Hold on to your seat, I'm about to tell you something wild. I pickled strawberries. That's right, I took sweet juicy organic strawberries and canned them in sour red wine vinegar with a few sprigs of mint. And they turned out edible. In fact, they were more than just tolerable, the pickling enhanced the strawberry and mint flavors, while simultaneously turning a sugary strawberry into a savory fruit.
Last Saturday was National Can-It-Forward Day and by happenstance, my friend Cas threw an all-day pickle party the same day. Let me tell you about Cas: we took a theatre class together in undergrad and developed a friendship because we were both 100% positive we knew each other already. To this day, we've never figured out when we met prior to that course, but sometime somewhere (maybe in a past life?) we were friends before. Now that she's in grad school in the bay, Cas has picked up the hobby of pickling veggies and canning fruit jam and marmalade to let off stress. And I am often the lucky recipient of the fruits of her labor.
This weekend she offered up her pickling expertise to anyone who wanted it. Bring whatever veggies you wanted to pickle and she'd help with the rest. I don't know what got into me; I love pickled veggies, but when I went to the market, the bright red bins of aromatic strawberries screamed "pickle me! pickle me!" So I obliged. While we snacked on Cas's pickled cucumbers, green beans, asparagus, and other typically pickled veggies, I prepped the berries for their uncertain fate. Totally unsure if I was about to ruin a pound of shiny berries by dunking them in vinegar. I mean, what crazy fool would take such a perfect fruit and soak it in fermented wine? This one. I know what pickled veggies taste like, so what's the fun in spending a pickle party doing something guaranteed to turn out tasty? Being adventurous is way more exciting.
The risk paid off. One bonus to pickled strawberries is that you get to taste the results far more quickly than pickled veggies. You don't have to spend 2 weeks staring at the jars wishing they'd pickle faster, they're ready to eat in just 12 hours. We served them with cracked black pepper over a toasted baguette spread with goat cheese. The first bite is definitely bizarre. Your tastebuds will be confused by the sweet and sour combination, but once you commit to these strawberries as a savory topping, you'll want more. The mint leaves infused their flavor into the super sweet berries, bridging the gap between the seemingly mismatched red wine vinegar and fruity flavors. I think I've just discovered the perfect panini condiment.
Mint pickled strawberries
Ingredients
- 1 pound of strawberries, cleaned and stems removed
- 15 leaves of fresh mint
- 2 cups red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Optional: baguette, goat cheese, black pepper
Instructions
- Sterilize four half pint canning jars in the oven for 10 minutes. Sterilize the lids by boiling them for 10 minutes.
- Layer the strawberries and mint leaves in the four jars.
- In a medium pan over medium heat, cook the vinegar, vanilla, sugar, honey, and salt until the sugar melts and the mixture begins to simmer.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot of water large enough cover the jars with an inch of water to boil. Place a rack in the bottom of the pan.
- Pour the boiling vinegar over the strawberries into the four jars. Twist the lids onto the jars using three fingers.
- Carefully place the jars on the rack in the pot of boiling water. As soon as the water comes to a rapid boil, set the timer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the jars from the boiling water after 10 minutes. When the jars cool, check for a seal by pressing on the lid to make sure it isn't popped up.
- Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours before serving.
- Optional: serve over toasted baguette with goat cheese and cracked black pepper.
yumgoggle -
Really unique. I have done a lot of canning a few days back, and I also had strawberries but I never got to thinking to try pickling strawberries. I am positive they will be amazing. Your pictures don't lie. Will try this week.
Myfudo here...Normally we'd never put a shameless plug back to us, but we just launched our new site and we would love for you to be a part of it. I'd love to share our newest launch with you, I hope you don't mind? Now that we are getting a new look...Myfudo is moving to a new domain http://www.yumgoggle.com This has been a project we have been working on for almost a year now. We just launched our new gallery submission site, and we are just thrilled. We’d be proud to have your work as part of our growing collection to continue to have a larger reach and further inspire all fellow food lovers out there! Please sign up and check us out (it's free) http://www.yumgoggle.com/gallery
We look forward to seeing your wonderful pictures, as always.
p.s. We are hosting a Kitchen Aid Mixer Giveaway to celebrate our new Yumgoggle site, we hope you'll participate =)
http://www.yumgoggle.com/japanese-cuisine-japanese-spinach-side-dish-horenso-no-ohitashi-kitchenaid-mixer-giveaway/
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks! Let me know how you like them. It was strange at first but grew on me after a couple bites. My boyfriend just went crazy for them though!
Checked out your site a couple days ago and even posted to your gallery! Looks good! Thanks for sharing about he giveaway - I'll be sure to enter tomorrow when I'm on my computer.
Sheri -
How fun and pretty! You've always liked the sweet & sour combo so it's no surprise these were a hit!
Lauren | Hippie Dog Company -
I love to experiment with new things but wouldn't have thought of this. Will HAVE to try it though! Thanks!
Sarah Menanix -
I haven't tried the remaining jar now that they've been sitting for almost a week, but I think we'll eat them on paninis tonight - I wonder if the extra time will make them even more sour. I'll report back!
Coco -
That is crrazy! Never would've thought of it. I've gotta try it.
Sarah Menanix -
Let me know how you like the flavors if you end up trying it!
Allison -
Yum, that sounds awesome! I love mojitos with strawberries, so I know they go well with mint, but I never thought of pickling them. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
Sarah Menanix -
I love strawberry mojitos too, which I think I had in mind when I made these. Beware that the vinegar brings a whole new element that makes these like nothing you've ever tasted before - strange but tasty, in my opinion!
L2kitchen -
Wow that looks amazing! I would've never thought to pickle fruit! :D Just dropping by to say that I found your blog on pinterest and frequently lurk here..on my own blog, I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award. :D You can read about it by reading my entry if you so desire. Keep up the amazing job!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you! That is so nice of you - I'm flattered:)
Kylie -
Hi! I know this comes very late but I have a question. All the pickled strawberry recipes that I find all say that they're 'ready to eat' after 12-24 hours. I'm looking to preserve them so I can eat them over the coming months. Do you think they would last that long in a store cupboard?
Thanks, Kylie.
Sarah Menanix -
Great question! I haven't tried storing the pickled strawberries for a long period of time, but my guess is the reason all the recipes call for eating them within a day is that the longer the strawberries sit in the brine, the mushier they'll get, and since they're already a super soft fruit to begin with, my hunch is that they'll get way too soft after storing for a long period of time. Hope this helps!
Kylie -
Thank you! I ended up making two batches, swapping the RW Vinegar for Balsamic in the second lot - it will be interesting to see how it turns out!
I'll leave one of each batch for the longer term (we are approaching our Aussie summer here - hello salad!) but I think we'll just have to eat the others now to be safe! Life is full of tough calls :)
Sarah Menanix -
Oh my - balsamic sounds like a perfect complement!