Italian Pickled Garlic Food

PICKLED GARLIC

Steps:

• Place garlic cloves in a medium bowl, first cutting the large cloves in half. Mix in the red bell pepper.
• In a large saucepan over medium high heat, place the distilled white vinegar and white sugar. Wrap ground dry mustard and celery seed in a spice bag, and place in the liquid mixture. Bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and pepper. Continue boiling 5 minutes. Remove from heat and discard spice bag.
• Place garlic and peppers in sterile containers to within 1 inch of the top. Fill with remaining liquid to within 1/4 inch from the top. Seal and store in the refrigerator approximately three weeks before serving.

ITALIAN PICKLED MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Combine lemon juice and water in a large pot.
• Add mushrooms and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
• Drain off liquid.
• Place herbs and mushrooms, garlic and bay in clean hot jars.
• Bring vinegar to a boil and pour over mushrooms leaving 1/2 inch head space.
• Seal Process for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath at altitudes up to 1000 feet.

LAURA'S PICKLED GARLIC

Steps:

• Trim the tops from the heads of garlic. Peel off all but one layer of the outer skin. Set aside.
• In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, cloves, bay leaf, chile peppers and lemon zest. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, and continue to boil for another 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand overnight at room temperature.
• Transfer to a clean jar. Strain the brine into the jar with the garlic so that the heads are completely covered. Discard the solids. Cover and store in the refrigerator until using. It will keep for 6 to 8 weeks. To keep longer, store in sterile jars and process in a hot water bath for at least 10 minutes to seal the jars.

QUICK PICKLED GARLIC WITH MEDITERRANEAN FLAVORS

Steps:

• In a small nonreactive saucepan, combine the vinegar, sherry, salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, and chile, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring once or twice to dissolve the salt.
• Reduce the heat to medium, add the garlic, and simmer for 30 seconds or so.
• Remove from the heat and add the fresh herb.
• Allow to cool to room temperature, uncovered, and then pour into a jar with a nonreactive lid.
• Cover tightly and let stand at room temperature for at least a day before sampling one of the smaller cloves.
• The flavor will improve steadily over the first few days, as the liquid penetrates the garlic.
• This pickle will keep, covered and refrigerated, for 2 months or more.

PICKLED GARLIC

Steps:

• Fill a large bowl with ice and fill halfway with water. This is the ice bath you will use to stop the cooking after you blanch the garlic.
• Bring a very large pot of water to a full rolling boil. Place all the garlic in the boiling water and blanch for 1 minute. Do not wait for the water to return to a boil, begin timing the minute as soon as you place the garlic in the water.
• Drain the garlic and place it in the ice water bath. Let the garlic stay in the ice water until it is entirely cool.
• In a large nonreactive pot, combine the vinegar, pickling salt and sugar. Bring just to a boil over high heat, stirring to make sure all the salt and sugar are dissolved.
• Distribute the spices evenly between 4 pint jars: 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1/8 teaspoon celery seed, 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, 3 peppercorns and one bay leaf in each jar. If you are using Pickle Crisp, now is the time to add it. Add 1/4 teaspoon to each jar.
• Distribute the garlic evenly between the 4 jars, leaving 1" headspace.
• Ladle the boiling vinegar mixture into the filled jars, leaving 1/2" headspace.
• Use a chopstick or other thin, non-metal utensil to run around the sides of the jar to make sure there are no air bubbles left in the jar. Wipe the rims of the jars with damp paper towels to remove any brine which got on the rims or the threads. Place the lids and the bands on the jars, just tightening the bands fingertip tight.
• Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, then remove and let sit, undisturbed, for at least 12 hours before checking seals. It is important to let them sit undisturbed for 12 hours because the sealing compound on the lids is still cooling and hardening, completing the seal. While the jars cool, you will hear a "plink" type sound from each jar - this is the jars completing the vacuum seal as the final air escapes the jar. After 12 hours have passed, remove the bands and check the lids - press down in the center of the lid. If you cannot push the lid down any further, the jar is sealed. If the lid "gives" a bit, and you can push it down, the jar did not seal. You can either put the band back on the jar, and reprocess it for another 15 minutes, or you can just put it in the fridge and use it within 3 months.
• Let the garlic sit for at least a month before using, so the flavors can develop. The longer it sits, the better it gets.

SPICY PICKLED GARLIC

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add garlic and boil 1 minute. , Meanwhile, divide coriander, peppercorns, chiles, allspice and bay leaf among three hot half-pint jars. Drain garlic and pack into jars to within 1/2 in. of the top., In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Carefully ladle hot liquid over garlic, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot mixture. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight. , Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool.