Note: This recipe is not a lesson on canning. If you’ve never canned before, please read a canning book before proceeding so that you’re familiar with the aforementioned intimidating sterilization and canning techniques.
25 to 30 six-inch cucumbers
6 to 8 large onions 2 red peppers
½ cup kosher salt
5 cups apple cider vinegar
5 cups sugar
2 tablespoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cloves 1 teaspoon turmeric
1. Slice the cucumbers (we plant a small variety specifically intended for pickling) and onions on a mandoline or V slicer to about -inch thick. Slice the peppers into thin strips. Combine the cucumbers, onions, and peppers with the salt, let sit at room temperature for 3 hours, and drain well. The salt will draw out a quite a bit of liquid.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large kettle and bring to a boil. Turn down heat, and add drained cucumbers and heat thoroughly, until steaming. Do not let boil.
3. Meanwhile, sterilize your jars, rings, and lids. We sterilize the jars slightly ahead of time and keep the rings and lids in a saucepan of simmering (not boiling) water until we’re ready for them. Ladle the hot pickles into sterilized quart Mason jars, packing in as many as you can fit. Then ladle in liquid to within ¼-inch from the top. Clean the top of the jar with a sterile cloth, top with a lid and twist on a ring. Immediately turn the jar upside down and place to the side. After 5 minutes or so, you can turn the jars right side up and wait for each lid to pop, indicating that you have a good seal.
Anne’s Applesauce
This is a great way to use up less-than-optimal apples. Anne makes hers far less sugary than the commercial variety, allowing the taste of the fresh apples to come through. An old-fashioned food mill is ideal for making applesauce, as it allows you to eliminate the step of having to core and peel the apples. Cooking the apples with the skins on gives the apple-sauce a beautiful color, and the skins and seeds are later filtered out by the food mill.
7 or 8 Empire or Macintosh apples (about 3 pounds)
1½ cups water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1. Core and quarter the apples.
2. Place in a saucepan with the water, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, about 20 minutes, until the apples are soft.
3. Run through a food mill and serve warm.
Anne’s Peach Pie
Fresh peaches tend to be quite a bit juicier than grocery store peaches. Some of the juice will end up spilling over, so put a foil-lined cookie sheet on the shelf below the pie to catch the drips.
For the pie crust:
2¼ cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 sticks (8 ounces) cold, unsalted butter
For the filling:
8 peaches (3 to 3½ pounds)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of unbleached flour
teaspoon salt
teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
Prepare dough for two crusts:
1. Combine 2¼ cups of flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons sugar in a food processor and pulse briefly to mix.
2. Add 2 sticks of cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, and pulse until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal or small peas.
3. Remove dough and sprinkle in about 6 tablespoons of ice water, more if necessary, until you can form the dough into a ball. Press into a small disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
Make the filling:
1. Peel the peaches by scoring the skin all the way around with a sharp knife and dipping into boiling water for a minute, then into ice water, one or two at a time. (Alternatively, use a serrated vegetable peeler.)
2. Slice the peaches into a bowl and toss with the lemon juice. In a separate bowl combine 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and a dash ( teaspoon) each of salt and nutmeg. Add this mixture to the peaches and toss until evenly blended.
Assemble the pie:
1. Halve the dough and return one half to the refrigerator. Roll out the other half into a 10-inch round, enough to cover your pie plate and the edges. Use the roller to transfer the dough to the pie plate.
2. With a slotted spoon, add the peaches, leaving excess juice behind, and dot with 1 tablespoon of butter.
3. Roll out and add the top crust, pressing the edges with your fingers. Trim off excess dough and make several vent slits in the top crust with a sharp knife. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the crust.
4. Bake in a 450°F oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F and bake another 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Allow to cool somewhat before serving.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER has been gardening and small-scale farming for over twenty-five years. He is a contributor to the New York Times op-ed page, where he has opined on such varied issues as the fundamental differences between leaf rakers and blowers and the difficulties of being organic. He lives with his wife and their two children in New York’s Hudson Valley. The $64 Tomato, a Quill Award Finalist, is his first book.
Other Nonfiction Paperbacks from Algonquin
ENSLAVED BY DUCKS: How One Man Went from Head of the Household to Bottom of the Pecking Order, by Bob Tarte
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PETS & ANIMALS/MEMOIR
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THE EARTH MOVED:
On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms, by Amy Stewart
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THE BOTANIST AND THE VINTNER:
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IF YOU LIVED HERE, I’D KNOW YOUR NAME:
News from Small-Town Alaska, by Heather Lende
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TRAVEL/MEMOIR
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The $64 Tomato Page 22