In a right Pickle

It's summertime. I don't blame you for not realising, noticing, seeing the sun. I haven't in a long time.. This Irish summer is supposed to better than the last 2 years. Heaven help me, and all the Irish, thinking this is better than last year. Wow.

With summer comes the new things. Buds, sprouts, summer veggies and while there is this abundance why not make the most of it and get pickling. In America they call it canning. And while I kind of get this, I do not use cans, I use jars so I'm going to stick with pickling.

Today it was cucumbers. Bright green prickly baby cucumbers. They are crunchy and sweet with a bitter taste on the peel. It's the perfect time while they are at this stage to get them in a jar.

I did three separate jars with three varieties of flavours. A crushed garlic and peppercorns. A chilli flakes and a wild garlic. It's pretty idiot proof. Three sterilised jars. Make sure they are sterilised. Should I say this again? MAKE SURE THEY ARE STERILISED.

Cucumbers are hugely alkaline and rich in minerals that neutralise blood acidosis. This lowly green member of the gourd family is the best natural diuretic known and rather than excreting waste through our skin it allows waste to be excreted through the kidneys. It's also known to contain erepsin, an enzyme which helps to digest proteins meaning that it is a beneficial digestive aid and for those of you with worms, it helps. A lot. If you've got high or low blood pressure you should eat a lot. This summertime veggie is high in potassium. There are a huge number of benefits to eating this crunchy green thing so get to it!

RECIPE:

As many cucumbers as you can squeeze into the jar you have (I used 4)

3tbsp white wine vinegar

½-1 tbsp salt

Add any flavour to taste, I used 4 garlic cloves in the first one, 6 chilli peppers. The second one I used 1 tbsp chilli flakes. The third jar I used a large handful of wild garlic.

Topped up with filtered water.

This recipe hardly seems a recipe. It's easy peasy! Promise. Literally put everything in the jar. Make sure you pack in the cucumbers. Once everything is in the jar, top up with filtered water. Every 12 hours turn the jar upside down. Enjoy after about a week. Enjoy.

Our very own veggie whey fermentation experiment

As some of you may know, a couple of weeks ago it was Fermentation Week. Spear-headed by several lovely ladies such as Sarah B from My New Roots and the lovely Green Kitchen Stories family. I thought I'd give Whey Fermentation a go seeing as they have their very own Jersey Cows that they milk here at Ballymaloe Cookery School for yummy things such as milk, cream, butter and cheese making. There is very often whey left over and if you ask very (very) nicely to Tim Allen, you may be lucky enough to receive a golden or should that be white, jar of the stuff.

There has been much debate over using whey to not using whey when fermenting veggies. But I've never done it before and fuelled by my housemate (Carolannes Kitchen) enthusiasm I am taking the Whey Fermentation plunge…excited?!?!

People who are aware of Ballymaloe Cookery School know that they grow lots of yummy organic veggies. Today I am using freshly picked cabbages, leeks, ruby and golden chard as well as purple and green curly kale. Topped with crushed garlic and dried chilli flakes, Maldon salt and 5 soup spoons of whey.

It was a pretty easy process but I will be a good fermenting girlie and resist eating it for a couple of days!

Other news here at Ballymaloe Cookery School is that we have mid term exams next week. Yep, we are all getting a little rattled having to know more than 15 techniques off by heart as well as two recipes for each herb and the names of lots of lettuce leaves! 

This week, week 5, is also known as the 5 week slump. We are definitely feeling it. Afternoon demos seem longer and less organised, we find ourselves forgetting our own names and that one minute its 9am, the next it's 12pm. 

Bring on week 6!