Tasty Tuesday: National Vinegar Day

TASTY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2021 – NATIONAL VINEGAR DAY

National Vinegar Day is around the corner on Monday, November 1st. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were questioning “National VINEGAR Day” – if I didn’t enjoy pickles of all kinds so much, I would have questioned it!

But apple cider vinegar has health benefits and is a great compliment to many dishes while being rather inexpensive to make or purchase.

My dad worked at a vinegar company when my mother met him, in making the vinegar and other jobs as they needed done.  Yes, he would come home smelling like vinegar mom said! It was a decent job at the time – that would have been back in about 1944 or so.

The vinegar manufacturer crushes apples to yeast, which ferments sugars and turns them into alcohol. Then they add bacteria that further ferments the alcohol, turning it into acetic acid – the main active compound in vinegar. When my dad worked there it was all done by hand. Today of course, it is done by machines. 

Apple cider vinegar has health benefits including antimicrobial and antioxidant effects.  It can offer health benefits such as aiding in weight loss, reducing cholesterol, and lowering blood sugar levers thus improving the symptoms of diabetes. A side note but interesting – my dad broke his right arm, and it was having trouble healing – he took a vat of the fresh vinegar and soaked his broken arm in it daily. It healed his arm much faster than if he’d left it to heal by nature. He always “swore” by vinegar for health after that.

That’s not at all why I use so much apple cider vinegar.  First, I like the taste it adds to dishes. And it extends the “shelf” of ingredients like fruits and vegetables. 

Some of my very favorite dishes that use apple cider vinegar are shown below. Vinegar can be used in a variety of ways in dishes. Off the top of my head, I think of cabbage cole slaw, some international meat dishes (it also aids in tenderizing the meat), brightening up slow cooked dishes by adding a little after cooking, many sauces such as sweet and sour, salad dressings, making a “buttermilk” for cooking/baking, a lot of beverage recipes include some apple cider vinegar, dips and vegan cheese recipes, jams, many vegetable dishes, and so many others.

Even if vinegar dishes are new to you, I hope you’ll try these. You can certainly adjust the vinegar and the sugar to fit your palate for sweet and/or sour. They last a long time because it is a preservative and are a pleasant exciting addition to some “heavier” dishes.

CUCUMBERS AND ONIONS

PICKLED PEACHES   

PICKLED BEETS

CUCUMBERS AND ONIONS

Ingredients

2 cucumbers – I use either the English cucumbers that have fewer seeds or cucumbers out of the garden, peeled and deseeded preferable.

1 medium or 2 small red or sweet onions

1/3-½ cup apple cider vinegar

½-¾ cup granulated sugar – more or less per taste

Salt and black pepper

Water

Instructions

  1. I prefer to peel my cucumbers unless they are soft and not bitter peels. Slice the cucumbers, about 1/8” to ¼ “.
  2. Remove outer onion and slice thin, I either leave in slices or separate the rings of the onion.
  3. Here is a good tip – mix the vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper, and about 1/3-1/2 same amount of water in a bowl or measuring pitcher, stir to combine and dissolve the sugar. TASTE! Some vinegars are tangier than others.
  4. If you like the taste, combine all together and refrigerate from a couple of hours to days. Like I said, they disappear faster than they would spoil.

I have a grandson who always asks for these at family dinners and will sit and eat the whole dish at one time. So, make plenty – since they don’t spoil readily, you’ll just have them on hand.

ENJOY!

PICKLED PEACHES

These are a MUST HAVE for me around the holidays.  Like the cucumbers, these do not spoil quickly so they can be made and let set in the refrigerator for days – weeks even. I grew up with pickled peaches and I always need them with my fall holiday dinners!

Ingredients

Either fresh peaches or a 16 ounce can of peach halves (or sliced can be used)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 whole allspice

3 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

(You can use ground spices, but remember, you can always add, but you just cannot take away.)

Instructions

  1. If using canned, drain syrup from the peaches into a medium saucepan. Set aside.  If using fresh, peel, remove pit, and cut as you wish.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 5-8 minutes. Be sure to taste! But remember this syrup is HOT – do not burn yourself.
  3. Pour over the peaches in a heatproof jar or container or dish. Or, you can add the peaches to the pan. Cover and let set until cooled.
  4. Cover and chill overnight or use a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate.
  5. OPTIONAL: For extra flavor, add a few maraschino cherries to the syrup. Drain the cherries and dry with a paper towel so the red juice of the cherries doesn’t turn the peaches red.

Remember, TASTING is IMPORTANT when pickling. ENJOY! Be ready for COMPLIMENTS!

PICKLED BEETS

I love beets and they are so good for you! I particularly love pickled beets. You can buy them in the store already pickled but they are easy to make and pickling something can leave you with a sense of accomplishment. Plus, you can customize the flavors to your liking.  You can either buy beets sliced, cut, whole small, or you can buy fresh beets and start from scratch. Pickled beets are great with meats and vegetables as well as most salads. Just remember, they tend to stain. I wear kitchen gloves when I make them from scratch to avoid staining as they can stain body parts, clothing, tablecloths, cloth napkins, furniture, counters, floors, anything it comes into contact with. So, keep that in mind. BUT they are WELL worth all the efforts, in my opinion.

Ingredients

2-3 cans of small whole, sliced, or cubed beets or 4 large fresh beets prepared as noted below.

2-3 cups granulated sugar

1 ½-2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon allspice

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1 thinly sliced lemon, optional

2 cups water

Remember to taste the marinade as you go. Adjust and change to fit your tastes.

Instructions

  1. If you use fresh beets, I prefer to cook in water with just rinsing them if needed.  If you cut the beets tops off before cooking it will bleed red into the water and you’ll lose some of the fresh moisture in the finished product. Use a big pan if making from fresh, add some salt and let cook until tender. Some beets cook faster than others. I always use a long-handled fork to test the beets for tenderness. They need to be tender. Drain, let cool, then using gloves if you want or have, peel, or rub skins off, then cut as you want – sliced, cut in pieces, or if small, leave whole.
  2. If using canned, drain but reserve the juice – combine in a pan, all ingredients except the beets, heat to medium and stir to dissolve sugar and make sure all ingredients are combined. Be sure to taste. Too much vinegar can be reduced by water and/or more sugar. Too little vinegar, you can add a little more. Remember it’s not easy to take ingredients out. And same with the spices. They can overpower and you don’t want that. You want to taste the beets. They are as delicious as they are pretty!
  3. Once marinade is to taste, simmer about 20 minutes. Add the beets. After 20 minutes taste again when cool enough.
  4. When cooled, jar or put in container, add lid, and refrigerate.  Make sure the beets are covered by the marinade, so the beets get all the delicious flavor.

The longer pickles set the more of the pickling flavor the vegetables or fruits taste like the marinade and that’s the whole purpose of pickling!

These dishes, once you make them to your tastes, will be easy and won’t take long to make. I try to always keep some of each in my refrigerator – cucumbers for sure in the summer and the peaches and beets in the fall and winter. Water dilutes the vinegar and sugar sweetens it.

TIP:  if you like hard boiled eggs or deviled eggs and want to make them colorful and pretty, if you put peeled, hard-boiled eggs in the beet juice, it turns the outside of the eggs a beautiful red/purple color. If you cut them, you’ll see red, white, and yellow.  Adds to the taste as well.

I hope this gives you some ideas to try.  At different times of the year different vegetables and fruits are in season and generally a great bargain. If you pickle some it makes them last longer than just the fresh season.

I’ll share this – recently it was Hatch Peppers time in New Mexico. I love them but can not always get them in my stores. So, I bought 4, a handful of jalapeno peppers, some small mushrooms, sweet onions, and a carrot. I roasted the peppers, took seeds and spines out, removed as much of the skins as I could. Made a brine similar to the Cucumbers and Onions and pickled them! The peppers don’t last too long when fresh and I wanted them for a while.  It works great! I put them in a jar with a tight lid and they are in my refrigerator.  I use them for sandwich spread, egg dishes like omelets and frittatas, meat dishes with tomatoes, anything I think a flavor of pepper would be good in.  Not a lot, just enough for flavor and spice!

So, use your imagination and watch for seasonal items. When I say I am doing ‘KITCHEN THERAPY’ this is what I’m doing, coming up with something I don’t usually make – sweet, savory, pickled, whatever.

It’s been a year of sharing wonderful flavors and methods with you. I hope I’ve helped you expand your culinary joys!

Bon Appetite’ With Love,

Granni K

To download this recipe, click here.