Category Archives: Chutneys and Pickles

Piglet’s Favourite Piccalilli – “Foodie Friday” Recipe Challenge

Posted on March 25, 2011 | 19 Comments
Picallili - delicious with bread and cheddar cheese

Piccalilli - delicious with bread and cheddar cheese

This recipe was featured in my first monthly column at Expat Focus
Piglet in Portugal: Missing Food From Back Home – Is It Just Me?

There are many foods I miss from home including Paxo stuffing, Teabags, Cadbury Cream Eggs, Mincepies, English Christmas cake, English mustard, Horseradish, Piccalilli and Baked Beans to name a few.

When you move to a new country you make many changes to your lifestyle; compromises have to be made and you learn to adapt – especially regarding your choice of food. However, this does not stop your “food-from-home” cravings. Picallili is one “food-from-home” I missed, which I now make myself.

Piccalilli is delicious served with a hunk of fresh bread, cheddar cheese and one of Mr Piglet’s Pickled Onions. I had never “pickled” anything before moving to Portugal now I experiment with all types of recipes.

If you moved abroad and you had to list the top 5 foods you would miss what would they be?

Ingredients

1 lb/450g onions cut into pieces
2 pints/1.2litres malt vinegar or white wine vinegar 6%
½ whole nutmeg grated or ½ teaspoon nutmeg powder
½ teaspoon powdered allspice
2 medium cauliflowers – cut into small florets
1 cucumber, peeled and cubed
1lb runner beans or French beans cut into ½ inch/10cm lengths
12 oz/350g caster sugar
2 cloves of garlic
3 teaspoons salt
2 oz/50g mustard powder
1oz/25g turmeric powder
6 level tablespoons plain flour
5 tablespoons malt/white wine vinegar (in addition to above)
3 tablespoons water
Large saucepan, sieve, large basin and a variety of sterilized jars

Makes approx 5 lb/2.25kg

Method

Place vinegar in large saucepan and add onions, nutmeg and allspice. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 8 minutes. Add cauliflower florets, cucumber, runner beans and sugar. Crush garlic in salt, add to pan and then bring mixture back to boil and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Be careful not to let the mixture simmer for too long as vegetables need to be “al dente”.

Strain the contents of the saucepan through colander over a large bowl and leave vegetables to drain. Reserve the hot vinegar.

In a separate bowl, mix mustard powder, turmeric and flour together. Gradually add the 5 tablespoons of vinegar/water and blend well. The mixture once blended should resemble a paste. Gradually add all the hot vinegar to paste mixture and stir well to avoid any “lumps”.

Boil gently for 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and then add the vegetables. Mix well and make sure all the vegetables are coated with the sauce.

Spoon the mixture while hot into the screw-top heated sterilized jars.

When the piccalilli is cold; store in a cool dark place for 3 months before eating. Refrigerate once opened.

Related posts: Mr Piglet’s Pickled Onions
Courgette and Tomato Chutney
Easy Loaf

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Jalapeno “Chili Virgin” – Piglet’s “Foodie Friday”

Posted on February 25, 2011 | 21 Comments

Are you a Chili Virgin?

Are you a Chili Virgin?


A few months ago a friend in Northern Portugal kindly sent me some Jalapeno Peppers which were excess produce from her veggie garden. She also included a simple recipe on how to pickle Jalapenos plus a variety of chili seeds so I could grow my own. I thought Christmas had come early and I’d have great fun “experimenting” so with my usual enthusiasm and quest to try new things I launched myself into yet another culinary adventure. However, “Fun” proved not to be the operative word as I failed to notice that the recipe said “Wear Gloves”! If you’ve ever handled chili peppers you will probably understand, but as a “Chili Virgin” I was completely oblivious to the consequences! Let’s just say when you cut chilies and they come into contact with your bare skin the juice permeates said skin – DON’T rub your eyes, touch your lips or touch any body parts that could be considered remotely tender! Trust me if you do you will spend the next hour on the bidet! So armed with this knowledge if you are a Chili Virgin proceed with caution and do not forget to wear gloves!.

Ingredients
1lb of Jalapeno Peppers
20 fluid oz water (I used bottled water)
20 fluid oz of white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sea salt
12 black peppercorns

Sterilize jars in hot oven for a few minutes. If the lids have rubber seals I usually just sterilize these with boiling water. (I put the lids in the oven once and all the rubber seals melted – we learn by our mistakes!)

1. Wear food preparation gloves!
2. Wash the peppers and slice them into rings and put into sterilized jars.
3. Put white wine vinegar, water and sea salt into saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes and pour over the peppers.
4. Put the lids on immediately and leave to cool.
The centre of the lids will “pop” in, which indicates they are airtight. You will need to repeat the above process for any jars that are not airtight otherwise the peppers will not keep.

Leave a couple of weeks before eating but a maximum of a year. Refrigerate after opening and eat within one month.

My next project is to plant the seeds and grow my own!

Please share your recipes and chili experience!

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Mr Piglet’s Pickled Onions!

Posted on September 25, 2010 | 6 Comments
Pickling onions
Elusive pickling onions

September is the month Hubby normally pickles his onions!

For the uninitiated pickled onions are small onions preserved in vinegar and spices and usually accompany: cheese; turkey or beef sandwiches; fish and chips etc. A strange combination, but trust me absolutely delicious!

In the UK it was so easy to just pop down to the local supermarket and buy pickling onions or shallots; several liters of malt vinegar; and a packet of pickling spices. Bingo! In Portugal this simple task becomes a real challenge spread over several weeks by which time you wonder is it really worth the effort!

Our first task is to find some malt vinegar however, in Portugal it’s like gold dust and when you do eventually find some, it’s VERY expensive. The other option is to use white wine vinegar (min 6% acidity) but personally I am not convinced the onions taste anywhere near as nice. But hey! Beggars can’t be choosers as they say, and we decide to buy some of each.

The mission to buy the small onions takes us several reconnaissance trips to the local Saturday farmers’ market. Frustrated, after several failed attempts to make ourselves understood at the various fruit and veg stalls, the penny finally drops with one of the old farmer boys and we discover the word for little onions is Cebolinhas. Success! We hand-pick a few kilos of onions from a large box under the counter. Mission accomplished. Over to Mr Piglet who is responsible for pickling!

Ingredients
- Small onions
- Malt vinegar or white wine vinegar
- Pickling spices (prepacked) or make your own. A good mix is peppercorns, mustard seeds, dried chillies, cloves, mace, or coriander seed.
- Table or sea salt.

Method

The preparation time is relatively easy and quick, but the onions do need to be left overnight.
Day 1
Prepare the onions
- Top and tail the onions and remove outer skins.
- Place in a bowl and sprinkle onions with table or sea salt, cover with a clean cloth and leave for 24hrs (the salt helps to draw the moisture out of the onions).
Day 2
Sterilize the jars
I always have a good assortment of jars of various shapes and sizes available for pickles, jams and chutneys. However, Mr. Piglet moans incessantly as I am loath to throw any jars away and we now have our very own “jar mountain”!

- Wash jars and lids in soapy water and rinse thoroughly. Place jars in the oven and heat to 100C. When the oven reaches temperature, turn off after 5 minutes but leave jars in the oven to cool and dry completely. To sterilize the lids just pour boiling water over them and leave to dry, naturally.

Prepare the vinegar
(Allow 1 teaspoon of pickling spice to 1pint/568ml of vinegar)
If you like your onions hot and spicy bring the vinegar to the boil, add the pickling spice, simmer for 5 minutes, and then allow the vinegar to cool completely before use. Otherwise just add a small pinch of pickling spice to each jar when adding the vinegar

Bottling

pickled onions

Mr Piglet’s Pickled Onions!

- Simply add the onions to the jars leaving a gap at the top. Cover the onions completely with cold vinegar.
- Cut a circle of cling film and place over the top of the jar before sealing with lid.

Label with date, and if you are experimenting with different types of vinegar or spices don’t forget to note this on the label!

Store in a cool dark place and leave for about a month before eating.

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Courgette and Tomato Chutney

Posted on July 28, 2010 | 7 Comments
Piglet's Courgette and Tomato Chutney

Piglet's Courgette and Tomato Chutney

Piglet’s Courgette and Tomato Chutney

My courgettes (after a rather feeble start) have now grown to the size of marrows! Presented with a ‘glut’ of both marrow sized courgettes and tomatoes I decided to make some chutney rather than taking the easiest option which would have been to freeze them.

Ingredients
2lb courgettes (peeled)
1lb 8oz tomatoes
1lb 4oz onions
1lb 4oz brown sugar
1 head of garlic
Fresh ginger (or 2 teaspoons of dried ginger)
1 tspn salt
½ tspn cayenne pepper (or piri piri)
¼ tspn black pepper
1 pint malt vinegar

Dice all the vegetables into small squares (roughly about ¼” square) and place in large open pan. Add vinegar, sugar and spices and bring slowly to the boil, stirring now and again. Simmer for at least 2hrs until thick (liquid has reduced)

Pour into heated sterilized jars and seal.

Allow 3-4 months for the chutney to mature.

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Mr Piglet’s Pickled Onions!

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