Thursday, February 20, 2014

Poking, Prodding, & Pickling

As you may remember, being neutropenic with compromised immune system, I am not allowed many fresh fruits and no vegetables - spinach, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.. All veggies must be cooked to death, not my favorite way. Only fruit in thick skin or rind is allowed.  Melons, bananas, etc.  No berries, grapes, etc. No matter how much I wash them. Anyway, I love salads and it's been difficult to pass them by with my meals, or as meals. I would kill for a baby spinach, bacon, and hard cooked egg salad right now.  Never mind.

Over these past months of deprivation I've tried my hand at brining, and home pickling, but the results never quite measure up. I have little space for such. Something is always missing. While my flash-cooked cauliflower salads, beet salads, and asparagus salads are delicious, if I may say so, I've wanted other veggies with more zip and spice. 

I'm going to try something that may seem a little odd.  Putting fresh veggies into jars containing the marinade liquids from prepared salads and letting them pickle in that.  I'm hoping they will ferment well and, maybe not be as zippy as the original, be enough to alleviate any  contamination problem and satisfy my cravings.  

Today the experiment will begin with thin, baby green beans (once pickled they are perfect in Bloody Mary's or tomato juice with breakfast) celery hearts, and sweet red bell peppers. Beans and celery cut to same length, and peppers, seeded and  sliced lengthwise into wedges.  All going into 2 large jars containing the original pickling juice and spices.  They will marinate for about 2 weeks, turning them daily, and I'll see what develops. If you've tried this, or something similar, let me know about your results.

I had been in the mood to make a hearty winter chili, but with the rapid weather changes, I've put that on hold.  Yes, I have all ingredients and the final dish does freeze well, but Chili doesn't do it for me when the temps are to reach the low 60's, if you get my drift. 

Off to the lab now to get poked and prodded followed by a blood draw to determine if I'll need transfusing again tomorrow.  Of course, the likely answer will be, yes. 

I'll try to swing down to spend a few minutes on the boardwalk on the way home, just for the fresh air and warm breeze. Then it's home and veggie prep time for the marinades.

And so it goes.
*


3 comments:

  1. I am slightly jealous that you can walk the boardwalk today. I am still dealing with 12 inches (of snow) on the ground. and potholes that would swallow a battleship given the chance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Please don't be jealous at all. I can't walk far before running out of breath. Wait for Spring along with me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Never thought of doing that. I am a big lover of Sun of Italy marinated products. Hard to find here, so this may be a way of increasing my stash without long trips to the store. Thank you for the idea.

    Mary Ann

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are welcome if they are positive and/or helpful.
If they are simply a tirade or opinionated bullshit, they will be removed, so don't waste your time, or mine.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...