Getting Pickled!
As we always look for new uses of our great product and as my hobby is organic vegetable gardening, I was delighted to be able to combine both of these this week.
Our walnut tree, after around 15 years of being pretty fruitless and providing a total of 1 walnut, has suddenly got 300 green walnuts quietly ripening unnoticed until a few weeks ago.
Looking at Mrs Beeton and Jane Grigson’s recipes and the Mabey’s book on pickling there is a consensus that Pickled Walnuts are made at this time of the year and they are best made with a strong seasalt brine. If you haven’t had pickled walnuts they are those black succulent pickles that occasionally appear at Christmas and are absolutely delicious with cold meats and ham.
So last night I was able to carry out the first stage of the centuries old recipe that begins ‘Take 100 green walnuts….’ It is now in progress and a gallon of water has been turned into a strong brine, the walnuts have been ‘well pricked’ and they are slowly changing from Green to Black. There is a bit of an obstacle here in that all the recipes are in gallons and pounds but a calculator helps the conversion and I will report progress as the bottling is still a few weeks away. The brine is a bit heavy on the use of sea salt in needing 4 pounds every 3 days for 9 days. This is I admit a bit expensive but it is making me think of producing a specialist product of Pickling brine which would work out a lot cheaper.
I am happy to report that the walnuts have made good progress and have now been bottled. See below the colours turning,...
...the final shiny black colour,...
...and the finished product (including a pretty rustic label!)
UPDATE 29TH August 2008
Now that the walnuts are quietly pickling in a cellar it is time to review the results of an earlier experiment using another sea salt related product.
When we make sea salt we have 2 extra by products; distilled water and bitterns. The bitterns contain a host of trace elements that are not right for the sea salt. However, we have been providing these bitterns to Organic farmers who spray them diluted on the land for 3 reasons. The grass and crop growth is better the following year. They replace trace elements that are washed away and animals prefer eating treated grass. Lastly there are apparently fewer diseases on land that has been treated so I have tried spraying the concentrate on Aphids with almost immediate effect and also diluting the bitterns and adding to half my potato harvest.
Here are the results in an unscientific way
I would like further research and some has been commissioned but to provide a wider base I am prepared to give away 10 containers of bitterns and just ask you to pay the transport/delivery. Of course if you order sea salt at the same time then the bitterns come totally free. I would like to get your feedback as to how you use the product.
Seasalt fact of the week
Apples, pears and potatoes won't discolour after peeling if you cover them in salt water. When you next make a fruit salad soak apples and pears briefly in salt water to ensure a fresh look and taste.