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Jul. 4th, 2021 10:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darchildreBought our first watermelon of the summer this weekend, so this morning I made watermelon rind pickles.
I think watermelon pickles might be my favorite pickle? I like that they use a part of the fruit that I would otherwise just throw away, and because it's a rind, you never have to worry about the pickles getting too squidgy. (I like a pickle to have some firmness when you bite into it.) Plus, watermelon rind doesn't have a huge amount of inherent flavor, so it acts purely as a vessel for pickle-brine taste.
Peeling the watermelon rind kinda sucks, though.
Anyway!
This is a quick pickle, so no canning is required. It makes about a quart of pickles.
Get yourself a watermelon. I usually use one of the wee "personal" watermelons - the ones about the size of a cantaloupe - but any kind will do. Cut up the fruit and reserve the rind. Keep the rind in large pieces if you can - this makes peeling easier. Then, with a vegetable peeler, peel off the green part of the rind, leaving the white later. Cut the white part of the rind into half inch chunks - enough to fill a quart jar, leaving a little space at the top.
Put 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of honey into a pot and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 tbsp allspice berries, and 1 whole nutmeg (cracked). Reduce the heat, stir, and let that simmer for about 10 minutes.
Once you're done simmering, pour the brine and the spices into the jar along with the watermelon rind. Try to make sure that the brine is covering all the rind chunks. Once the jar is cool, put it in the fridge and let it pickle for a day or two. Then you can open it up and eat your pickles!
These are probably only supposed to last for a couple weeks in the fridge, but, y'know, they're pickles. I have kept mine for much longer than that on occasion and found them to be perfectly fine. But also, they're delicious, so you will probably eat them in a couple weeks.
I think watermelon pickles might be my favorite pickle? I like that they use a part of the fruit that I would otherwise just throw away, and because it's a rind, you never have to worry about the pickles getting too squidgy. (I like a pickle to have some firmness when you bite into it.) Plus, watermelon rind doesn't have a huge amount of inherent flavor, so it acts purely as a vessel for pickle-brine taste.
Peeling the watermelon rind kinda sucks, though.
Anyway!
This is a quick pickle, so no canning is required. It makes about a quart of pickles.
Get yourself a watermelon. I usually use one of the wee "personal" watermelons - the ones about the size of a cantaloupe - but any kind will do. Cut up the fruit and reserve the rind. Keep the rind in large pieces if you can - this makes peeling easier. Then, with a vegetable peeler, peel off the green part of the rind, leaving the white later. Cut the white part of the rind into half inch chunks - enough to fill a quart jar, leaving a little space at the top.
Put 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of honey into a pot and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 tbsp allspice berries, and 1 whole nutmeg (cracked). Reduce the heat, stir, and let that simmer for about 10 minutes.
Once you're done simmering, pour the brine and the spices into the jar along with the watermelon rind. Try to make sure that the brine is covering all the rind chunks. Once the jar is cool, put it in the fridge and let it pickle for a day or two. Then you can open it up and eat your pickles!
These are probably only supposed to last for a couple weeks in the fridge, but, y'know, they're pickles. I have kept mine for much longer than that on occasion and found them to be perfectly fine. But also, they're delicious, so you will probably eat them in a couple weeks.
