In which I frantically attempt to get things out of the garden & into jars.
The world's most low-key zucchini pickles, a combination of the Zucchini Pickles, Cafe Zuni Style from Poppytalk and Smitten Kitchen's Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw. I didn't have any turmeric, I did not take the time to crush the mustard seeds, I did not use a mandoline, I added black peppercorns and garden jalapeños, I reduced the sugar....and they worked out perfectly. Freestyle.
A certain member of the household hates the word "chutney", so Slate's You're Doing It Wrong: Apple Chutney becomes Apple Voldemort: The Condiment Which Shall Not Be Named. The apples we gathered were a little sub-par, but this stuff was fantastic on Madhur Jaffrey's Shrimp & Onion Pakoras (with zucchini & corn taking the place of shrimp).
I'm currently thousands of miles from my beloved Bar Tartine, so when I needed to dispatch some beets as well as feel a tiny twinge of that ol' marble bar bliss, I made Bar Tartine's Pickled Dilly Beets from HonestlyYUM (except our garden dill had already gone to seed, so these aren't so dilly). Bleeding Heart Martinis are imminent.
How did I ever wake up in the morning before I discovered jalapeño jelly? Toast or a bagel spread with peanut butter, jalapeño jelly, and a sprinkle of sea salt just might be the perfect breakfast. Complex carbohydrates, protein, and enough of a kick to open your eyes and make you excited to be alive. Sadly, I have no idea where I found the recipe. I was intimidated by the inclusion of pectin, but making it was as easy as jalapeño pie.
Finally, for now, we have Mark Bittman's Tomato Jam. I skipped the cinnamon and cloves and used less than 2/3 of the called-for sugar, and judging from tablespoon that I slathered on toast because it didn't happen to fit in the jars, this stuff, as the New York TImes said, exceeds expectations.
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