Pickled Shrunken Heads

This idea was just way to clever to not make myself. Of course I found it on Pinterest, but it was just a photo from Kim Hellemans, no link to a blog or anything. Here is the link to her photo however. I absolutely had to make these cute little shrunken heads. Imagine them along side my Amputated Appetizer cheese platter or to turn your plain old hamburgers into a Halloween themed meal by topping them with a skeleton pickle. They are just too much fun. :)

These shrunken heads are made from two kinds of pickle recipes so you can choose which one you like. The cucumbers are the classic dill pickle from my Dill pickle blog from last year. I did revise the recipe just a little, so see the recipe below for the changes. The radishes are pickled with a sweet but spicy pickling brine with an added Serrano pepper for added spice. Feel free to omit the peppers if you just want them sweet. Both are delicious! Enjoy!

Pickled Shrunken Heads

Radish Heads
12 Radishes (makes 1 pint sized jar)
1 Serrano pepper
sweet and spicy pickling recipe

Cut radishes lengthwise or crosswise. Use BBQ skewers to poke faces into the radishes. Now slice the radishes thinly into pickles that have fun faces on them. Place sliced radishes into sterilized jars. Slice Serrano pepper and add to each jar of radishes. Prepare quick pickling recipe and pour liquid into radishes/peppers and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Place lids and rings and let cool on the counter top. Once cooled store in the refrigerator. These pickles are not canned and will not keep without refrigeration so make sure to store them in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

 














Cucumber Heads
(makes 2 pint sized jars)

• 1 large English cucumber
• 4 Tbsp dried minced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 tsp pickling spice
• 3 heads of fresh dill
• 3 cups water
• 1 cups vinegar
• 3 Tbsp canning salt (do not use regular salt, used canning salt)

In a large pot, add onion, garlic, pickling spice, dill heads, water, vinegar and canning salt. Bring to a boil to dissolve salt and let cool.

As pickling brine is cooling prep cucumbers. 

Cut cucumber into 4 3-inch long sections and stand up the 3-inch sections on the cutting board so that the seeds are facing you. Use chopsticks and BBQ skewers to poke faces into the cucumbers. Then slice down the sides of the cucumber to narrow out to create the hollowed out cheeks. Now you are ready to slice them into pickle slices. Cut about 1/4" slices and place into sterilized jars along with some fresh dill springs. Once pickling brine is cooled, add mixture to the cucumbers and place lids and rings. Place in the refrigerator and the pickles will be ready to eat in three days. Turn the jars upside down to mix each day and return to the fridge. Like the radish recipe above these pickles are not canned and must be stored in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Doesn't this head look like Michael Meyers Mask from the movie, Halloween?

More Halloween inspired recipes.
Amputated Appetizer
Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte
Roasted Fingers and Toes

Pickled Onions

Pickled onions? Eew! Or at least that's what my kids say. They're still too young to appreciate pickled vegetables outside of cucumbers. That's okay though because that means there's more for me and my husband.
I was inspired to make some pickled onions after I had the most amazing slider in the history of hamburgers a few weeks ago. I ordered some Pan Seared Chicken Sliders from a local food truck called Belly BombZ where one of the key ingredients on this slider was pickled onions along with a few other yummy ingredients! I'm craving them now as I type. They were so incredibly delicious that I had to try to make a copycat version of them at home.  In my homemade attempt to recreate these delicious sliders, I first had to make some pickled onions. I remembered seeing this easy recipe for Pickled Shallots on Pinterest from one of my favorite blogs, The Cutting Edge of Ordinary. I made some with red onions rather than shallots since that's what I had on hand, and recently made the shallots too. 
Instead of a big fancy dinner for New Years Eve, this year I'm making a copycat version of Belly BombZ's Chicken Sliders. I'll blog my copycat version of the Chicken Sliders recipe on New Years Day but here's the first step, pickling onions. Enjoy!

Pickled Onions (recipe from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary)
(makes 1-16 oz jar)

1 1/2 cup red onions, sliced (~2 medium red onions)
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
2 T kosher salt (I used canning salt)
1/4 t red pepper flakes

Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings and set aside. Slice onions and place into canning jars. Stack the rings in layers like this.

 
Add water, vinegar, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes and then pour hot pickling liquid into the onion filled jars and fill to the top. Place lids and rings over filled jars and hand tighten. Let cool to room temperature and store in the refrigerator. Let them pickle in the fridge for 2-3 days and Enjoy!

Note: These are not canned, only quick pickled so these must be stored in the fridge.

These are great on hamburgers, sandwiches and salads or a great addition to an appetizer cheese plate. Enjoy!

Other pickling recipes to try:
Quick Pickled Jalapenos and Radishes
Dill Pickles
Looking for another onion recipe to try, these are delicious.
Parmesan Creamed Onions 

Happy New Year!

Quick Pickled Jalapenos and Radishes

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. 
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, 
Where's the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?

I say that nursery rhyme in my head every time I think of pickled peppers. If only I could remember most other things that well and for as long. Anyway, I stumbled on a pound of Jalapeno peppers for a $1 yesterday and wanted to attempt to make some pickled jalapeno peppers. I thought it would be fun to top some burgers or hot dogs with these little babies for a Memorial Day BBQ.  

I searched the Internet for 'pickled jalapenos' and this super quick and easy recipe popped up from allrecipes.com  I also had some radishes in my fridge and decided to add these too and see how they turned out. I told myself that if they were good enough, I would blog about them. They turned out great and they were super delicious and very spicy! But I like spicy. 

The video on allrecipes.com suggested to rinse your cut jalapenos in cool water to help remove some of the seeds to help lower the heat.  If you didn't know already, the hottest parts of peppers, comes from the seeds and the ribs holding the seeds. So if you are wanting to reduce the hotness of peppers in this and other preparations, do remove the ribs and seeds. (I skipped this step in my preparation of this recipe)

I like this recipe because it's easy and it's intended to make a small amount to be used in a short amount of time. You can prepare and serve them in a matter of hours rather than in days as in traditional canning methods for pickling vegetables. Store them in your refrigerator for up to three months*. (*I'd previously stated that you could only store these in your fridge for about a week, but I have since been doing more research on quick pickling and these pickles will keep in your refrigerator for up to three months.) 

Here is a picture of my breakfast this morning using the peppers I pickled. Pretty perfect. The radishes were terrific too, surprisingly delicate and flavorful, you pick up the notes of oregano well in the radishes. Pickled radishes are my new favorite discovery and I plan on pickling them again so I can experiment with dishes to incorporate these bad boys. :) 

Quick Pickled Jalapenos and Radishes (recipe from allrecipes.com)
(Makes 2- 8oz jars)


3/4 cup water
3/4 cup vinegar
3 T granulated sugar
1 T kosher salt (I used canning salt)
1 clove garlic (I used 2 garlic cloves)
1/2 t Mexican oregano
10 large Jalapenos, sliced into rings
5 radishes, sliced into rounds (I added radishes to the mix as well)

Add water, vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic and oregano in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add Jalapenos and radishes to pot with vinegar mixture and remove from heat. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes.

Use tongs to transfer peppers and radishes into 2-8oz jars. Top off each jar with remaining vinegar mixture. Place lids tightly and refrigerate.

These are only quick pickled peppers and radishes and can be used immediately and/or stored in your refrigerator for up to three months. Enjoy!