Make mustard pickles now to enjoy with wintertime meals

The revival of home preserving takes today's pickle makers back to the early 1900s with this treasured recipe for mustard pickles.

This recipe uses much less salt than the original and relies instead on today's popular colourful local vegetables and seasonings to provide robust flavour.

Mustard Pickles

2 l (8 cups) chunks unpeeled pickling cucumbers, about 1.1 kg

1 l (4 cups) cauliflower florets

250 ml (1 cup) each white and red pearl onions

1 each red and green pepper, chopped

75 ml (1/3 cup) pickling salt

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar

45 ml (3 tbsp) ClearJel food starch

15 ml (1 tbsp) each dry mustard and mustard seed

5 ml (1 tsp) each ground turmeric

800 ml (3 1/4 cups) cider vinegar

30 ml (2 tbsp) grated ginger root

In a stainless-steel saucepan, combine cucumbers, cauliflower, pearl onions, red and green peppers. Toss with salt; stir in 250 ml (1 cup) water. Cover and let stand in a cool place overnight, stirring occasionally.

Next day: Place 5 clean 500-ml (2-cup) Mason jars in a boiling water canner; fill with water, cover and bring to a boil. Set screw bands aside; heat snap lids in hot, not boiling water (82 C/180 F). Keep jars and snap lids hot until ready to use.

Drain vegetables; rinse well under lots of cool running water and drain thoroughly. Set aside.

In a large, deep stainless-steel saucepan, combine sugar, ClearJel, mustards, turmeric, cider vinegar and ginger root; bring to a boil, stirring until thickened. Add vegetables and return mixture to a boil that cannot be stirred down.

Ladle hot vegetables and liquid into a hot jar to within 1 cm ( 1/2 inch) of top rim (headspace). Using non-metallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim, removing any stickiness. Centre snap lid on jar; apply screw band securely and firmly until resistance is met - fingertip tight. Do not overtighten. Place jar in canner. Repeat for remaining pickles.

Cover canner; return water to a boil. At altitudes up to 305 m (1,000 ft), process (boil filled jars) for 15 minutes. Remove jars without tilting. Cool upright, undisturbed, for 24 hours. Do not retighten screw bands. After cooling check jar seals. Sealed lids curve downward. Remove screw bands, wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place.

Makes 5 500-ml (2-cup) jars.

Source: Bernardin.