As I mentioned on my last post, I harvested some pepperoncini peppers last weekend and was really looking forward to pickling them, which I did earlier this week. The recipe I used was fairly straight forward: mix together 2 cups of water, 1 cup of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Earlier this week, I also spotted some fresh sour cherries at the market. I couldn't resist and had to get some. I hadn't made a pie since last fall. These cherries were just the motivation I needed. Cherry pie is Marc's favorite and I will admit that this was the best one I've made in a while.
For the the cherry pie filling, I combined 5 cups of pitted fresh sour cherries, 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of tapioca starch. A recipe for killer pie crust can be found here.
On the gardening front, I harvested a good amount of green coriander last week.
The seeds were plucked from then stems and then frozen for future use. As expected, green coriander has an aroma somewhere in between fresh cilantro and dried coriander seed.
Finally, I'm really proud of my beets this year. They are plump and exceptionally sweet. If only this were the case every year. Not wanting to waste anything, I've been using the leaves in soups. The beet roots on the other hand are simply roasted with a bit of kosher salt and olive oil. Yum!
Those pepperoncini peppers look delicious. I've only seen them more yellow than green (you know, from sandwich shops), but maybe I've been missing out on fresh pepperoncini peppers. I also didn't know that you could harvest green coriander seeds. The beets look great. I sowed some beet seeds a couple of weeks ago, but they haven't done much since germinating.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I can't decide what impresses me more: your gardening skills, or your stunning photography. :)
Oooh, those peppers look amazing. What do they taste like before pickling? Love the coriander too! So nice. And the pie. Yummy.
ReplyDeleteI would just add to thyme2garden post:
ReplyDeleteI don’t know what impresses me more: your gardening skills, photography skills or cooking skills!
That sour cherry pie looks delicious!
Gorgeous photos!
ReplyDeleteI am wondering: how do you use green coriander seeds?
Those pepperoncinis look great and so does the cherry pie!!! Two of my favorites :)
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of using coriander seeds green.
I'm hungry for pepperoncinis now!
ReplyDeleteErm .... what's kosher salt please Thomas? Is it like sea salt?
The pepperoncini looks beautiful! I have several sources in my books that say up to 3 months for those refrigerator pickles, so pickle away! I haven't had any problems with that long, but you are right - those won't last! Do you dry the coriander seed? I have tons of it out there too but haven't done anything with it yet.
ReplyDeletemeemsnyc - they are surprisingly mild and faintly bitter. The bitterness goes away when pickled.
ReplyDeleteAngela - I'll use it mostly to flavor marinades, dressings and soups.
Miss Nutty Gnome - Wikipedia can probably explain it better than I can - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_salt
I cook mostly with kosher or sea salt. My table salt is reserved for most baking. To me, kosher salt is more flavorful and tastes less "salty" than ordinary table salt if that makes sense.
My mouth is watering from that pie. Looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThe solution for the pepperoncini's, did you bring that to a simmer first to dissolve the salt and sugar, or was it just straight into the jar?
Turling - it went straight into the jar. If I was canning this, then yes I would have simmered it first than then processed in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. I like fresh pickles because they are much crispier.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks marvelous. Green coriander seed is tasty but I never thought of freezing it, great idea, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI snagged your simple refrigerator pickling mix recipe for later use. It sounds perfect and I want to have it handy when my peppers start coming on (It will be awhile as they are just tiny nubs at the moment!).
ReplyDeleteThe cherry pie is beautiful - one of my favorites too.
That pie looks delicious!! There's nothing better than a homemade cherry pie. Yumm!
ReplyDeleteI'd never thought about picking my coriander green. I wish I had because my old garden had tons of it but no ripe coriander yet.
ReplyDeleteCoriander never grows well for me here, it's too hot for them, maybe they'll do better in the fall. As Daphne says, I never thought of freezing the green seeds, they are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI have so many Shishito peppers coming out of my ears, pickling them is a good idea.
YUM on those pickled refrigerator peppers! How many plants do you have to produce that many all at once?
ReplyDeletefoodgardenkitchen - I have 3 plants.
ReplyDeleteThomas, Thomas, Thomas, it's before 8 a.m. on the west coast, and my crust making has begun--your cherry pie photo was enough to make me set down my paper and head into the kitchen. I am to pie as crow is to shiny. Look forward to making the Autumn pie too. Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteMy Chiogga's are really nice this year too. So much better than last year's. Is it because of the weather?
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