to a simmer and stir to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat. Let solution cool to room temperature.

Place your vegetable in a clean, dry container and cover with cooled brine solution.

Place any assortment of herbs and spices you would like in the container with the vegetables. You could use garlic, peppercorns, thyme, bay leaf.

Make sure the vegetables are covered, using a small plate to place over the vegetables to ensure they are completely submerged.

Leave container out in a cool place to ferment for one week. After one week the vegetables should have a salty and sour taste.

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How to pickle veggies like a pro!

by Chef Ryan Wheeler, Lida Ramsey

12/9/11 9:00 AM

Latest Comments

  • Pickeled Perfection

    Dear Christo,

    So sorry the green beans didn't turn out. When I make fermented pickled vegetables I usually allow at around 4 weeks for the lactic acid produced by the naturally present bacteria to create the sour, pickled flavor and preservative qualities. The longer time may needed because I'm not using whey, just the natural bacteria on the surface of the veggies. The more dense or crispy the vegetable, the longer fermentation it tends to require.

    The primary purpose of the salt is to discourage the growth of unwanted molds and bacteria, allowing the good bacteria to do it's work. After many good and bad batches, I find the most important things to keep in mind are to gently cold rinse but not wash the veggies, the freshest veggies are the least likely to spoil, and always use non-iodized salt.

    I hope this helps and you'll try again.

    Posted by Paullama March 30, 2012 12:13:40

  • Pickled (fermented vegetables)

    I have been making lactic acid fermented vegetables for a decade, humans have been making them for 100's of thousands of years. The vinegar method is the industrial method that does not have the probiotics essential for human good health. Every culture in human existence has used Lactic acid fermentation except modern US, guess what? We have the highest rates of gout, kidney stones, bone spurs and irritable bowel just to mention a few things.

    RECIPE: fill 1 quart jar within 1 " of top with tightly packed vegetables of your choice
    add 2 T whey 1 T sea salt on top
    top up with filtered water till soggy
    secure lid, 3 days kitchen temperature
    transfer to root cellar or refrigerator

    I just had some crisp dilly beans made February 2011, still perfect. My favorite daily blend is 1/3 Napa cabbage, 1/3 carrots, 1/3 daikon radish.
    I have used cucumbers, okra and anything else I can find.

    Source: "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. I have given away or sold dozens of copies and people tell me it has changed their lives.

    I get my whey from the top of plain kefir, if you don't want to make it you can buy Bubbies sauerkraut & pickles at the health food store. It will say "lactic acid fermentation" on the label.

    Posted by Keith Roberts March 01, 2012 16:02:34

  • Pickled perfection

    I tried this recipe with green beans, hot pepper flakes and garlic. After 1 week, they didn't taste like pickled veggies at all. They tasted like heavily salted green beans. Shouldn't there have been some vinegar involved? These were pretty much uneatable! And shouldn't there be some more processing involved with canning vegetables, like a hot water canning process? I think people could actually get sick thinking these are fine for long term storage. Yech!

    Posted by Christo January 23, 2012 11:28:06

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