Pickling Summer Bounty

It's high August and the peak of summer produce. It's also just plain hot. I really detest cooking in this weather, but what I do enjoy is the cold, fresh snap of a pickle--and I'm willing to do a little work to turn the bounty of cucumbers and tomatoes, radishes and squash and beans into something tangy and sour.

Over the almost 10 years I've been writing San Diego Foodstuff I've written a lot about pickling. I've made quick pickles with the Balistreris of Tender Greens. I've made my Nana Tillie's dill pickles. There are the pickled beets I made for my dad and my favorite pickled marinated eggplant from the late, beloved Gourmet magazine. Read on for links to all these recipes and more.

Bread and Butter Pickles: I've been making these pickles for my dad for years now. It began when I learned how to make bread and butter pickles from Quality Social's Jared Van Camp and Sam Burman. My first batches went to Dad -- long called "Opopie" by my nieces and nephews -- as a birthday gift. He asked for more. Then I developed my own version, combining Jared's recipe with the traditional Ball recipe from The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, which has what I believe are the best instructions on how to do the much-dreaded water bath. Follow them religiously and you'll find it's actually a breeze.

Quality Social's Natural Pickles: Here's where I started getting my pickle chops. Charcuterie is matched perfectly with pickles. The acid from the pickles complements the fat of the sausages. With this recipe you can pickle just about any vegetable and, again, it's so easy!

Pickled Beets with Shallots: I made these for my dad just one year ago. As my friends know, I detest beets--so this was truly an act of love. But I have it on good authority that they're delicious. My dad went through jars of them in no time.

Italian Marinated Eggplant: This is my favorite eggplant recipe. I discovered it in Gourmet a zillion years ago and it's almost always in my fridge. It starts out as a pickle and goes on to be marinated in olive oil and garlic to become the perfect snack or appetizer. The actual prep doesn't take long but it's a day-long process as the eggplant is salted and then cured. Oh so good on sourdough rolls and the basis of this, my fave sandwich.

Quick Pickles: Looking for a quick and easy pickle to make? I have three recipes for you here from Pete Balistreri and his cousin Pete Balistreri of Tender Greens. There's their Asian-Style pickle with rice wine vinegar and sliced cucumbers, their pickled onions featuring red wine and red wine vinegar, and pickled cauliflower made with thyme, turmeric, and champagne vinegar.

Pickled Watermelon Gherkins: These little cukes look like miniature watermelons and when pickled, are divine! A few years ago I got kitchen time with Chef Kelli Crosson of The Lodge at Torrey Pines and together we made a batch of her pickles to jar for the upcoming Celebrate the Craft. I also coveted the funnel she used to distribute the brine--and, lucky me, was gifted with one by a friend later. It's a treasured kitchen tool.

Dill Pickles: My siblings, cousins, and I have sensory memory of these pickles our Nana used to make. When we visited her at her apartment near the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, jars of these would be out on her porch taking in the summer sun. When we ate them, the brine would dribble down our chins and we'd all smell like garlicky dill pickles in the heat of the car on the way home. But we'd be happy. These are easy to put together, as you'll see. Here's my mom holding a jar after we made a batch awhile back.

Crunchy Giardiniera: Jenn Felmley is responsible for this recipe, a simple giardiniera that is heavenly in a sandwich. Mix together the vegetables you prefer. I like peppers, cauliflower, carrots, and celery for a more traditional approach.

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Curtain Call for 2013 and Chef Encounters

I'm so looking forward to 2014. Already I have a food walking tour of downtown San Diego planned, an afternoon learning to make dim sum at the new French Concession in Hillcrest, a visit to an urban winery, and a new season of Catalina Offshore Products' terrific Collaboration Kitchens to talk about--and that's just January.

But 2013 was no slouch of a year. Before it ends, I want to take a last chance to thank the many San Diego chefs who invited me into their kitchens and taught me new recipes, techniques, and in general shared their kitchen knowledge with me so I could, in turn, pass it on to you in San Diego Foodstuff. Each of these chefs is wonderfully talented and generous--and also a lot of fun to hang out with. It's one thing to hand out a recipe--which I always appreciate--but to invite me into their sacred laboratory to give a lesson and give of themselves is a greatly savored gift.

So, thank you to Jeff Rossman of Terra and Pablo Ibarra, his sous chef at the time I came in. Pablo taught me how to make a tangy Charred Meyer Lemon Chutney. With Meyer lemons in season now, I'm going to dig out that recipe and make some jars.

Thank you to my friends Antonio Friscia and Fern Tran of the late Gaijin Noodle House. Most chefs invite me to come in before service. Antonio wanted me to help with service. He sent me out marketing to buy ingredients I'd like to see in cocktails and in yakitori, and when I came in that evening, groceries in hand, he had me visit first with mixologist Lucien Conner to turn out drinks. Then, Fern taught me her tricks for making yakitori. We had all sorts of odd yet wonderful stuff going on. Finally, Antonio showed me how to create unique Asian fusion s'mores. What fun that was. I'm still in mourning over the restaurant's closing.

Thank you to Monello chef Fabrizio Cavallini and owners Guido Nistri and Valentina di Pietro for making me so at home at their Little Italy kitchen as Fabrizio taught me to make four versions of creamy polenta. I'm still dreaming of the comforting, delicate white polenta covered in slices of rich gorgonzola.

Thank you to Joe Busalachi, a true showman who I think had as much fun as I did at his Po Pazzo kitchen in Little Italy whipping through several fish dishes in the course of about half an hour, then serving them family style to my friends and me. The cartoccho, or covered fish, is in my repertoire.

Thank you to Matt Richman of Table 926 for introducing me to salsify with his luscious cauliflower and salsify bisque. That morning also brought a lesson in smoking tomatoes (which I now do regularly) for a complex  Calabrese tomato sauce and in making a minty nepitella chimichurri sauce.

Thank you to Catherine Perez, the bread-making genius of Con Pane in Liberty Station, for not laughing too hard at me and Robin Ross of Cupcakes Squared, as we tried so hard to learn how to shape bread dough. You gave us a great lesson--and even greater appreciation of the artisans whom you've trained to create such perfection with such ease. Back to basics with your Pain Sur.

Thank you to my buddy Miguel Valdez, then executive chef at The Red Door and The Wellington and now at 100 Wines for giving me a primer in stuffing summer squash blossoms. I so need a fryer to get that delightful crispy exterior and oh-so creamy cheese interior.

Thank you to the rollicking Andrea Davis, truffle queen extraordinaire, for teaching me a new skill. Her chocolate truffles create smiles and swoons. I especially loved the Bacon and Whiskey variety we made that day, but every time I see her she surprises me with stunning flavors.

Thank you to my new friend Francesca Penoncelli of the magnificent BiCE for taking the time to teach me how to make something pretty minor given her capabilities but oh so impressive--schiacciatina and truffle cheese spread. Imagine a chef who's cooked at the James Beard House teaching you how to make a cracker. But this is some cracker and with the cheese spread and a glass of wine, it's enough for a fun evening with friends.

Thank you to another new friend, Kelli Crosson of A.R. Valentien. I love making pickles and Kelli asked me to help her make the annual batches of pickles for Celebrate the Craft. I learned so much and fell in love with a stainless steel confectionary funnel I still covet. I also am still eating my way through the pickled watermelon gherkins we made.

Thank you to Jenny Williams of Jenny Wenny Cakes. I'd written about her in the past, but it wasn't until this year that I got to play with her in the kitchen. And, of all things, she taught me how to make her great-grandmother's Christmas pudding. Dense and chewy, it's Christmas comfort food when heated and topped with Brandy Butter.

Thank you to dear friend Joanne Squires-Sherif of the cozy North Park eatery, Cardamom. She taught me how to make her annual Pumpkin Walnut Cranberry Quick Bread and a wonderfully boozy Spiced Apple Bread Pudding with Rum Rasins. Sigh... This week we're working on Dampfnudln a la Joan Nathan.

And, finally, thank you to the delightful Amber Smith of Biscuit Gourmet Biscotti, who only this month invited me in to teach me the techniques for making her light and crunchy biscotti. I've shared and shared with friends and family--but selfishly kept enough to enjoy with tea in the afternoons. But, even when they're gone, I've got the recipes--and knowledge--to make more batches!

I also want to thank Bob Harrington and Specialty Produce for their always generous support--of this space, of my Close to the Source blog for Edible San Diego, and of the the community projects I work on. You just can't applaud these folks enough. And, thanks as well to Tommy Gomes, Dave Rudie, and Dan Nattrass of Catalina Offshore Products for being my seafood gurus and just great pals. Thanks to the many farmers, farmers market managers, and artisan vendors who always take the time answer my many questions and share their knowledge and bounty with me so I can help our community better understand what they do. And, last but not least, I thank you for taking the time to read San Diego Foodstuff and sharing it with your friends. It means a lot.

I'm looking forward to more chef encounters and other San Diego food magic in 2014, but in the meantime, I wish all these chefs, vendors, farmers,  and their loved ones, as well as you, a very happy, healthy, and joyous New Year!

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Celebrate the Craft with Pickled Watermelon Gherkins

This Sunday afternoon I know where I'll be: at my very favorite annual food event, Celebrate the Craft at The Lodge at Torrey Pines. This intimate food festival extolls the collaboration between San Diego's best chefs and our growers, vintners, and culinary artisans. Led by A.R. Valentien exec chef Jeff Jackson, the chef round up includes Paul Arias (The Fishery), Pete Balistreri (Tender Greens), Antonio Friscia (Gaijin), Katie Grebow (Cafe Chloe), Matt Gordon (Sea & Smoke), Javier Plascencia (Misión 19), Monica Szepesy (Q'ero), Jason Knibb (Nine-Ten), and so many more. And the setting, on a pristine lawn overlooking the golf course and the sparkling Pacific Ocean, couldn't be more stunning.

One of the great traditions of Celebrate the Craft is having jars upon jars of house-made pickles and preserves from A.R. Valentien for guests to take home. In recent years, chef de cuisine Kelli Crosson has taken on the task of creating them--all 320 jars, divided this year between bread-and-butter pickles, pickled watermelon gherkins, and stone-fruit mostarda. She invited me to their sprawling kitchen to help her make a batch of the pickled watermelon gherkins. It turns out they're quite easy to make and even the canning wary should give these a try.

These unusual heirloom gherkins are known by numerous names, including Mouse Melons, Mexican sour gherkins, Cucamelons, and Cuka-Nuts. They're tiny, about the size of a grape, and look just like ultra-mini watermelons. They're terrific for pickling, but you can enjoy them raw, add them to a salsa, or even to a cocktail. When they're in season, I've found them at Suzie's Farm farmers market stalls and Specialty Produce.

Crosson, who has been with A.R. Valentien for four years, is originally from a small town called Exeter in Central California, having grown up on a citrus farm. As a child, an aunt's gift of cooking tools got her hooked on cooking--to her it was a way of creating community around a table, whether it was her family or friends, or, later, restaurant customers. Like many, Crosson got sidetracked and, in her case, she went into advertising in San Diego before she chucked it and left for the East Coast to attend the French Culinary Institute (now The International Culinary Center) in New York. "It was one of the best experiences of my life," she says. From there she headed to Washington, D.C., where she worked in catering at the Ronald Reagan Building and even catered for the Supreme Court. But, she realized she was more suited for the discipline of working the line and creating food à la minute so she returned to San Diego and started work at A.R. Valentien as a line cook, before being promoted to sous chef and, six months ago, chef de cuisine.

It was at this juncture that we met. And now, all these months later, we spent the morning making  pickles.

We started, of course, with sterilized half-pint glass jars and lids. Crosson set out a bunch of them, and I started adding the herbs and spices.

Since I was wearing contact lenses, Crosson sliced and distributed the serrano chiles.

Then came the little gherkins, followed by a classic pickle brine of water, distilled white vinegar, sugar, and kosher salt that Crosson had already brought to a boil. I absolutely want this stainless steel confectionary funnel we used to inject the water/vinegar mixture into the jars. It gives so much control with hot liquids!

We screwed on the lids and placed the jars into steel containers that would then go into the kitchen's large steamer for about 10 minutes. For us home cooks, we'd be placing them into a water bath.

Since then they've been sitting in a pantry and will be ready to eat by this Sunday.

I broke open a jar early and found that even now, they're itty bitty flavor balls--crispy with a little saltiness, a hint of clove, and a pleasing hit of heat on the palate. I'll be making these for myself. You can, too. Here's Kelli's recipe:

Pickled Watermelon Gherkins
from Kelli Crosson of A.R. Valentien
(printable recipe)

Makes 2 pints

1/2 pound watermelon gherkins, washed with stems removed
1 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 serrano chile, halved
4 garlic cloves
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1. Wash and sterilize two pint jars and lids, per manufacturer instructions.
2. In a non-reactive saucepan, bring the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar to a boil.
3. Meanwhile, divide the serrano, garlic, clove, bay leaf, mustard seed, and peppercorns between the jars, and pack with the watermelon gherkins.
4. Pour hot brine over the gherkins, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace.
5. Close the jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
6. Store in a cool, dry, dark place for at least two weeks before eating the pickles. After opening, store in the refrigerator.

Celebrate the Craft takes place on Sunday, Oct. 6 from 11:30 to 3 p.m. at The Lodge at Torrey Pines (11480 N. Torrey Pines Road) in La Jolla. Tickets are $85 a person and can be purchased online here.

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