Pickled Sugar Snap Peas
1 1/4 cups white wine vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
1 tbsp. pickling salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1 pound of sugar snap peas, stemmed & strung
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1-2 small dried chile peppers, slit lengthwise
2 tarragon sprigs
In a saucepan, bring to boil the vinegar, water, salt and sugar, stirring constantly to dissolve salt & sugar. Let the liquid cool.
Pack the peas, garlic, chile peppers and tarragon into a 1 quart jar. Pour the cooled liquid over the peas, and cover the jar with a non reactive cap. Store the jar in the refrigerator for a t least two weeks before eating the peas. Refrigerated, they will keep for several months.
Mustard Beans
8 cups of yellow beans, cut in 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup dry mustard
2 tsp. turmeric
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups brown sugar
1 tbsp. celery seed
3 cups white vinegar
1 cup water
Cook beans in lightly salted water until just tender crisp; drain. In a large heavy saucepan, mix flour, mustard, turmeric, salt, sugar and celery seed. Stir in vinegar & water gradually. Bring to a boil over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Add beans to sauce and bring to a boil. Pack in hot sterilized jars and seal. Yields about 3 pints.
And finally, a recipe that my cousin & I usually make once a year...
Antipasto
1 cup olive oil
1 large cauliflower head, cut into tiny bite size pieces
2 large green peppers, chopped
2 - 10oz. cans (294ml) sliced ripe olives, drained & chopped
1 - 16oz. jar (500ml) green olives with pimento, drained & chopped
2 - 13oz. jars (375ml) pickled onions, drained & chopped
2 - 10oz. cans (284ml) mushroom stems & pieces, drained & chopped
1 - 4oz. jar (113ml) pimento, drained & chopped
1 - 48oz. jar (1.5L) mixed sweet pickles, drained & chopped
2 - 48oz. bottles (1.5L) ketchup
1 - 15oz. bottle (480ml) hot ketchup - if you cannot find this product use regular ketchup and add the desired amount of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce.
2 - 2oz. cans (55g) anchovies, drained & chopped
3 - 41/2oz. cans (113g) solid tuna, drained and flaked
3 - 4oz. cans (113g) small shrimp, drained & chopped
I find that the most important thing to take note of with this recipe is the prep. Make sure all your ingredients are chopped up as finely as possible - WITHOUT USING AN ELECTRIC CHOPPER - you want your ingredients very tiny but not minced so this is very important to recognize. This is very time consuming but well worth it in the long run. Prep for this should take you about an hour and a half to two hours!
In a large heavy stock pot, saute your cauliflower, and green pepper in the olive oil. Once that is done, add all other ingredients in order they are listed, except for your fish & shrimp. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often. Pour boiling water over tuna and shrimp to rinse. Drain and add to mixture. Gently stir and simmer for another 10 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars using new lids. Process. Serve with crackers.
To Process: Place jars on a rack in large deep pot. Add hot water until jars are covered. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Let cool. Lids will pop as they cool. Tighten lids and store in a cool dark place.
This recipe makes 16 - 8oz. jars of antipasto.
