Triple Red Pickle

Another yummy looking recipe from "The Canning Kitchen" was the picture for the Triple Red Pickle. I saw this picture and thought it was a great idea for swiss cheese on an crunchy yeasty bread. It's a perfect cover for a well roasted bratwurst or a topping on a pastrami sandwich. 

This recipe will sit in the pantry for about three weeks so that the vinegar will mellow. 

Triple Red Pickle

2 1/2 pounds red cabbage (about 1 large head)

2 cups thinly sliced red onion

4 cups red wine vinegar

1/4 cup pickling salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 T. celery seeds

Preparation: Prepare 4 pint lids, and rings. Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till its time for processing. Peel off and discard the outside leaves of cabbage. Cut the cabbage in half. Cut out and discard the firm white core. Cut each half in half lengthwise, then slice thinly into crosswise strips, or slice (not shred) in a food processor or with a sharp knife. 

Cooking: In a large stainless steel or enameled Dutch combine cabbage, red onion, vinegar, salt, sugar, and celery seeds. Turn the heat to high and cook, stirring constantly, just until the liquid comes to a boil. Remove from the heat. 

Filling the jars:  On a dishtowel place your hot jars and using your funnel in each jar. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, scoop the softened veggies filling to 1" below the rim. Top up with the vinegar cooking liquid leaving a 1/2" headspace. Remove air bubbles with a non-metallic utensil. Refill with liquid to fill to the correct headspace.  Taking a clean papertowel wet it with warm water and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal. Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight".

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 20 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning. 

Sealing: Sometime in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.