I’m convinced that seabeans make a great pickle. They’re already salty, crunchy, so small that the pickling mixture soaks through them pretty quickly, but so far my experiments have not been super successful…too much vinegar, not enough salt, too much garlic, not enough dill. I’m starting from scratch, and this time, am using the naturally fermented method.
Rather than vinegar and pickling spices, this method uses only salt,water, garlic. Dill and other flavorings can included to taste, but this time I used only the above. Vinegar free pickles are the traditional way of making pickles. Rather than trapping out bacteria via vinegar (basically making an antiseptic brine where nothing can live), naturally fermented pickles actually grow their own beneficial bacteria. This serves several purposes. 1. it makes them deliciously tart, 2. it keeps out bad bacteria, and 3. the pickles are actually good for you. The same kind of good bacteria that lives in yogurt (Lactobacillus) grows in these pickles, helping your digestion and immune system. All good things. Without further ado, here’s what I did today….
What I used:
1 cup Sea Salt
11 cups filtered h20
2 cloves garlic
1.5 lbs sea beans (also known as pickleweed or samphire)
My trusty Makers notebook ( a gift for being in the makers faire)
gallon jar (mine was not widemouthed, but thats ideal if you have one)
What I did:
1.Cleaned the jar with a splash of boiling water
2. Mixed 11 Cups water and 1 Cup Sea Salt (old wives tale says that you should be able to float an egg in the brine…I generally find old wives to be right, and this brine passes that test)
3.took out egg.
4.added sea beans and garlic (I didn’t have any dill, but I’m sure that will make it that much more delicious)
5.the reason for using a wide mouth jar is that you need a way to keep the veggies underneath the brining solution while it sits. The best way to do this is to get a plate that just fits into the jar, and use a rock to weigh it down. My jar has a tapered lid, so I couldn’t do that. My solution (a very elegant one I gleaned from a woman at the makers faire…Rachel I think (sorry if you’re reading this) ) is to fill a plastic bag with water, seal the top, and squeeze that through the jar. It acts to keep the seabeans down, pretty cool. It’s really not ideal, because you don’t necessarily want plastic sitting on your food for that long, but works in a pinch.
6. that’s it! cover the jar, and let it sit in a dark place for a while. Check them after 1,2,3 weeks, this way you can taste as the flavor develops. These should keep for about a year. I’ll update in a week, see how the experiment is holding up. Make sure to keep track of what you did, so you can change/repeat it next time.
polluted area, the bay’s got more of those than not. Often used as a garnish in restaurants, sea beans can be eaten raw, but they’re so salty that a full plate is not that appetizing. I try to find other uses. They are great sauteed with butter and garlic if you’re in a hurry, but if you’ve got time (6 weeks or so), they make a great pickle. Crisp and salty, their thin build lets the picking mix penetrate all the way to the center, totally masking the Sea Bean flavor. Experiment with different concoctions, but my favorite is dill. Great with fish, or in egg salad. Pics are a bit blurry, I guess the iphone isn’t perfect.
them for a bit. I’m generally not a fan of the microwave, but if you want to kill things, it’s the place to put them(kinda makes you wonder what it’s doing to your food). This is a good time to put your lids and rims in some water to boil, they should boil for about 10 minutes (don’t put them in the microwave!…unless you want to have a really good story about explosions in the kitchen)
