D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food From Scratch (23 page)

2 cups non-chlorinated water (see Note)

¼ cup
whey from drained chese

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Scrub the beets and peel them if you wish (sometimes I just cut off the rough parts with a paring knife). Put them in a clean, 1-quart mason jar with the mustard seeds. Combine the water and whey in a small bowl. Add the salt and stir to dissolve.

Pour the water and whey over the beets to submerge. Cover the jar with a tea towel and fasten with a rubber band. Leave it out at room temperature for about 10 days, depending on the warmth of the weather. Start testing after 6 days by tasting a slice of one of the beets. When they are done, they will remain crisp all the way through but a slight sourness will overtake the beet’s natural earthiness and they will no longer taste raw. Seal the jar and refrigerate them in their brine at this point. They will last for several months.

NOTE
:
Some municipalities chlorinate the water. If this is true of your area, use bottled water, as chlorine can inhibit the fermentation process
.

If you’ve ever eaten a
pupusa
in a Salvadoran restaurant, you’ve probably had the tangy cabbage salad called
curtido
that is usually served alongside them. Inhabiting the same culinary niche as
Spicy Kimchi
or
Simple Wild Sauerkraut
, curtido
is the perfect companion to any rich, heavy, or meaty dish. In addition to
pupusas,
I’ve enjoyed it on both fish and meat tacos, with quesadillas, on top of simply cooked beans with tortillas, or stirred into a bean soup, posole, or other Latin American–inspired soup. Using the same technique as Simple Wild Sauerkraut and with a very different flavor profile
, curtido
is so simple to make and so versatile, you might find it becoming a staple in your kitchen. For my taste, I like a lighter ferment than for sauerkraut so I tend to only let my
curtido
ferment for three to five days. You’ll want to taste it every day starting on day two and decide how you like it
.

TIME REQUIRED:
15 minutes active; 3 to 5 days passive

YIELD:
1 quart

1 medium head green cabbage (about 1½ pounds), quartered, cored, and sliced as thinly as possible

½ small onion, sliced thinly

2 to 3 carrots, peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 jalapeños, cut in quarters lengthwise, seeded and sliced thinly

½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, crushed

Put the cabbage, onion, and carrots in a large bowl. Add the salt and, with clean hands, toss and squeeze the vegetables until they start to soften and release their liquid (about 5 minutes). Add the jalapeños and oregano and toss to distribute. Pack the mixture tightly into a 1-quart, wide-mouthed, glass Mason jar, pushing down on the vegetables with a wooden spoon or your fingertips with as much force as you can until the level of liquid rises above the vegetables. Put a smaller jar inside the glass jar to keep the vegetables submerged. Cover with a clean tea towel and secure with a rubber band. The
curtido
needs to breathe.

Leave out at room temperature for about 3 to 5 days. Check once daily to be sure the vegetables stay submerged, pushing down on them if needed. If you see a frothy residue on the surface, simply skim it off. Taste daily starting on the second day. The
curtido
is ready when it tastes good to you. When it’s to your liking, fasten the lid and transfer it to the refrigerator. It will last for months in the refrigerator. It doesn’t really go bad but will soften over time.

Sweet and a little spicy, these classics are great on sandwiches and paired with creamy cheeses. I think they go surprisingly well with Southeast Asian–inspired dishes like grilled chicken with
Spicy Southeast Asian Peanut Sauce
, and they’re perfect chopped up in egg, potato, or chicken salad
.

TIME REQUIRED:
15 minutes active; 3 days passive

YIELD:
1 pint

About ¾ pound medium pickling or Persian cucumbers (4 to 5), peeled and sliced into ¼-inch slices

¾ cup distilled white vinegar

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

Pinch of celery seeds

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Sterilize a 1-pint mason jar and lid with boiling water
. Drain them and air-dry. Pack the cucumber slices into the jar as tightly as they will go.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring ¼ cup water, the vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, turmeric, celery seeds, and red pepper flakes to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Lower the heat and let them simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the hot liquid over the cucumbers, fasten the lid, and refrigerate.

Let them sit for 3 days to allow the flavors to develop. They should taste crisp and sweetly sour. They will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.

Also called giardiniera, these are the pickled vegetables found in many an Italian antipasti. They’re great for your Thanksgiving relish, with sandwiches, or alongside any rich, heavy, or meaty meal. You can use a variety of vegetables, depending on the season: bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, carrot, green beans, radishes, fennel—whatever strikes your fancy and is in season. You can make them spicier by adding more red pepper. Whichever vegetables you use, a good rule of thumb is to allow approximately one pound of cut-up vegetables per quart jar. The rough quantities given below add up to about one pound
.

TIME REQUIRED:
15 minutes active; 3 days passive

YIELD:
1 quart

About ¼ head broccoli, cut into florets

About ¼ head cauliflower, cut into florets

About ¼ red onion, sliced into ½-inch pieces

1 large carrot, cut into bite-sized chunks

3 garlic cloves, sliced

3 sprigs fresh dill

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon fennel seeds

¼ teaspoon peppercorns

teaspoon yellow mustard seeds Pinch of celery seeds

2 dried bay leaves

Sterilize a 1-quart mason jar and lid with boiling water
. Drain them and air-dry. Pack the broccoli, cauliflower, onion, carrot, garlic, and dill into the jar. Use a chopstick to distribute the dill and garlic evenly.

In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water, the vinegar, sugar, salt, and spices to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Pour the hot brine over the vegetables, fasten the lid, and refrigerate. Let it sit for 3 days or so to let the flavors blend. The pickles will taste crisp and vinegary with a nice balance of salt. They will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.

These easy refrigerator pickles are wonderfully versatile. Enjoy them as a snack or on sandwiches or serve them with Simple Dal drizzled with homemade
Yogurt
. Kohlrabi is a crisp, slightly sweet and spicy brassica vegetable that I believe is underutilized and underappreciated in American kitchens. Like turnips, it can be cooked, but I enjoy it raw or pickled best
.

TIME REQUIRED:
30 minutes active; 3 days passive

YIELD:
1 quart

About ¾ pound turnips

About ¾ pound kohlrabi

1
cups distilled white vinegar

2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed

6 whole peppercorns

½ teaspoon mustard seeds, lightly crushed

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

Peel the turnips and kohlrabi and cut them into quarters. Cut the quarters into ¼-inch wedges (after trimming, the yield is about 1 pound total).

Sterilize a 1-quart, wide-mouth mason jar and lid with boiling water
. Drain them and air-dry.

In a nonreactive, heavy, medium saucepan, combine
cup water, the vinegar, garlic, sugar, salt, cardamom, peppercorns, mustard seeds, and turmeric. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

Pack the cut vegetables into the mason jar and pour the hot vinegar and spice mixture over them. Fasten the lid and refrigerate immediately. Refrigerate the pickles for 3 days before enjoying to allow the flavors to blend. The pickles will be crisp and infused with spices. They will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.

This dish perfectly illustrates how to eat simply, cheaply, and healthfully by using the building blocks in this book to make a complete meal. Cook some brown rice and make this dish in thirty minutes or so with nothing more than red lentils and a few simple spices. Accompany it with a side of sautéed greens, Pickled Kohlrabi and Turnips with Cardamom, homemade
Yogurt
or
Easy Yogurt Cheese
,
Ajvar
, and homemade bread or even
Flour Tortillas
, and you have a very nice meal that doesn’t pretend to be authentic to any one culture but whose flavors and textures go together beautifully. I encourage you to mix and match this book’s building blocks in whatever ways interest you. Of course you’ve invested time up front on some of the accompaniments, but it’s like time in the bank later
.

TIME REQUIRED:
about 30 minutes (excluding accompaniment preparation)

YIELD:
4 servings

1 cup split red lentils

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

Salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ yellow or red onion, thinly sliced

2 small, dried red chiles

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon mustard seeds

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

Rinse the lentils and put them in a medium saucepan with 4 cups water, the turmeric, and a few pinches of salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a bare simmer, and cover partially. Cook until the lentils are soft and resemble a thick, textured porridge, stirring occasionally and watching so it doesn’t boil over or scorch, 15 to 20 minutes.

In a heavy, medium skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chiles, cumin, and mustard seeds and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute, until the seeds start to pop. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir this mixture into the lentils and cover. Let them sit for 5 minutes or so to blend the flavors. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the accompaniments suggested in the head note.

These spicy, garden-fresh beans are wonderful as part of a relish tray, served alongside sandwiches, tucked into a Bloody Mary, or tossed into Potato Salad with Spicy Pickled Green Beans and Hard-Cooked Eggs
.