Giardinera

3 Quarts

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 small Head cauliflower
2 mediums Red peppers
1 medium Yellow pepper
2 Ribs celery
3 smalls Pickling cucumbers
1 pounds Carrots (baby carrots are especially nice)
2 smalls Japanese eggplants (up to 3)
3 cups White-wine or rice vinegar
2½ cup Water
4 tablespoons Sea salt or Kosher salt
4 Cloves garlic
2 smalls Chile pods [you be the judge] (up to 3)
12 Peppercorns
8 larges Sprigs fresh dill
Olive oil to top off

Directions

Some time ago, there were some queries about Giardinera, a hot relish used here in Chicagoland on Italian beef sandwiches, and much missed by transplanted Chicagoans. I don't remember seeing many recipes posted in response, I could be wrong. In any case, here's a recipe copied from Fine Cooking No. 2 (a plug and a caveat: thanks to my husband, I'm a charter subscriber to this fine publication from the Taunton Press--everything they do is good, as far as I'm concerned. But I haven't made this recipe).

Credit: Jeanne Quan, Fine Cooking No. 2 (April/May 1994): 27 You may vary the selection and proportions of the vegetables.

Method: Thoroughly clean and trim the vegetables, removing all blemishes, seeds, ribs from inside the peppers, and tough stems. Cut the vegetables into uniform sizes: 2 in. pieces, and baby carrots can be left whole.

Blanch the eggplant for 1 min. in boiling salted water. Pack all vegetables snugly into a clean glass jar with a clamp lid. In a glass or ceramic bowl, mix the vinegar, water, salt, and seasonings. Pour the mixture over the vegetables to completely submerge them. Make more pickling liquid if necessary. Top off with a ½ in. layer of olive oil. Store in a cool pantry for two weeks before eating.

Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V3 #229 by margo@... (Margo Hobbs Thompson) on Feb 1, 1997.

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