PICKLED EVERYTHING

Growing up in a Russian household means eating everything pickled....tomatoes, watermelon, cucumbers, cabbage, mushrooms, peppers, and every veggie fruit imaginable.  And as an adult I continue to be obsessed with everything pickled.  I remember being at Russian restaurants as a little girl and seeing pickles on the table accompanied by vodka of course.  I was eating pickles before it was even trendy ;)  And the vodka a few years later

Thanks Babashka for introducing me to pickled everything.  I know in Mother Russia pickling was a means to perserve food.  It was a way to eat foods even when they were not in season or available.  To this day my grandma will still have a jar of pickles out for my dad (and me) when we come over to eat.   I fall into a salt stupor, but it is just do delicious and somewhat healthy-I mean it is a veggie, right?  My favorite of all are pickled tomatoes.  Now these things are seriously addicting. I give it to all of my non russian friends to try and immediately addicted. Currently, in NYC every restaurant is doing the gourmet pickling thing, but the best of all is still the glass bottle of pickled tomatoes, put a fork in it and a pop of juicy goodness will take over your senses.  The ultimate snack or dinner or breakfast :)

One day I will try this recipe myself.

Ingredients

Tomatoes of varying ripeness (red or green) • Dill umbrellas with seeds • Horseradish leaves • Cherry leaves • Blackcurrant leaves • Garlic cloves • Tarragon• Summer savoury • Coarse grain salt • Water • Sterilised jars

Preparation

1. Sort tomatoes by size and ripeness, remove stems, wash in cool water.

2. For every 5kg of tomatoes use 75g dill, 30g horseradish greens, cherry leaves and blackcurrant leaves (don’t worry if you can’t find all of these leaves: while all are desirable, any one of three will do fine), 6-7 garlic cloves (peeled), as well as a half sprig each of tarragon and savory.

3. The amount of salt required for pickling depends on the ripeness of the tomatoes. Green or brown tomatoes need 70-80g of salt per litre of water. Red tomatoes need 100g of salt per litre.

4. Line the bottom of a sterilised jar with one third of the spice/herb/garlic mixture, with dill at the bottom.

5. Place tomatoes neatly on top of the spices until the jar is half full.

6. Place another layer of spice mixture on top of tomatoes, and then add one more layer of tomatoes. Place remaining spice mixture on top.

7. Add salted water, making sure tomatoes are completely covered, and seal jar.

8. Store for 2-3 months at 5 ºC. (Check periodically. If mould has started to form, open the jar, drain tomatoes and wash off mould in cold water. Make another batch of salted water, using 15-20pc more salt, and store once again.)

9. Open and enjoy. Remember, you should use a fork to extract the tomatoes.