Mrs Morris's Mustard Choko Pickles.

Ever since we have lived here on the coast, nearly 30 years, we have had a Choko vine for most of that time. Some years there are a glut,and some years just a  reasonable amount, but every year, we run out of things to use the choko for. It is also known by two other names around the world, Chayote and Merliton.

The top picture shows the vine in a good year, where it ran every where, the the lower photo is just last week, we have a smaller crop this year due to the extreme heat and dry weather  that we had experienced this last summer and the fact that we were not  here to give it as much water.
I have a mustard pickle recipe that I make each year,  that a lovely   neighbour of my Mum's  up in the country passed on to her.She is long gone now , her name was Mrs Morris( so we now always without fail call this recipe "Mrs Morris's Pickles" It can be made with Green Tomatoes,cauliflower,choko or a mix of all three.(I have used zuichinni as well sometimes).
Firstly I advise you to put on thin "skins" gloves as the chokos have a strange slimy  feel when peeled that dries like a brown second skin on your hands and is difficult to remove. I doubled the recipe when I made this batch. It doubles and triples quite well. I rarely make a single batch.

You will need to have 2 1/2 lbs of Choko, Green Tomato or Cauliflower(I used all choko)
next you add 1 cucumber,Peeled and chopped

Then  you add 1 green capsicum(Bell pepper) Chopped(seeds removed)

And 2 large onions, peeled and chopped.

Put this altogether in a large stainless steel stock pot, cover with water and  add 1/4 cup salt and leave overnight. All the peelings went to the two worm farms.

Next morning, place pot on heat and bring to the boil and boil for10 minutes,. While this is boiling prepare your jars ready and  make a  smooth  paste  up in a bowl of 2 tablespoons of plain flour, 2 teaspoons dry mustard powder,1 teaspoon curry powder,2 teaspoons Turmeric and a pinch of cayenne pepper with about 3-4 tablespoons  of white vinegar.
After the 10 minutes, drain off the liquid, and add 2 cups white sugar and 1/2 pint white vinegar and return to heat and boil for about  3 minutes.

After this, remove and add  yellow paste

Then stir thoroughly to  combine evenly and make sure there are no floury lumps.Place back on heat and boil for about a minute or two to  thicken and cook the flour.

I then used a small plastic jug to pour the piping hot pickles  into jars  as my plastic jar funnel  is just a teeny bit too small for the jars I used this time.
I then wiped the rims of the jars clean with a paper towel soaked in white vinegar, screw on my new lids and place my jars in a double layer with a pizza tray separating the layers into my electric water

bath preserver.I then brought it to the boil and processed the jars at that temperature for 10 minutes, after which I turned it off, removed the lid and let the jars sit in the unit for another 5 minutes.

I then removed them out onto the towel covered bench until they cooled,
I then insisted they line up and pose  for one final photo shoot before labeling and storing away in the pantry.

We use these  pickles a lot, We use it in Sandwiches,plain and toasted with cheese, and on hot and cold meats, beaten into cream cheese as an impromptu dip.and in a tuna casserole that I make pastry and spread the pickles over the pastry then roll it  up and cut  slices through(I then turn these spirals face up on top of the tuna and white sauce and bake.) It Maybe an acquired taste, but one my family loves.My Mum used to make it when we were young and we always loved it.
This may be the last crop we see here as we will have probably moved to the farm full time before next years crop, and it will probably take a while to establish a vine out there(if at all as it is frost sensitive). So I may in future be making the Tomato or cauliflower version of this, which isn't a problem as they are equally as tasty.
So everyone until we meet again,
Cheers to you all,
Jane.

Bread and butter cucumbers.

We tend to celebrate happy hour a lot(maybe too much) when we are up at the farm, not so much here on the coast.
People tend to pop over up there for a cuppa  or  a drink, and I just can't resist putting out a plate of nibbles. I  tend to  sway more to the cheeses and pickles,olives ect and most of our friends and neighbours  seem to enjoy those type of snacks too.
One of the most popular ones is bread and butter cucumbers. I got the recipe from my next door neighbour Stasia, who is  Polish, she  and her husband Rolf who is German  have shared some wonderful recipes  and food with us over the last 15 years or so that we have been neighbours.
We planted a small raised bed of bush type cucumbers this year and they have produced very well, this is the third batch of bread and butter cucumbers that I have preserved from them.

For this recipe, I slice up 4 kilos of cucumbers on the mandolin and also slice up 2 kilos of onions and add to the cucumbers in a plastic or stainless steel container, I then add  1 cup of salt in total(I divided my cucumbers and onions into two containers, so adjust to what ever you decide to do)
I set the containers aside and leave to soak overnight.
Next morning I drain the cucumbers and onions and rinse them under cold running water to  reduce the saltiness, and pack them into my freshly washed mason jars.

In a large stainless pot I then  make the sweet brine solution, this consists of:
10 cups of white vinegar,6 cups of white sugar,3 teaspoons of celery seed,3 teaspoons of yellow or brown mustard seed, and 3 teaspoons of turmeric.  This is brought to the boil, cooled a little and poured over the cucumbers.

Once  the jars are full, I then de-bubble and adjust the liquid height leaving a final head space of about 1/2 inch. I wipe all the rims with a paper towel soaked in white vinegar, place lids, that have been simmered onto the jars, and cap with  the bands to finger tight.

Once this is done, I then place all the jars into my trusty electric water bath and  adjust water level so that the jars are covered by a couple of inches of water, place the lid on and set to hold boil. When it reaches  boiling point, I hold it at that level for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes has elapsed, I then turn off the  water bath preserver, remove the lid and let the jars sit for a further 5 minutes. Next I remove all the jars out onto a towel covered bench to protect it and the jars from heat shock.

 When the jars have all made that lovely popping noise, you know that they are all sealed, but you must wait  24 hours and then remove the bands.

After removing the bands, washing them and storing away until the next preserving job, I then washed the jars, and will  soon label and date them and store them away with my other delicious preserves in the pantry.
This makes over 40 pint  jars of these that I have preserved this year, I am fairly sure it will be the last as our cucumber garden is on it's last legs, and we will probably now only pick fresh eating cucumbers until the end of the season.
We have had a really productive  year here on the coast, and hopefully next year we will have a more established garden up and running at the farm as we  spend more  time up there and less down here.
These  pickles will be popular fare over the Christmas  holidays and my supply will quickly be eaten into.

So until we meet up again,
Best wishes to you and yours,
Stay safe over the holiday period,
Cheers,
Jane.