Anne Nicholson of Borden, Prince Edward Island has opened the family vault on her secret recipe for home made mustard pickles. Grammie Nicholson's famous preserves are a must-have for Christmas Dinner! At 80, she has perfected this family recipe with over 60 years of practice.
Great pickles start with quality ingredients. Rich red soil, fresh sea air, and abundant summer sunshine combine to make PEI one of the most fertile agricultural regions in Canada. Too bad it’s so small!
Gram Nicholson’s Walden Cabin Mustard Pickles
Ingredients:
5 Qt Fresh cucumbers, quartered and seeded
3 lb onions, finely chopped
1 cauliflower, broken to individual florets
1 red pepper, chopped to small squares (for colour)
Dressing:
7 cups white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
1.5 cups flour (or corn starch)
Method:
Cukes should be prepared the night before cooking, and should be soaked overnight in 1/2 cup of pickling salt (sprinkled over the prepared cukes in a large stock pot).
The next morning, begin by preparing the dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients together in a large stock pot and mix over medium heat until creamy — but not thick! Once the dressing has reached the desired consistency, add the vegetables, starting with the cukes, and stir all ingredients.
Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the batch thickens. This should take about 10 minutes. Beware! Don’t overcook the vegetables. Overcooking will
result in a loss of the final pickle crunch!
Once the mixture thickens, you are ready to bottle. Use sterilized mason-type jars with self-sealing lids — listen for the POP! as the jars seal!
You should bottle the pickles hot, straight from the stock pot. Wipe jars clean of spillage and allow to cool before packing. Sit them on the counter to cool and step back to
appreciate the product of your labour.
Hurrah! Pickles for the winter!
