Preserves with Cucumber – and Chilli information

I have just been writing a blog on preserves using tomatoes and of course, there must be hundreds of recipes for them. I can only experiment with ideas and the ingredients I have. While I might do that, I take into consideration the rules of cake making and pastry making [for these the recipes and quantities must be measured carefully. Although I use ideas /recipes/ suggested quantities/ suggested methods by other cooks and chefs, I can only share my own ideas and tried and tested recipes [well, occasionally I have suggested to me or I have experimented with a recipe from a favourite 'Famous Chef'.

But, with preserves it is not such an ‘exact science’. [at least in creating home-made preserves].

With produce from the allotment we are always dealing with what we have got, which might not always be perfect but, we feel, should not be wasted. [Really, sometimes it is best to compost stuff– perhaps too many beans, to keep them cropping or too many courgettes to stop them from becoming huge unusable marrows – it seems a shame to me that I should have to use too large, unwelcome vegetables when there is a plethora of small, perfect specimens.]

However, mostly I am thinking of the quality of chillies. When considering which chillies to use in the preparation of dishes or preserves, it is important to know and understand the heat of the spices we are using especially when we are producing preserves which children will eat.

People have different tolerances of spice when eating food. My own personal preference is for hot spicy food but, not so hot that it causes me distress or pain when I am eating. I like to enjoy the flavour of my food. Similarly, when I am preparing chillies for freezing or for inclusion in my food, I would prefer to not have serious pain in my hands, my face when I rest my chin in my palm or the inability to remove my contact lenses after working with chillies. On one seed producer’s website, I was interested to learn that the workers removing the seeds from the fruit had to replace the rubber gloves every hour as the oils dissolved the gloves!

The heat in chillies is measured on the Scoville Scale [from Wilbur Scoville who developed the scale]. To help with the rating – Sweet Bell peppers measure zero and the hottest known naturally grown chilli [the Ghost pepper, measures 855,000-1,050,000, depending presumably, on the growing conditions]

The favourite of many people who like a bit of heat to their food – the Jalapeño – measures from 10,000 – 15,000 Scovilles. I have grown this but found that, in a dull year, it is almost heatless and tasteless. Being quite fleshy it is difficult to dry though it does freeze quite well.

My favourite is Joe’s Long – they are easy to germinate, pretty easy to grow in a poly tunnel or greenhouse and each plant produces many fruits. They will ripen, even in a dull year [as long as they have started to colour, they will continue to do so when harvested and hung on strings to dry]. As they have thin flesh they dry easily and can be kept for several years. Their Scoville measurement is from 20,000 - 50,000. It is possible to Google the Scoville measurement of any pepper you are likely to use. However, if you add the seeds, the heat is likely to be much more intense. Adding the fruit without or with few seeds is likely to give a more balanced flavour.

From there to Cucumbers! I am not a huge fan of cucumbers and I find that in salads the taste of cucumbers is unpleasantly dominant. However, I do enjoy cucumber pickles and relishes to be served with cold meats, cheese, burgers, barbeque food, etc.

As I am not fond of the salad type I have only grown [this year] a small variety called F1 Greenfingers. I germinated several of these seeds but only managed to grow one on successfully. It is suggested by Dobies – the seed supplier that, they will grow successfully outdoors and in a better year I will do that. However, this year I decided to grow my only successful plant in my polytunnel. I have been harvesting brilliant small cucumbers from this plant for several weeks although it has now become quite rampant and very productive [what would I have done with the produce from several plants? I have had to cut back several of the branches from this plant where they were threatening to overgrow my pepper plants. Well, if you like cucumbers in salads there is no problem but, for me, I grew this small variety for pickling/chutneys/relishes.

I have never tried to produce whole pickled cucumbers before and I was doubtful about adding dill to the mix as my family is not so keen. This time I have added dill to some but not others. I do think that a higher concentration of vinegar will give a crisper and longer lasting pickle. I will do that next time and report back.

Pickled Gherkins or Cucumbers

Approx 2lb [1 kg] small cucumbers [ I am using F1 Greenfingers]

4 – 5 good sized garlic cloves

1 pint [ 500ml] water                                                  ¼ pint [125 ml] white vinegar

8 oz [225 g] salt                                                                      8 oz [225g] sugar

2 tsp white mustard seed                                                        2 tsp peppercorns

2 tsp coriander seed                                                    [small bunch fresh dill if liked]

Method

·         Wash the cucumbers and prick all over with a fork. Place them in a bowl and sprinkle the salt over them. Leave for several hours to remove excess moisture.

·         Drain and wash well several times.

·         Put the water, vinegar, sugar and spices together into a sauce and simmer gently for several minutes.

·         Pack the gherkins into sterilised jars, with small bunches of dill if using.

·         Slice the garlic cloves and add them.

·         Pour the hot liquid over the gherkins ensuring they are filled to the top – make sure there are no air bubbles trapped.

·         Cover and seal.

·         Allow a few days for the cucumbers to pickle but these pickles are best eaten within a couple of months.

For the following recipe you can use any size and variety of cucumber. This year I am experimenting with adding chopped red peppers to the mix. As they have no heat they will not add that to the piquancy but, will add their unmistakable flavour and of course, their vibrant colour

Hot Sweet Cucumber Relish

Like so many other vegetables in late summer, we wonder what to do with the glut. It doesn’t take too many cucumber plants to have too many cucumbers. Try this recipe as a way of using and preserving them.

Ingredients

1 kg cucumbers ( 2 lb) – don’t let them get too big or they will be full of seeds

1 kg onions ( 2 lb)

1 cooking apple

600ml white vinegar (1 pint)

3–4 red chillies(I have used Joe’s Long, use a medium hot chilli, but take care if for children)

500gm sugar ( 1 lb) – I used white sugar, but soft brown sugar will ‘warm’ the colour of the relish

2 tsp salt                                                          1 tsp allspice

½ tsp ground cloves                                        1 tsp turmeric

¼ tsp mustard powder                                                ¼ tsp ground mixed peppers( black, green, red)

Method

1.      Top and tail the cucumbers and remove the skin – cut into small cubes - ¼ cm- ish. If necessary, remove the seeds – if the seeds are still soft, you can leave them in.

2.      Peel the onions and chop finely – similar size to the cucumber.

3.      Peel and core the cooking apple and cut into fine slices.

4.      Cut the red chillies into small pieces – if you don’t want the relish to be too hot, leave the seeds out, or leave some of the seeds out. For a hotter relish add more chillies.

5.      Put the chopped cucumbers, onions, apples and chillies into a large pan or preserving pan with the vinegar and gently simmer until all the vegetables are cooked through – approx. 30 mins.

6.      Prepare the jars/ bottles – wash well and sterilise – put in a warm oven - 100ºC for 15mins.

7.      Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

8.      Add the spices and salt to taste, add more salt if necessary.

9.      Simmer gently until the relish thickens – remember, when cool it will be thicker. Stir occasionally.

10.  Pour into the hot sterilised jars and seal immediately. Label.

There are lots of ideas for using finely sliced cucumbers or gherkins in pickles I will try some of these out next year and get back to you.