I first had pickled watermelon rinds as a garnish to an amazing dinner at Imperial in southwest Portland (http://www.imperialpdx.com/#welcome). My dinner consisted of fried rabbit (Think chicken fried rabbit. This was the first time I've ever had rabbit and, let me tell you, I'm a fan) atop a semolina corn cake along with said watermelon rind pickles and big ol' chunks of some real good bacon. It was served with a cute little pitcher of local honey and a teeny tiny bottle of housemade hot sauce to drizzle over the fried rabbit. Dang, it was all good. I may have licked the honey pitcher... Accompanying my meal with seriously the one of the best cocktails I have ever had: A Radish Walks into a Bar. From their menu: Carpano Antica vermouth, Ransom Old Tom gin, radish gastrique, lemon, cracked pepper & salt. What the heck? I don't even like gin that much! This cocktail was probably made with Voodoo magic, it was so good. Many times, when I experience some delightful food or drink, I tell myself, "Hey, you need to try making this at home." I don't think I can attempt this drink at home. I don't even understand what all the words involved mean. Something from that meaI I was determined to nail was those watermelon rind pickles. They had a nice spiciness to them and were oh-so-crisp! By chance, I had happened to pick up the America's Test Kitchen DIY cookbook from work. I don't remember why I decided I needed this book. Maybe I wanted to try their yogurt recipe or something. Anyway, this book has a recipe for a crisp spiced watermelon rind pickle! It even has cardamom in it! I love cardamom. It's a delicious sounding recipe. I made the pickles and let them sit for the prescribed 10 days. Maybe only 9. I get impatient. After a bunch of days, I cracked open my first jar of watermelon rind pickles and had a sample. These pickles are, without a doubt, completely inedible.
Where did I got wrong, you ask? They look so lovely, after all, with their cute little labels and all. Let me count the ways I totally messed up this recipe.
1. I casually skimmed the recipe and then picked up supplies. Oh, I need a watermelon you say? Guess I'll pick out a big one. After carefully paring this gigantic watermelon and salting the peeled rind, I take a look at the yield of this recipe. Four pints, you say? I filled up my largest bowl with watermelon rinds and still had leftover rind for days. I check the recipe again. I needed a 4-5 pound watermelon. I estimate that the watermelon I had so carefully chosen and prepared weighed closer to 10 pounds. No matter! A quick run to the store for more jars and rice vinegar and I will soon have more pickles than I know what to do with.
2. A key step after salting the rinds and letting them sit for a day is to then thoroughly rinse them. This was my downfall. This poorly executed step is what ruined my carefully made pickles. That one bite I managed made my mouth pucker and my tongue burn for about 10 minutes afterward. Too salty! My fiance was standing behind me when I cracked the first jar and asked how they were. "Try them," I managed with an almost straight face. He did not care for the pickles. I shared this story with a coworker. Apparently saltiness is a big problem people run into when they first try pickling. You can definitely call me a beginner pickler. I shall rinse thoroughly in the future. I will also cut off more of the watermelon flesh. These pickles were a little mushy for me. Nothing to do with the saltiness. Just another observation of future improvements.
3. I need canning tongs. This lack of equipment had no effect on my pickles overall. It was just a huge pain trying to lift jars in and out of boiling water first thing in the morning using regular metal tongs. I will be acquiring canning tongs in the future.
Overall, this was really only half a failure. I had never canned anything before in my entire life and, frankly, was kind of nervous to do so. Fears of busted jars and botulism have held me back far too long. No longer! Aside from splattering myself with boiling water, my canning efforts turned out just perfect. Shortly after removing the jars from their processing bath, I could hear the pop! pop! of the lids fully sealing. Six of the seven jars and still beautifully sealed on my shelves until I get around to popping open the lids and emptying them into the compost bin. Yes, I will can again. I will probably even try this recipe again. Just be sure to rinse thoroughly.
This link is exactly the recipe I used. http://www.wnyc.org/story/pickled-watermelon-rind/
*A note on my photography skills: I'm not sure they will improve ever. We'll see.
Canning tongs are REALLY nice to have. I just picked up a little Ball Canning Equipment Package from Walmart with tongs, a bubble remover, a funnel, and this AMAZING little tool that magnetically picks up the lids and rings out of the very hot water it has to wait in. So nice.
ReplyDeleteThat didn't keep my first batch of peach jam from tasting like diced canned peaches. Reading directions is a good thing! Hopefully we will both have better luck next time!