Spring Sweet Pea/Asparagus Pickles
I’m obsessed with this peas asparagus pickles recipe. Mark my words, I am a pickle addict. But my love of pickles wasn’t a loving culinary journey in the beginning.
Peas, Asparagus Pickles Recipe
Vietnamese cuisine is a collage of fresh vegetables, layered flavors and diversity of textures. So pickles in all forms were always a key staple at our meals. As long as I could remember Mom and Dad would grow small white eggplants, mustard greens and other vegetables and pickle them till we ran out of glass jars. Pickling was an integral part of Mom’s kitchen life and if she did it, then so did we.
As kids, we felt horribly abused and forced to the task of tending the garden and pickle duty. I hated pickle duty boot camp.
Weeding the garden wasn’t nearly as torturous as washing the vegetables and preparing the brine for Mom’s pickles. For every hour we spent in the garden, we had one less hour playing Atari Pac-Man and Frogger. Back then, Atari was the blood that ran in our childhood circles, an addiction that had to be sufficed with at least 2 hours of Frogger or Pit-fall or else we’d suffer from non-video game syndrome.
But when late Spring and Summer arrived, we were handed big colanders, a pair of clippers and our Atari was taken away. All six of us kids screamed abuse! Mutiny! Child slave labor! Then Dad would come out of his office with a loud growl. No words, just a growl. And then we’d all retreat to the garden with our tails between our legs.
If we wanted to be fed, we had to help participate in the cooking process.
We helped Mom pick eggplant and mustard greens. And lots of it. The kitchen sink was station #1 to wash. The dinner table was spread with newspaper and cutting boards. That was station #2. The counter-top of the final station #3 for the pickling and jarring.
As the eldest child, I was the team leader and I told all my younger siblings that if we did this fast enough, there would be more Atari time for us all. That incentive was enough to get us all whistling to the seven dwarfs’ song.
Quick Fridge Pickles
Within a few hours, we all bustled from the garden to the kitchen like well trained, industrious little dwarfs. At the end of the day, the counter top was lined with jars of beautiful pickles of all shapes and colors. Mom was proud and relieved to have pickles for the next 2 months and the six of us kids were racing to see which two would get the 2 Atari joy-sticks first.
My Atari playing days are over, but ironically, my pickling days have just begun. For the last 2 years, I’ve been a manic pickler of all things crunchy. From homemade kim-chi to dill pickles to okra, I’m affectionately in love with the craft of pickling. If I have big batches of garden veggies that can’t be eaten quick enough, then guaranteed they’ll all be in a brine within a matter of hours.
All those pickling days as a kid paid off considerably. Indeed they have. Just look in our garage and you’ll see what that pickling boot camp taught me.
Southern Kitchen Cookbook
I’m thrilled with this particular pickling recipe from Sara Foster’s new book, Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen. Sara has wonderful recipes and I’ve been pleased with all her recipes from her Market cookbook. Her newest book has a terrific quick pickle recipe that is so bright, fresh and balanced, it’s so probably my favorite pickling recipe so far.
Her recipe uses the juice of a whole lemon and I think that is what I’m so in love with. The bright citrus flavors really highlight my spring pickles from the garden. When Spring arrives, I love nothing more than to be able to pickle sugar snap peas from my garden and some fresh asparagus I find at the market.
The combination of Sara’s versatile pickling brine, along with Spring’s love of peas and asparagus help me celebrate the arrival of this magnificent Spring season even more.
I’m beyond excited for Spring and pickles.
Love,
-Diane
Spring Pickles: Quick Pickling Recipe
Ingredients
Pickle Brine
- 1/3 cup Distillled White Vinegar
- 1/2 cup Water
- Zest & Juice of 1 Lemon
- 4 sprigs fresh Tarragon or Dill
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1 inch piece of Ginger , julienned
- 1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Dill Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt , or Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked Black Pepper
- pinch crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Suggestions for Pickling
- 1/2 lb Sweet Peas , Asparagus, Cucumbers or other Vegetables, well cleaned
- 1/2 medium Red Onion , thinly sliced
Instructions
- Combine pickle brine ingredients together in a medium bowl and mix well. In whatever containers you are going to pickle into, scoop out the solids from the pickle brine (ginger, seeds) and divide between your containers.
- Arrange your pickling vegetables into your pickling containers. Then pour remainder of pickling brine over the vegetables to cover. Refrigerate for at least on hour, or can your pickles for later use.
Great story to go along with your beautiful photos. I can imagine the mutinous calls when the Atari was revoked in favor of pickling.
I haven’t attempted pickling or canning yet, I really want to but I find it a little intimidating. Your pictures are gorgeous, I would love to give this a try.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE pickles! I pickle everything, it’s a great way to use up extra vegetables, and with spring here, it’s perfect – This sounds like a great book, and recipe! Thanks for sharing.
How gorgeous!! I could sit and browse through your site all day, it’s so beautiful. Lovely recipe!! Have a great Monday friends!
Isn’t funny how things come full circle?! My childhood sounds parallel to yours Diane in the food chore department. I remember dreading picking pie cherries from our trees which always seemed to fall to the kids as ‘slave labor’ for both picking and pitting. Now of course I’d love to have a cherry tree and go to farms to pick myself! We did the pickles too. Love your photos as always and cannot believe you have gorgeous things to pick already. I’m awaiting snow today in Colorado and contemplating building up the garden soil in anticipation of planting in June!
I love the use of ginger in this recipe, and I can’t wait to try it on the first spring vegetables. I have been obsessed with pickling for the last year and a half, and there is something so satisfying about a crunchy pickled green bean or asparagus spear. Love that you used peas. I’ll have to add them to my list.
I’m slowly working my way up to canning and pickling. It makes so much sense with our short growing season but haven’t over come my botulism fears yet. Fridge pickles would probably be a good place to start.
Sounds like mom instilled great work ethics in you. I haven’t tried pickling yet but ya never know!
What a great story about your childhood! It’s wonderful that you had such a close affinity with where your food comes from at such an early age (even if it did detract from your atari time), it’s something that I think a lot of people missed out on! On a separate note – who knew you could pickle sweet peas?! I’ll have to give it a try next year when I grow them…if I have any left 🙂
Oh my gosh – Pit Fall? Frogger? I can’t even remember the last time I thought about those games! Or the number of times I fell off the rope onto a waiting alligator 🙂 I’ve never thought about pickling anything beyond cucumbers. I can’t wait ’til we’re knee deep in peas in a few weeks to give this a shot!