Spicy Pickled Carrots & Asparagus

 

I've been dying to pickle something ever since the summer began.  Cucumbers, Okra, Radishes... you name it, I wanted to pickle it.  Did I ever get around to pickling those things?  Well, no.  Life got in the way.

But I did manage to do a quick pickle on some leftover carrots and asparagus that turned out great!  We used these on tacos, as accompaniment to salmon, and even ate them straight out of the jar.  Not bad for a first timer, if I do say so myself.


What's your favorite vegetable to pickle?

Ingredients:
Adapted from Apt. 2B Baking Co.'s Recipe

1 lb. carrots, peeled and julienned
about 10 asparagus spears, cut into 1 inch pieces
10 Thai chiles, split in half
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 cup warm water

In a medium bowl, combine carrots, asparagus, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and salt.  Massage sugar and salt into vegetables until they because somewhat flexible.  Transfer to a colander and rinse with cold water.  Drain.

In another bowl, combine the remaining sugar, rice wine vinegar, and warm water.  Stir until sugar is dissolved. 

Tightly pack the drained carrots, asparagus, and chile peppers into pint-sized mason jars (I did 2 jam-packed jars).  Pour the vinegar mixture over the vegetables until about 1/2 inch from the top.  Seal jars and place in refrigerator overnight.

These were a quick pickle, so I'd say they would last no more than 3 weeks in the fridge.  Ours didn't last that long, since I pretty much served them with everything we ate!

I'm off to go play a night volleyball game and tomorrow I'm down for a road trip to Danville, KY where I'll be meeting up with a few other KY Food Bloggers.  Pictures to come!

Apple, Fennel, & Red Onion Marmalade

Happy Friday guys!  There's two exciting things I've got to share with you all - number one being that I made Foodbuzz's Top 9 for the Andes Mint Cupcakes!  Apparently you guys thought they were just as good as we did!  So thanks to all of you!

And exciting thing number two - we're finally doing our engagement pictures tomorrow afternoon!  After a couple months of getting pushed back (due to horrible weather and busy schedules), we're finally getting them done!  So we'll be heading out to Central Park in downtown Louisville for a little picnic engagement session.  And possibly a food fight, hehe.  I'm excited and I can't wait to share them with you all!

Anyway, I purchased a case of mason jars a few months ago and never ended up using them for anything but drinks.  So I thought it was about time I did some sort of food concoction with them.  Marmalade seemed easy enough, so I decided to try my hand at it!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Emerald + Ella's recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and julienned
1 tea fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
black pepper, to taste

In a medium skillet under medium high heat, add olive oil and heat until shimmering.

Add onions, fennel, apples, rosemary, and salt.  Saute for about 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables and apple start softening.

Stir in brown sugar, vinegar, and black pepper, to taste.  Cook for an additional 15 minutes or until onions start to carmelize.

Cool slightly and spoon into Mason jars for storage.  Serve with crackers and cream cheese for a tasty snack!

I can't wait to use this marmalade in other things too - possibly a savory and sweet pizza in the works?  Yeah, most definitely!

Anyway, hope you all have a great weekend and I will definitely let you know how our engagement pictures turned out on Monday!