Pickling Spice Recipes

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Pickled Beets
5 pounds small beets
3 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
1 small sliced onion
1/2 teaspoon canning salt
4 1/2 teaspoons Spice Barn Pickling Spice

Remove and discard green tops and all but 1/2 inch of the stems fro the beets. Cook beets in boiling water for 35 minutes or until tender; drain. Peel and slice. In a large pan, combine the sugar, water, vinegar, onion, and salt. Place pickling spice on a double cheesecloth; bring up corners and cloth and string with string. Add to pan; bring to a boil. Add beets; reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Discard spice bag. Pack beets into jars with 1/2" headspace. Ladle vinegar mixture over beets, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Cap; process for 30 minutes in a boiling water bath. Remove jars to a wire rack and cool completely.

Sauerbraten Beef
1 pound top round roast
2 cups water
1 cup dry red wine
2 small onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons Spice Barn Pickling Spice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
10 Spice Barn Black Peppercorns, crushed
2 Spice Barn Bay Leaves

Brown roast in Dutch oven coated with cooking spray. Combine water and next 7 ingredients; reserve 1 cup of mixture for sauce. Pour remaining mixture over roast. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or longer. Uncover and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, simmer 45 minutes or until tender. Drain; discard bay leaves. Slice roast and serve with Sauerbraten Sauce.

Sauerbraten Sauce: Combine 1 cup reserved mixture and 1/4 cup gingersnap crumbs in a saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in 1/4 cup sour cream and cook over low heat until heated through.

Corned Beef and Cabbage
1 4-5 pound corned beef
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Spice Barn Pickling Spice
3 cloves garlic, mashed
2 Spice Barn Bay Leaves
1 large unpeeled onion, halved, root end removed
1 green cabbage
boiled potatoes dusted with parsley
assorted mustards

Place corned beef in a Dutch oven or stock pot with enough water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil. Drain off water and cover meat with fresh water; bring to boil. Repeat this process two more times. On the fifth cooking, cover meat with water, add sugar, spices, garlic, bay leaves, and onion. Bring to boil, reduce heat; cover and simmer until fork tender, 3-4 hours. About 15 minutes before serving, remove out leaves of cabbage and place in pan with enough cooking liquid from corned beef to just cover. Cut head of cabbage into 6 wedges and arrange on top of leaves. Bring to boil; cover and steam over medium heat 5-6 minutes or till tender. To serve: diagonally slice beef and arrange in center of platter. Surround with vegetables. Spoon some cooking liquid over meat and serve with assorted mustards.

Pickled Asparagus
9 quarts water, divided
16 pounds fresh asparagus
2 quarts white vinegar
1 cup canning salt
1 tablespoon Spice Barn Pickling Spice
1 clove garlic, minced

Bring 6 quarts water to a boil. cook asparagus in batches, uncovered, for 2 1/2 minutes. Remove and rinse in cold water to stop cooking process. In a large pan, combine vinegar, salt, pickling spice, garlic and remaining water; bring to a boil. Pack asparagus in quart jars to within 1/2 inch of top. ladle boiling liquid over leaver 1/4" headspace. Adjust caps; process for 20 minutes in water bath. Remove jars tow ire rack and cool completely.

Easy Summer Pickles
1 pound small cucumbers
1 sweet onion
1 cup white vinegar (5% acidity)
1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon Spice Barn Pickling Spice

Prepare jars by washing in hot soapy water and drying. Rinse cucumbers and pat completely dry. Slice cucumbers and onions ¼ inch thick and firmly pack into jars leaving ½ inch headspace. Place sugar, vinegar, water, salt, and pickling spice in pan; heat over medium high until sugar is dissolved. Pour brine over cucumbers until completely covered. Apply lids and cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours to meld flavors. Use within 1 month.

Three-Day Sweet Cucumber Pickles
DAY ONE – Lime Soak
7 lb. cucumbers, sliced ¼ inch thick*
2 cups pickling lime
2 gallons water
Place cucumbers in a large plastic or glazed enamel container. Mix lime and water, stirring thoroughly, and pour over cucumbers. Mix ½ cup lime with 2 quarts water, repeating 4 times. Soak cucumbers in lime water for 24 hours**. Gently agitate water every 4 hours or so, being careful not to break cucumbers as they become crisp. (The lime settles to the bottom, so be sure to reach all the way to the bottom of the container.)

DAY TWO – Rinse, Soak in Ice Water, Cover with Sugar-Vinegar Overnight
Rinse cucumber slices well through several changes of cold water. Again, handle gently so slices do not break. Soak 3 hours in ice cold water.

12 cups sugar
2 quarts apple cider vinegar
1 Tblsp. Spice Barn Pickling Spice
Cut a square and a rectangular strip of cheesecloth (use more than a single thickness). Place pickling spice in center of square. Pull corners up and tie with the cheesecloth strip. Place spice bag in the bottom of porcelain enamel or stainless steel pot. Put cucumbers in pot on top of spice bag. Cover with sugar. Pour vinegar over sugar and cucumbers. Let soak overnight.

DAY THREE – Cook, Pack in Jars, Process
The next morning, boil cucumbers in vinegar-sugar mixture for 35 minutes. Pack in heated sterilized jars, leaving half-inch headspace. Exhaust air bubbles by running a plastic knife down the side of the jar. Wipe rims with paper towel dipped in very hot water. Place lid, which has been prepared according to manufacturer’s directions, on top of jar. Secure with screw band, tightening only fingertip tight. (Do not use wrist action to tighten screw band.) Place in water bath canner and cover with water until it is 1 to 2 inches above the top of the jars. Process 15 minutes. (Begin timer when water is simmering and steam begins to come out from around canner lid.)

Remove jars from canner, placing them on dish towels away from air drafts. Let stand undisturbed for 24 hours. Store in cool, dry place.

*7 lbs. of cucumbers should yield about 5 quarts of pickles. Wide-mouth canning jars are much easier to work with.

**Because of the soaking time required, this is a three-day process. Example: Start a batch in the late afternoon/early evening. DAY ONE: Start at 5:00 p.m., they soak in lime water until 5:00 p.m., the next day. DAY TWO: Soak in ice water until 8:00 p.m., then, overnight in sugar vinegar. DAY THREE: Cook; pack in jars; and process.