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I can get a little, how you say, obsessed with things. Diving whole-hog into projects and buying supplies to supplement my already busting-at-the-seams kitchen implement storage space. So, when it came to getting the proper supplies for fermenting after watching Brad Leone make giardiniera, I hesitated.

For about one day.

Floating flavors.

I’ve already amassed several gallon jars from back when I made kombucha on the reg, but I didn’t think I wanted to make GALLONS of giardiniera at a time, especially since I don’t typically eat smoked or cured meat sandwiches. So, I decided to do two things: a) buy a half-gallon kit, complete with two lids and an airlock (also a weight) and 2) since I could open a general store with the number of jars in the house, I also bought a kit for mason jars.

The task is relatively simple. Measure, chop, mix, wait.

Black mustard seeds are good here, but they’re *really* good in Dal Tadka.

The video has all of the ingredients, but I’m going to list the seasonings and instructions here, mostly for my reference in case I lose the notes on my fridge door. These measurements are for a 1-gal container, so I’ve had to halve and halve again for my vessels.

Fermented Giardiniera

Italian pickle relish
Prep Time20 minutes
Waiting time5 days
Yield: 0

Equipment

  • Airlock
  • Ceramic weight
  • Glass vessel
  • Lid

Materials

  • enough veggies to fill the vessel cauliflower, celery, carrots, white or yellow onion, red pepper, etc.
  • 8 cups water filtered
  • 66 g salt not the big flaky kind

Spices and Seasonings

  • 6 bay leaves fresh
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp peppercorns tellicherry
  • 1 tsp fennel seed
  • 2 tsp oregano dried
  • 1/2 tsp celery salt
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne
  • 5 cloves garlic smashed
  • 3.5 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 c white vinegar

Instructions

Veggies

  • Smash your garlic first. Apparently, this releases something called "allicin", and that's good for you.
  • Cut the veggies up into a size with which you might use in a stir fry.

The Rest

  • Add water and salt into the vessel and give it a good shake to dissolve the salt.
  • Add all of the spices (but not the sugar and white vin.) into the vessel.
  • Add your veggies to fill mostly to the top. Twist on lid and give a good shake. Place ceramic weight into container to keep veggies submerged. Cover with air-lock lid. Put on top of fridge or somewhere out of the way and wait about five (5) days.

After Ferment

  • Mix in sugar and white vinegar and give a good stir or shake. Re-bottle into smaller jars to give to friends or put into fridge as-is.