[Sca-cooks] Slavic pickled stuff

[Stephanie Ross]

Russian Pickled Mushrooms
 
1,5 kg small mushrooms
4 c boiling water
1 1/2 tbsp salt
 
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c vinegar
1 3/4 c water
10 peppercorns
3 bay leaves
 
Cook well-washed mushrooms over medium heat in salted boiling water until
they are on the bottom for 15-20 minutes. Boil 1 3/4 c water with
peppercorns and bay leaves for 30 min. Stir in salt and sugar until
dissolved. . Add vinegar and bring to a boil. Drain mushrooms and place in
a sterilized jar. Pour over sugar/vinegar mixture. Cover and refrigerate
for three days before serving.
 
For almost 1 gallon:
 
4 lbs mushrooms
1 c cider vinegar
1 c white vinegar
5 bay leaves
15 peppercorns
1 c water
1/2 c sugar
2 sprigs dill (optional)

CWIKLA
Polish Pickled Beets
 
24 oz canned small whole beets
1 lg onion, sliced into thin rings
4 tsp prepared grated horseradish
8 whole cloves
1/2 cups each white, red wine and cider vinegar, beet juice (2 cups total)
1 tbsp natural cane sugar
2 tsp salt
 
Layer beets and onions in a glass jar, sprinkling layers with horseradish
and cloves. Boil vinegar with sugar and salt 2 minutes. Pour over beets.
Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Makes 4 cups.
 
For 1 gallon of beets:
 
10 small cans of beets
3 small onions, sliced thin
2 tbsp prepared horseradish, or more to taste
20 cloves
1 c each white and apple cider vinegar
1/2 c red wine vinegar
1 c beet juice
3 tbsp natural sugar
1 tbsp salt 
 (The horseradish is what makes this uniquely Polish, IIRC)

Russian Pickled Eggs

I found this recipe webbed here:
http://www.bearsinthekitchen.com/recipes%20starters.html#anchor107437

"This recipe was in a book simply titled, Smörgasbord. The ingredients were
peeled, hard boiled eggs (no number listed), 1 Ltr. (4½ C) white vinegar
(no indication of distilled or white wine vinegar; fairly securely I
believe it to be distilled white vinegar as it was mentioned in other
recipes in the book), 60 gr. (2 Tbs.) coarse salt, 30 gr. (1 Tb.) each of
juniper berries and black peppercorns, lots of fresh dill (judging from a
black & white photo in the book). The instructions were: layer eggs in a
glass jar with dill and a few peppercorns and juniper berries in each
layer, pour in vinegar-salt mixture after each layer (in the photo it
looked as if 2-3 eggs made a layer; it was not a wide jar but had a ground
glass lid) being careful to move the eggs with the handle of a wooden spoon
to rid the jar of any air bubbles."

These came out super tart due to the white vinegar. Next time I may use
cider vinegar and white wine vinegar. Some sugar added to the brine may
help to reduce the tartness. I used plain white vinegar because I wanted to
make sure the eggs were thoroughly pickled in case they needed to sit out
without refrigeration before I served them. I was leery about cutting the
strength of the vinegar, but perhaps I could have increased the salt and
reduced the vinegar to make these a bit more palatable alone. Anybody here
skilled at pickling that could tell me how to make these less tart? I still
have some in the back of my 'fridge. They are very good diced into tuna and
chicken salad. A shot of vodka after eating one of these eggs does help to
clear one's mouth of the tartness. They do not taste anything like the
Pennsylvania Dutch pickled eggs I grew up eating, but they are very good in
their own right.
 
~Aislinn~
Et si omnes ego non.

"The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the
first and only legitimate object of good government." --Thomas Jefferson to
Maryland Republicans, 1809.