Does anyone know if eggplant can be pickled safely?

I have the big BALL book and also the one with the bluev berry dessert on it
and all they say about eggplant is to freeze it.

Is eggplant a high acid or low acid food?

If you have a recipe that is safe can you share the recipe?

Many thanks Ann

D.L. wrote:
Does anyone know if eggplant can be pickled safely?

I have the big BALL book and also the one with the bluev berry dessert on it
and all they say about eggplant is to freeze it.

Is eggplant a high acid or low acid food?

Eggplant is definitely low acid.

If you have a recipe that is safe can you share the recipe?

Many thanks Ann


Never heard of pickled eggplant and suspect it would be nasty as
eggplant is a soft vegetable anyway. The only way I freeze eggplant is
in made up recipes such as moussaka and caponata. Tried just freezing
the stuff by itself and it get mushy quickly. HTH

George

"D.L." wrote in message
...
Does anyone know if eggplant can be pickled safely?

I have the big BALL book and also the one with the bluev berry dessert on
it
and all they say about eggplant is to freeze it.

Is eggplant a high acid or low acid food?

If you have a recipe that is safe can you share the recipe?

Many thanks Ann

In Joy of Pickling, there are a few such recipes. One is Madras Pickled
Eggplant - a deep curry flavored sort of chutney stuff. It is very tasty,
but requires some getting used to. My Indian friends over at the
Mediterranean grocery love it. It has a soft texture.
I also made a Lebanese garlic stuffed mini-eggplants. They were good, but
also strongly flavored. These were both boiling water bath recipes.
I'm thinking that if one were skilled in using pickling lime, one could
lime them for awhile to increase the texture. I've not had good luck there
with other veggies, but I've only tried the once.
I think one of the Blue Books has a bwb caponata recipe. I've done it
myself with Rachel Ray's recipe, but it requires more acidification than is
tasty to me. I like the of texture better as frozen caponata.
In addition, you could try some spears or slices in a vinegar mix, with
herbs of your choice, for keeping in the fridge for a few weeks as a sort of
fresh pickle.
Since eggplant is not a high acid food, you need at least 50/50
vinegar/water ratio for bwb canning. And the texture suffers from the heat.
hth,
Edrena

In article ,
"D.L." wrote:

Does anyone know if eggplant can be pickled safely?

The Ball Blue Book has recipes for several pickled vegetables -- beans,
summer squash, onions, among others. I don't know why eggplant could
not be pickled. That a recipe is not published in the popular books
doesn't necessarily mean it can't be done; more likely that it simply
isn't a popular item. JMO.

http://recipesearch.googlepages.com/

This is a nifty search engine and typing in "pickled eggplant" without
the quotation marks yielded several links to recipes, some looking more
promising to me than others.


Is eggplant a high acid or low acid food?

Vegetable - low acid.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com - story and
pics of Ronald McDonald House dinner posted 6-24-2007

"D.L." wrote:
Does anyone know if eggplant can be pickled safely?

I have the big BALL book and also the one with the bluev berry dessert on
it and all they say about eggplant is to freeze it.

Is eggplant a high acid or low acid food?

If you have a recipe that is safe can you share the recipe?

Many thanks Ann

In addition to having it 'fresh', I've had this canned and/or bottled. I
hope someone here can tell us how to preserce it, although it never lasts
long enough for me to can it. I also add some minced garlic in with the
onions.

Caponata Siciliana:

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
600g (1 1/4 lb, 3 1/2 cups) diced (unpeeled) aubergine (eggplant)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 small sticks celery, finely chopped
15-20 pitted green olives, chopped
3 Tbs chopped drained bottled capers
4 Tbs (1/4 cup) red wine vinegar
1-1/2 Tbs sugar, or to taste
3 Tbs golden raisins
3 Tbs pine nuts (pignole or piñones), toasted lightly (optional, but nice)
3/4 x 400g can (1 cup) good chopped plum tomatoes (San Marzano)
4 Tbs (1/4 cup) finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves (optional)

1. Cook the aubergine in 2 Tbs of the olive oil over moderately high heat.
The best way I've found to do this is to heat 1 Tbs oil in a heavy frying
pan, add the aubergine and mix well, then drizzle over another 1 Tbs oil
and mix again. This helps stop the cubes on the bottom from absorbing all
the oil. Cook, stirring often, until done - I like my aubergine very soft,
so I give it 15-20 minutes. When done, transfer to a bowl.

2. Add the remaining 1 Tbs oil to the frying pan, tip in the onion and
celery, and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes over moderate heat or until
the onion is fairly soft but not coloured.

3. Add the olives, capers, vinegar, sugar, raisins, pine nuts (if using),
and tomatoes and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes,
or until it is cooked through and the celery is tender. Cook it covered if
using fresh tomatoes, and uncovered if using canned, since they have more
juice.

4. Add the tomato mixture to the bowl. Add the parsley and mix well. Cool
and chill overnight, then season with salt and black pepper.

HTH

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !
~Semper Fi~

George Shirley wrote:
D.L. wrote:
Does anyone know if eggplant can be pickled safely?

I have the big BALL book and also the one with the bluev berry dessert on it
and all they say about eggplant is to freeze it.

Is eggplant a high acid or low acid food?

Eggplant is definitely low acid.

If you have a recipe that is safe can you share the recipe?

Many thanks Ann


Never heard of pickled eggplant

My site:
http://www.jewishfood-list.com/recip...pickles01.html and
http://www.jewishfood-list.com/recip...pickles02.html

But these are preserved in brine, not "put up."

B/

On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:58:30 -0500, "D.L."
wrote:

Does anyone know if eggplant can be pickled safely?

I have the big BALL book and also the one with the bluev berry dessert on it
and all they say about eggplant is to freeze it.

Is eggplant a high acid or low acid food?

If you have a recipe that is safe can you share the recipe?

Many thanks Ann


Here's one that we really enjoy, as do most of our friends.
It's from a very good book called "Year Round Small Batch Preserving"

Madras Pickled Eggplant

2 lb eggplant; in bite size pieces
3 tablespoon white vinegar
2 large cloves garlic; minced
2 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
1-1/2 cups white vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 hot red chili peppers; finely chopped
1/4 cup gingerroot; finely chopped
2 tablespoon pickling salt

Place 4 pint mason jars in boiling water bath canner, cover with water
and turn on heat.
Cube unpeeled eggplant into bite sized pieces and reserve.
Combine 3 tablespoons vinegar, garlic, chili powder, ginger and
turmeric in a small bowl to form a paste and reserve.
Heat oil on medium high in a large saucepan. Add cumin and fenugreek
seeds and saute for 1 minute. Add eggplant and saute for about 10
minutes or until eggplant is just tender. Reduce heat and add reserved
paste and 1-1/2 cups vinegar, sugar, chili peppers, gingerroot and
salt. Stir over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until boiling.
Remove hot jars from canner and ladle pickles into jars within 1/2
inch of rim (head space). Affix lids and screw bands. Process in
boiling water 15 minutes for half pints and 20 minutes for pints.
NOTE: Heat may be adjusted by varying the amount and/or type of hot
peppers used.

Yield: 3+ pints

In article ,
Nick Cramer wrote:

"D.L." wrote:
Does anyone know if eggplant can be pickled safely?

I have the big BALL book and also the one with the bluev berry dessert on
it and all they say about eggplant is to freeze it.

Is eggplant a high acid or low acid food?

If you have a recipe that is safe can you share the recipe?

Many thanks Ann

In addition to having it 'fresh', I've had this canned and/or bottled. I
hope someone here can tell us how to preserce it, although it never lasts
long enough for me to can it. I also add some minced garlic in with the
onions.

Caponata Siciliana:

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
600g (1 1/4 lb, 3 1/2 cups) diced (unpeeled) aubergine (eggplant)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 small sticks celery, finely chopped
15-20 pitted green olives, chopped
3 Tbs chopped drained bottled capers
4 Tbs (1/4 cup) red wine vinegar
1-1/2 Tbs sugar, or to taste
3 Tbs golden raisins
3 Tbs pine nuts (pignole or piñones), toasted lightly (optional, but nice)
3/4 x 400g can (1 cup) good chopped plum tomatoes (San Marzano)
4 Tbs (1/4 cup) finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves (optional)

1. Cook the aubergine in 2 Tbs of the olive oil over moderately high heat.
The best way I've found to do this is to heat 1 Tbs oil in a heavy frying
pan, add the aubergine and mix well, then drizzle over another 1 Tbs oil
and mix again. This helps stop the cubes on the bottom from absorbing all
the oil. Cook, stirring often, until done - I like my aubergine very soft,
so I give it 15-20 minutes. When done, transfer to a bowl.

2. Add the remaining 1 Tbs oil to the frying pan, tip in the onion and
celery, and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes over moderate heat or until
the onion is fairly soft but not coloured.

3. Add the olives, capers, vinegar, sugar, raisins, pine nuts (if using),
and tomatoes and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes,
or until it is cooked through and the celery is tender. Cook it covered if
using fresh tomatoes, and uncovered if using canned, since they have more
juice.

4. Add the tomato mixture to the bowl. Add the parsley and mix well. Cool
and chill overnight, then season with salt and black pepper.

HTH

Nick, I'm going out on a limb here and will suggest, based on experience
and information I cannot cite, that that is not enough acid for safe
waterbath processing and I'm thinking that pressure canning it would
pretty well cook the eggplant to mooshy. JMO.
I'll be watching for others' comments about processing this.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com - story and
pics of Ronald McDonald House dinner posted 6-24-2007

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
Nick Cramer wrote:
"D.L." wrote:
Does anyone know if eggplant can be pickled safely?
[ . . . ]
Caponata Siciliana:
[ . . . ]
Nick, I'm going out on a limb here and will suggest, based on experience
and information I cannot cite, that that is not enough acid for safe
waterbath processing and I'm thinking that pressure canning it would
pretty well cook the eggplant to mooshy. JMO.
I'll be watching for others' comments about processing this.

Thanks, Barb. As I said, this never lasts long enough to preserve. ;-)

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !
~Semper Fi~