Catherine's Kitchen

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Catherine's Kitchen

Catherine Manning

Getting in a Pickle

THIS HAS BEEN A BUSY WEEK, that's good as far as I'm concerned, but production is not as good as it should be, still it's only me and I can only do so much, especially as my car has been in and out of the shop. I will say here, it's not my car's fault, as far as I'm concerned, it's who has been working on it, so I've been having a fight. I sent it in for a fuel problem such as the fuel pump, and all of a sudden all sorts of other problems popped up, which I know never happened, so I've been at loggerheads with the garage.

However that has taken time when I should have been working on other things. It still isn't sorted out and I have got the car back but I'm not happy with it. One thing I do know is my car and no dopey mechanic can tell me how it's supposed to work, especially if they have never worked on it before, so I have an on going fight. I threatened to report them to Hyundai, so all hell has broken loose and they are coming up with all sorts of excuses which I know are lies. My brother touched the bonnet an hour after I had driven it and wanted to know why it was so hot. Just what I have been saying and they have been denying, so I told them they shouldn't try to teach their grandmother how to suck eggs (old bajan saying!) as they are young things and I am 58 years old and have been driving for 52 of them! I am now about to send them a nasty e-mail to confirm that they are idiots and if my car catches on fire, it's at them. Hope it doesn't though!

Apart from that, everything is normal. The column is late again and it will be short this month as they are is waiting on me.

I've been making a lot of Bread & Butter Pickles which are quite popular and easy to make. Natalie eats them by the spoonful or mixes them in salads. They are good with cheese as well.

BREAD & BUTTER PICKLES

Wash and thinly slice enough medium sized cucumbers to measure 16 cups, about 14 cucumbers. Thinly slice 6 medium onions, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow and 1 red pepper cut into strips. Combine in a large bowl and sprinkle with 1/3 cup of coarse salt. Mix in a tray of ice cubes and leave for three hours. I usually put the bowl in the fridge as they get colder. Drain well.

For the pickle,

3 cups of white wine vinegar,
5 cups granulated sugar,
11/2 tsp turmeric,
11/2 tsp. celery seed
2 tbs. mustard seed.

Pour over the vegetables and bring to the boil only. Pack in sterilized jars and seal. They are supposed to be left for a month before eating, but that doesn't happen. I usually do this in two batches as the vegetables stay crisper. also for anyone who doesn't want to make so much, it can be cut in half.

The following is also a good recipe for pickled onions. It's a long but not difficult process and the onions are nice.

PICKLED ONIONS

5 lbs. small onions
4 cups granulated sugar
2 tbs. pickling spice(whole)
1 cups coarse salt
4 cups white vinegar.

One quick way of peeling onions is to cover them with boiling water and let them cool, the skins slip off easily. Peel and discard water. Sprinkle with the salt, cover with boiling water and let stand for 24 hours. Drain, saving liquid and rinse. Reheat liquid to boiling and pour over onions. Repeat this process for 3 days then drain off liquid and rinse the onions well.

Bring sugar, vinegar and spices tied in a bag to the boil, pour over onions and leave for 24 hours. Repeat this process for 3 days, then drain onions and bring liquid to the boil. Bottle the onions, cover with the syrup and seal.

As I said lengthy but not difficult.

Another popular recipe is Banana Chutney, especially when mangoes are out of season.

BANANA CHUTNEY

2 lbs./1kg bananas sliced
1 lb/450 gr. onions chopped
1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
6 oz/175 gr. raisins
8 oz/225 gr. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. paprika
3/4 pt/450 ml. white vinegar

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan(non stick if possible). Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, reduce heat, cover pan and simmer for 11/2-1/34 hours. Stir from time to time to prevent sticking. Remove lid and simmer for a further 15 minutes till thick. Pot in warm jams, seal and allow to mature for a couple of weeks. This is good with curries or cheese.

I have 2 large buckets of cherries to deal with as they are gradually going bad, which is not good as they are scarce and I haven't been able to make cherry jam for months, so I had better get to them.

So till next time

Bon Appetit
Cath