Cucumber ‘Bread & Butter’ Pickle for Christmas

I can’t believe it’s Christmas day in 3 days time. Where has December gone? Every year I like to make something homemade to give away to family and friends along with their standard Christmas gifts. I think it adds a nice touch to get a handmade present, plus I enjoy the excuse to spend some time in the kitchen.

This year I decided to try making a pickle. I considered baking some cookies but my family always get so much to eat over Christmas that I wanted something they could enjoy later on without the fear of it spoiling. Pickles, jams and chutneys are the way to go.

My Dad has fond memories of his father making cucumber pickle aka Bread & Butter Pickle when he was growing up. I remember seeing jars of it in the cupboard, these odd looking jars of sliced cucumber with little flecks of red chilli and balls of mustard floating in it. My granddad is sadly no longer with us, so I thought it would be a nice idea to try and recreate a cucumber pickle for the festive season.

Pam Corbin of River Cottage fame came to the rescue with the perfect looking pickle. It looked and sounded just as I remember my grandfathers to be. I’ve never made a pickle before and was surprised to learn the ingredients require only the merest of cooking time, the majority of the time is spent brining the cucumbers before their soak in the pickling liquid. This also ensures the cucumber pickle retains a bit of crispness and bite, rather than being a mushy mess more in line with a chutney.

The pickling liquid a bit of raw onion and red chili to add a little extra kick. It’s not meant to be spicy, but lend a gentle background tongue tickle. Sugar is added for a touch of sweetness and to help balance out the sharp tang of vinegar. Ground turmeric also transform the pickle from a rather anemic looking green to a bright and exotic looking golden yellow (be carefully when handling it, turmeric stains are impossible to get out). I think it also makes it look wonderfully festive. The mustard seeds add little pops of flavour when eaten and I think there is something quite hypnotic watching they bob around in the pickle.

Cucumber pickle aka bread & butter pickle may sound an odd name as the pickle does not contain these ingredients. It gets its name from the fact it is a pickle traditionally eaten with your bread and butter. They got their name "bread & butter pickle" during the great depression when fresh cucumbers were grown by many households and so often eaten for lunch with bread and butter. Due to the lack of refrigeration, rather than let any surplus cucumbers go to waste, they were pickled to make them last all the rest of the year. Very frugal and a great way of ensuring nothing went to waste. I’m sure it would taste delicious with some leftover turkey, stuffing or cheese too!

To see Pam Corbin make the bread & butter pickle, click here for her video on River Cottage Food Tube.

Cucumber ‘Bread & Butter’ Pickle

(Recipe by Pam Corbin from River Cottage aka Pam The Jam)

Ingredients

1.5kg cucumber (5 large)
1 large onion
5tbsp salt
500ml cider vinegar (must be 5% proof or more*)
200g granulated sugar
1½ tsp ground turmeric
1½ tsp celery seeds
3 tbsp white mustard seeds
1-2 finely chopped red chilli, seeds removed

Method

Peel the cucumbers, cut off the ends, quarter lengthways and slice into 3-4mm thick slices.  Peel and chop the onion into fairly small pieces (no larger than the pieces of cucumber).  Mix the cucumber and onion pieces together in a non metallic bowl.

Sprinkle over the salt, gently toss through the cucumber and onion and leave for 2 hours.

Rinse the cucumber and onion well in icy water. Taste check the cucumber and rinse again if it is too salty (they will be naturally quite salty at this stage though). Leave them to drain in a large sieve or colander and pat dry with some kitchen paper.

Wash the jars well and place the lids and jars into the oven on baking tray. Heat the oven to 150C and leave the jars to heat and sterilize while you finish the chutney.

Place the vinegar into a saucepan that will be large enough to eventually take all the ingredients. Add the sugar, turmeric, celery seeds, white mustard seeds and chopped chilli.

Heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, stir to combine and bring to the boil.

Add the drained, rinsed cucumber and onion, stir and bring back to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes only! It needs this long to destroy any bacteria which could cause the pickle to deteriorate, but any longer and the pickle will be less crisp.

Remove the pan from the heat and the jars from the oven. Carefully distribute the cucumber pickle into the jars, filling almost to the very rim. Make sure all the cucumber is covered with some of the pickling liquid.

Using rubber gloves, quickly screw the lids tightly onto the jars while they are still hot. Leave them to cool on the side. You should hear the lids make a sudden ‘pop’ sound as they cool. This means the heat has created a vacuum and the jars are effectively sealed and airtight, meaning the pickle will keep safely until opened.

Label the jars and store in a cool place until required. Once opened, store in the fridge and eat within 4 weeks.

The pickle can be eaten immediately or kept for up at a year.

Makes 7 x 450g (1lb) jars

Note: The vinegar must be at least 5% proof in order to sufficiently pickle and preserve the cucumbers. The vinegars will state their proof % on the bottles.

Atkins & Potts – Foods for Food Lovers: A Review

I was recently contacted by gourmet food company, Atkins and Potts, to see if I’d like to review any of their new pasta sauces. I wrote back saying thank you for the offer, but that I was more of a sweet and baking blog, so I would pass this time. They then offered to send me a little selected of their other products, more in keeping with my blog. I had a quick look at their website and was delighted to find that all their products are vegetarian and gluten free, with many being vegan too! This was such a lovely surprise, and I was excited by the variety of products they made and so eagerly accepted.

A few days later I received the following exciting products: Chili Chocolate Spread, Basil Jam, Cranberry Relish and Pomegranate Syrup.

Chilli Chocolate Spread

Unscrewing the lid I instantly smelt the aroma of rich dark chocolate. Dipping a spoon in, I found the consistency to be more like a giant ganache truffle than the gooey sticky spread I was expecting. It was very thick and smooth. The first taste is of rich dark chocolate, not overly sweet, which being a dark chocolate lover I really enjoyed. A few seconds later a slight warmth began to develop at the back of my throat which built up into quite a spicy kick. This took me a little by surprise but was wonderfully addictive. The thick texture made it quite hard to spread on softer foods like bread or cake, but delicious spread over toast, where it slowly melts into a glossy pool, giving off wafts of dark chocolate aroma. I image it would be wonderful melted over ice cream too. Very indulgent, but defiantly one for the grown ups.

Purple Basil Jam

This idea really intrigued me and I wondered what to expect. It sounded wonderfully exotic. I was imaging a smooth sticky jam, sort of like a mint jelly only made with basil. However, on opening I found it to be quite chunky, containing little squares of onion set it a sweet and sticky syrup. To me this made it more of a sweet pickle or relish than a jam, but naming aside, it was delicious. It reminded me of onion marmalade. Very sweet, with a slight twang. The basil was flecked throughout the jam in thin shreds which added an intriguing flavour. It was delicious with some cheese, although I would have liked the basil flavour to be more pronounced.

Spicy Cranberry Relish

Again I wasn’t sure what to expect and imagined a sort of cranberry jam/sauce. It turned out to be far more superior than that. There were whole, lightly crushed cranberries mixed with a few other bits and pieces to make a chunky relish. It was not that sweet, with the whole pieces of cranberry giving it a wonderful mix of sweet, sharp and tangy flavours. There was also a slight kick of vinegar lingering in the background. It’s probably intended to be eaten with roasted meats, but I found it delicious with both a sharp cheddar cheese and peanut butter (not all together!) I loved the freshness of the cranberries and again how it wasn’t that sweet. This would be perfect for Christmas.

Pomegranate Syrup

I was excited by this. I love pomegranates and think they are a very underused fruit. This sweet glossy syrup had a fabulous pomegranate aftertaste. It somehow managed to keep that tart, slightly astringent and mysterious flavour of pomegranate while still being sweet and sticky. I’ve been drizzling it over my porridge this week and it makes a lovely change to honey or sugar. I’m longing to make a cheesecake and drizzle it over that with some berries or figs. Really unique.

Thank you to Atkins and Potts for the samples. I was genuinely impressed with the quality of all the products I tried. Nothing was overly sweet, which allowed the ingredients natural flavours, or tartness to shine through. I loved how I could really see the main ingredients, like the whole cranberries and the shreds of basil in the products. Do have a look at their website, everything they make is a little unique and different to the usual run of the mill products. It’s great to see a company being to create with flavours and ingredient combinations. When was the last time you saw quince syrup or wasabi mayonnaise stocked in your local supermarket? 

Spiced Plum & Apple Chutney

I love this time of year. The weather is warm, the tress and green and dotted around the countryside there is always something growing. We’ve had strawberries and blackcurrants and this month is time for ripe juicy plums.

A short walk from my house is a little woodland lane which is lined on either side with wild self set plum trees. Walking along it recently I spotted there were three trees whose plums were ready and ripe for the picking. I always carry a bag of some sort with me for just such instantaneous-food-gathering occasions and within a few minutes I had gathered a good couple of kilos of red purple plums.

I’m not sure what variety they were as some were glossy red, others a dusky purple, some were teeny tiny while others were more substantial. There was no way I would be able to eat this many plums myself so I decided to turn them into a spiced plum and apple chutney.

I love making jams and chutneys, they allow you to capture and preserve the flavour of the fruits/veg to be enjoyed later in the year once the weather has turned dark and gloomy. Opening a new jar provides a little taste of summer and can be enjoyed for months afterwards.

This particular chutney has a slightly spiced edge which goes wonderfully with strong cheese or a slice on onion pie. Apparently it’s also good with meats too – although I can’t speak from personal experience in this case. Allow it to mature for a few weeks before opening by which time the vinegar twang will have settled down and the flavours will have mingled and developed. I plan to save a couple of jars back and give them away as Christmas gifts later in the year. A great way to use up a glut of plums.

Spiced Plum & Apple Chutney
(Recipe adapted from an old Waitrose Food Illustrated Magazine)

Ingredients
1.5kg plums
1 large Bramley apple
3 onions
1 tbsp freshly grated root ginger
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 fresh chilli
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
350g light muscavado sugar
400ml apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp sunflower oil
25 grinds freshly milled black pepper
1 tsp sea salt

Method
Start by removing the stones from the plums. I found the easiest way to do this was to simply push down on the top of the plum with my fingers, which splits the plum in half and then allowed me to remove the stone. You don’t need to chop them at all. Place the plums in a bowl to collect any juice while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Peel and finely dice the onion, apple and chilli. You want the onion to be quite small as this will be present in the finished chutney but the apple will turn to mush so this is less important.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, fresh ginger, garlic, chilli and spices. Sauté gently for 10 minutes until the onion is soft but not browned.
Add the plums and apple and any fruit juice to the pan. Stir in the salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar and continue to stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, place the lid on and leave to cook for 1½ - 2hours, but stirring often to ensure it doesn’t stick and burn to the base of the pan as it thickens.
Set a timer and stir every 30 minutes for the first hour, then again after 20 minutes. By this time it should be very thick so stir every 5 minutes until its ready.
When ready, the chutney should be thick, sticky and dark red brown in colour. You should be able to draw a spoon over the base of the pan and see the metal underneath without it filling up with chutney immediately.
After the first 1½ hours, place 4-5 clean jam jars and their lids in the oven and heat to 150C to sterilise them. Do not remove them from the oven until you are ready to fill them with chutney.
Once ready, remove the jars from the oven and fill them with the hot chutney. Screw the lids on tightly, using rubber gloves to prevent you burning your hands.
Leave to cool down before labelling and storing in a cool dark place for at least 3 weeks before using. The chutney needs time to mature and mellow before eating. If eaten straight away the vinegar will be quite harsh. Keeps well for up to 18months.
Makes 4-5 jars.

Apple Date & Raisin Chutney

This is a lovely winter chutney, sweet and fruity but with a gentle warming glow from chilies and fresh ginger. It’s the perfect accompaniment to cheese and some good crusty bread but would work equally well with ham or a wedge of pork pie. It’s extremely quick to make; in less than an hour you can have 4 jars of chutney cooling on the counter.

You can make it your own by replacing the raisins with dried apricots and one of the apple with a couple of pears. If you don’t like the idea of the chili, then just use one or remove it altogether and add some cloves or mixed spice instead. The only drawback to the chutney is that you will need a change of clothes and shower after making it as the steaming vinegar tends to permeate into your clothes, but that’s a small price to pay for such a yummy reward.

The chutney can be eaten after two weeks but the vinegar may still be quite sharp, the longer you leave it to mature the stickier and mellower it will become. Presented with a little spoon, it would make the perfect addition to a homemade hamper of Christmas goodies.

Apple Date & Raisin Chutney
(Recipe adapted from Tesco Food Club Magazine)
Ingredients
500g stoned dates
150g raisins
1 large onion (150g)
2 cooking apples
3 red chilies
50g chunk root ginger
3 cloves of garlic
300ml water
150g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
600ml (1pint) distilled vinegar

Method
Place four large jars and their lids on a baking tray in the oven. Then turn on the oven to 100C and heat for 10 minutes once the oven has reached temperature. Then turn off the oven but the leave the jars inside to keep warm until required.
Chop the dates into small pieces and place in a large saucepan. Peel and finely dice the onion and apples and place in the pan along with the raisins.
Prick the chilies with a knife, but keep them whole and add to the pan.
Grate the ginger and garlic and add to the pan along with water.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and heat for 15 minutes until the onion and apple are starting to soften. Then stir in the sugar, salt and vinegar.
Bring up to the boil then reduce slightly and allow to bubble for 20 minutes, stirring almost constantly until everything is mushy and thickened.
Keep stirring until a spreadable consistency is achieved and there is no excess liquid.
Remove from the heat and fish out the chilies and discard.
Take the warm jars from the oven and carefully spoon the hot chutney between them.
Screw the lids on immediately, using rubber gloves, and leave to cool before applying a label and storing for at least 2 weeks (preferably a month) before opening.
Once opened, store in the fridge.
Makes 1.5kg (3lb) chutney

This is also my entry to Homemade Christmas Gifts event by My Kitchen Treasures. Click here to see the details and here to see the enteries as they get submitted.