Old Fashioned Aussie Pickles.

Name: Old Fashioned Aussie Pickles.
Prep time: 120 min
Cook time: 480 min
Total time: 600 min
Yield: 10 Bottles @375ml.
Ingredients: 250 grams fresh carrots.; 1 kilo brown onions.; 1 kilogram cauliflower.; 250 grams green stringless beans.; 500 grams Choko; Mirepoix prepared from above step.; Half a cup of table salt.; Enough hot water to cover the mirepoix.; 1.5 cups of gluten free flour.; 2 tablespoons of medium to hot curry powder.; 1 tablespoon extra hot cayene powder.; 2 tablespoons tumeric.; 2 tablespoons of allspice; 2 tablespoons of mustard powder.; 5 cups of white sugar.; 875 mls of white vinegar.; Pickled Mirepoix from above.; Spice mix from above step.; 10 x sterilised 375ml glass jars with sealable lids.

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Active time: 120 min

Total time: 600 min

Serves: 10 Bottles @375ml.

Real Australian pickles made from an old recipe that dates back half a century or more. Wonderful served as a condiment with cold or hot meats especially corned beef and ham. It's spicy but not too hot. I have altered the flour to make it gluten free but that's the only change made.

Chef's notes

Like all of my recipes this is GLUTEN FREE. To make it gluten free I had to change the flour to gluten free flour. The unexpected result the first time I did this was that the pickles set much firmer than usual so I had to add a little water to thin it out again. If you can't get, or don't know what a Choko is, you can use zuchini as a substitute or simply add more cauliflower, carrots and beans to make up the difference. Because of the huge amount of sugar in the pickles it will burn very readily. Stir it lots and often during the final cooking phase.

Steps

Prepare the mirepoix

Ingredients

250 grams fresh carrots.
1 kilo brown onions.
1 kilogram cauliflower.
250 grams green stringless beans.
500 grams Choko

Peel and chop the carrots to a medium/small dice. Peel and chop the onions as for the carrots. Break the cauliflower up into small florets about 1.5cm in size. Chop the stems and add them as well. Remove the stalks from the beans and chop them up as above. Peel and deseed the choko. Peel them under running water to avoid the gum that is just under the skin from sticking to your hands.

Stage 1. Pickle the mirepoix.

Ingredients

Mirepoix prepared from above step.
Half a cup of table salt.
Enough hot water to cover the mirepoix.

Place the chopped vegetables into a large stainless boiler. Add the salt and enough hot water to fully cover the vegetables. Place a lid on the boiler and leave overnight to pickle or around 8 hours will be sufficient.

Stage 2. Make the spice mix.

Ingredients

1.5 cups of gluten free flour.
2 tablespoons of medium to hot curry powder.
1 tablespoon extra hot cayene powder.
2 tablespoons tumeric.
2 tablespoons of allspice
2 tablespoons of mustard powder.

Place the flour into a suitably sized mixing bowl. If it's a little lumpy sieve it to remove the lumps. Measure the spices and add to the flour. Mix together thoroughly.

Finishing and Bottling.

Ingredients

5 cups of white sugar.
875 mls of white vinegar.
Pickled Mirepoix from above.
Spice mix from above step.
10 x sterilised 375ml glass jars with sealable lids.

Once the pickling time has elapsed bring the mirepoix to a rolling boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove the boiler from the heat. Strain the salt water off the vegetables and remove them to another heavy based non stick boiler. (You can leave them in the original boiler but you will need to stir the pickles more often while they are cooking). Combine the prepared spice mix with the vinegar and mix to completely combine with no trace of lumps. Add the sugar to the vinegar/spice mix and stir to dissolve as much of the sugar as possible. Pour this mixture over the boiled salted mirepoix and combine well. Bring the boiler to a gentle simmer. DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL! Simmer for an hour stirring frequently and scraping the bottom to ensure that there is nothing stuck to the bottom of the boiler. Taste after an hour has elapsed. The flavour should be acid but sweet with a nice spice hit and not have a burned aftertaste. Be careful when tasting as the temperature will be very high. When you are satisfied with the flavour pour into hot sterilised bottles and seal immediately. Allow a week for the full flavour to develop and they are ready for use.

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4 Comments

Cynthia H • May 28, 2010 at 04:15AM

Sorry Mark, what on earth did I do wrong. Started off beautifully everything clean neat tidy one step after the other all going great. This morning putting it all together not letting it boil, just a little little simmer a tiny bubble, the longer it went the thinner the sauce became the more it stuck to the bottom. (Mind you not the best pot) then took if off at 55min, and then a nice big mess, thin and bits of black from the bottom of the pan. However I have put them in jars. Mess everywhere!!trying to get black bits out. Will it thicken as time goes on? and the floating flakes of black, well I guess I will have to keep them for me. I hate it when I do something carefully and it doesn't work out. aargh. Whats your opinion.

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Mark L • May 28, 2010 at 07:27AM

You need to stir the animal all the time or it will do just as you described. Don't worry I have done the very same thing when I first made them a couple of times. Now I use a non stick "Scanpan" brand boiler and I watch all the time and stir with a wooden flat bladed spoon about every two minutes being careful to scrape the bottom of any debris that might have stuck. As for it being thin that's not a problem as it will thicken over a week or so in the bottles if you used ordinary plain flour. If you use the gluten free flour it often thickens in the damn boiler and you need to add water to thin it before bottling the pickles. You will get the hang of it but it's the sugar that starts the burning and you really need to scrape the bottom all the time and stir as well. Better luck next time!! Cheers Mark 8-))

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Cynthia H • May 28, 2010 at 02:05PM

I'm just laughing my head off,yea the animal!! hahaha. Ok, well looking at it at the moment it doesn't look that bad, it has thickened in the jar with just a few black flakes in a couple of jars. I did use plain flour. So I will give it a week or so before I taste it and let you know. And yes I think I will invest in a good pot especially for making jams and pickles from my favourite "kitchen warehouse" store, where I already spend loads of money. My hubby says why don't I go buy a dress like other normal wives!! I didn't know wives were normal.haha. Thanks Mark.

Reply
Mark L • June 3, 2010 at 05:44AM

Yes let me know. Sometimes you can salvage most of it by ladling it off carefully avoiding the burnt bit at the bottom. It often takes on a slightly burnt smell though even if you do manage to get it safely bottled. Cheers Mark 8-))

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