It’s turnip season, and my weekly produce box is brimming with them. I discovered pickled turnips in the Ha Carmel Shuk in Tel Aviv, and they’ve become one of my secret addictions.
This is my second try at pickling turnips, and this recipe is a winner! Don’t be scared off by the jalapeño. It adds just the right amount of kick. But I did remove it when I moved the jars from the cabinet to the refrigerator on day 7. This recipe makes 2 jars.
Ingredients
3 cups water
1/3 cup coarse Kosher salt
2 bay leaves
1 cup white distilled vinegar
2 pounds turnips, peeled
1/2 beet, sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced in half
1 jalapeño, seeded and sliced in half
Instructions
1) Heat half the water with all the salt and the bay leaf, stirring until the salt is dissolved
2) Let the salt water cool, then add the rest of the water and the vinegar.
3) Prepare two large canning jars by sterilizing them in boiling water.
4) Cut the turnips into french-fry-like batons. Cut the beet into slices.
5) Fill the jars evenly with the turnips, beet, garlic halves, and the jalapeño.
6) Fill the jars with the salt vinegar water. Add a bay leaf to each one. If you don’t have enough liquid to completely fill the jar, you may need to make more of the salt water vinegar. (Sorry, this is an inexact science!)
6) Cover and store in a cool, dark cabinet for seven days.
7) Now they are ready-to-eat, and should be refrigerated. You can remove the jalapeño at this point if you are concerned about the heat.