Our CSA has been bringing us cauliflower lately. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a problem, as we’d just whiz it up into a soup. Somehow, though, we’re tired of soup. This poor cauliflower had been sitting around for a week, now, and our box delivery comes again today. So, what to do … well, we’re not going to freeze it (the freezer is full, at the moment). So, we decided to pickle it! That way our house won’t end up smelling like … like what cauliflower smells like when it’s cooking, and we’ll have something spicy as a side-dish.
Hot/Sweet Cauliflower Pickles
- 1 head cauliflower, separated into florettes (or 1/2 florettes)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
- 1 Tbsp chile flakes
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 10 allspice berries
- 20 peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
- Blanch cauliflower for 1 minute and remove to an appropriate spot to let them cool.
- Bring all of your other ingredients to a boil in a nonreactive vessel (we used a glass teapot).
- Pack cauliflower into a spring-top, glass jar.
- Pour your hot liquid into the jar, leaving enough room for the lid to close without displacing any of the liquid. (Rescue any leftover spices, placing them in with the cauliflower).
- Snap the lid closed, wait for it to cool, and remove to a cool place.
Based on a recipe by Alton Brown
We had about 1/4 cup liquid over what we needed, so it’s a close thing – if your cauliflower is on the small side, you may want to double the liquid (you’ll see, in the picture, that I had a bit too much liquid even so … and had to remove some to close the jar). Also, the original recipe says to refrigerate … but we’re thinking that, hey, it barely gets above freezing during the day, so our wonderfully single-paned window ought to keep this cool enough (whereas the refrigerator might freeze it, depending on the mood it’s in).
Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: We like things hot. WE don’t think they’re hot … but, chances are, you WILL. Unless you’re into hot things. If you’re not … drop the quantity of pepper flakes to about 1 tsp.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Oh YUM, that looks good! I’ll try making the pickles this weekend. Most of our cauliflower gets roasted with the barest amount of olive oil-tastes sweet and leaves an aroma rather than an odor in the kitchen:)
Bean
Bean: I actually ENJOY cauliflower as you roast it — you’re one of the few people at whose house I will try ANY vegetable.
I really like the sound of this and I like hot stuff, too. 😉
Paz
Yum! My grandmother used to make a version of cauliflower pickles and I remember standing in the fridge door eating them straight out of the jar! Wonderful!