Canning pickles, beets and berry syrup

I had some requests for my beet and pickle recipes so I'm posting those with a bonus. I made some berry syrup from Aug/Sept Fine Cooking Magazine tonight.

The beets were super easy. I've always made pickled beets but thought I would try something different this year.

Raw Pickled Beets (from Martha)

Scrub, trim and peel 2 red and golden beets (I used a combination)

Slice thinly and transfer to a jar. (I used my mandolin)

Split 1 fresh Thai Chile in half.

Bring chile, 1 cup Rice Vinegar, 1/4 sup sugar, 1 fresh bay leaf (I used a dry one) and 1/2 tsp black peppercorns to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour hot mixture over beets. Seal jar and refrigerate. Beets will keep for 1 month.

Tatiana's Dill Pickles (from Martha)

3 cloves garlic, halved

4 allspice berries

1/2 bay leaf

1 thin slice red jalapeno chile seeded

3 fresh dill flower or 3 sprigs fresh dill

Kirby cucumbers (just long enough to fit in jar) washed and dried

1 T sugar

2 1/4 T gray salt

1 T white vinegar

Place 1 clean 64 oz jar right side up on a rack in a boiling water canner. Fill the canner and jar with hot water, about 1 inch above the top of jar. Boil jar over high heat for 10 minutes. Remove and drain jar. Place jar on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet.

Fill another large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and add clean lid. Simmer lid for 10 minutes. do not boil as this may cause problems in sealing jar. Drain lid and set aside.

Place 2 cloves garlic into sterilized jar along with allspice berries, bay leaf, jalapeno slices, 1 sprig dill and enough cucumbers to snugly fit into jar. Bring 8 cups water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Add enough boiling water to jar to fill to the very top of the jar (you may not need to use all the water) let stand 10 minutes. Drain water from jar.

In a large saucepan, combine 6 cups water, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add remaining clove of garlic, remaining sprig of dill and vinegar. Remove from heat and pour into jar until filled to the very top of the jar. Tightly screw on lid, invert jar, making sure that it does not leak and cover with a towel. Let stand overnight to cool.

Transfer pickles to refrigerator until ready to use up to 6 months.

Fresh Berry Syrup

3 cups fresh berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries) I used raspberries because they were on sale

Granulated sugar

In a saucepan crush berries with a potato masher. Add 1/4 cup water, if using strawberries used 1/2 cup. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the berries are very soft and juicy about 5 minutes.

Set a sieve over a bowl. Pour the berry pulp into the sieve and allow the juice to drip through. Gently press the pulp with a rubber spatula to extract as much juice as possible but don't press so hard that you force the pulp through.

Clean the saucepan, measure the juice and pour it into the saucepan. For every 1/4 cup juice add 1/4 cup sugar (I cut it a little). Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the syrup is viscous by still runny about 1 minute. Skim the foam with a spoon and pour the syrup into sterilized jars. Put the jars on a wire rack an let cool to room temperature. Screw the lids and bands on and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

I sealed my jars using standard canning directions. I doubled the recipe plus a little more.

You can use this on pancakes, waffles, ice cream, stirred into yogurt, rice pudding and oatmeal. Or brush it over a baked ham or a pork roast.

Ok that should keep you busy this weekend!! I'm getting up early in the morning and going to the Farmers Market to buy corn and make corn chowder!! YUM!!