pickled carrots

 I took the recipe from pickled carrots from here (adding bay leaf) and here but I think I should be able to figure it out in the future without dirtying every bowl and pan in my house.  I cleared my garden beds to move them to the backyard - they were always just intended to be temporary (I reused old fence boards with planter blocks) and they look awful in the front yard.  Now that my driveway is finally fixed I can fix the landscaping in the area so to the back these go, where I don't care if they look bad because they produce nourishment.  If I can get them set up next weekend in backyard I'll plant anther run of beets, daikon, and carrots, but mostly I'm getting these deeper beds prepped for sweet potatoes. Anyway, I had about 4# of carrots so I made a batch of pickled carrots with about 2.75# (the amounts worked out well - I did three pint jars and two random small pickle jars) and the rest of the carrots (and daikon) will go into sauerkraut I'll make next weekend with cabbage from the garden.

Ingredients

    ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
    2 cups white wine vinegar
    2 cups water
    2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
    2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano (or dried oregano)
    ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, lightly crushed
    1 small red onion, peeled and cut into ⅛-inch slices
    2 to 4 jalapeño chiles, quartered (seeded for less heat)
    2¾ pounds carrots, peeled and cut on a bias ½ inch thick
    8 garlic cloves, peeled

    bay leaf (1 per jar)
    4 small dried red chiles (optional)

Directions

   Sterilize jars. In a large, deep pot, add 4 pint jars and their lids. Cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Use tongs to remove the pint jars and lids from the hot water. Turn the jars upside down onto a kitchen towel to drain.

   Toast cumin seeds.  In a small skillet set over medium-high heat, add the cumin seeds and toast, stirring often, until the seeds are golden and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a small plate to cool.

 Make liquid. To a medium saucepan, add the vinegar, water, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the salt, the oregano and crushed peppercorns and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the onion and jalapeños and turn off the heat. - NOTE: since I water bath these and it was kind of a mess and difficult to distribute the spices, next time I'll just add oregano and peppercorns to the jars directly.

 Cook carrots. Bring a large saucepan of water and the remaining 1 tablespoon of salt to a boil. Add the carrots and simmer until al dente, about 3 minutes. Drain the carrots in a colander and immediately transfer them to the saucepan with the vinegar and onions. Bring the ingredients to a boil, then turn off the heat.
 

Jar it up. Divide the toasted cumin seeds, bay leaves, garlic cloves, and red chiles (if using) among the 4 jars. Using a slotted spoon, divide the carrots and onions among the jars. Top with the hot vinegar, leaving ½ inch of headspace at the top of the jar. Fasten the tops onto the jars and refrigerate for up to 1 month. 

 Water bath carrots. For longer storage, hot-water-process the pickles: Transfer the jars back to a pot of water, making sure the lids are tightly secured and that the jars are covered by at least a few inches of water, and boil for 10 minutes. Use tongs to transfer the jars to a kitchen-towel-lined surface and cool completely at room temperature. Store in a cool, dry, dark space.