Cold-brine pickled green beans

Vinegar-brined pickles are different from fermented pickles, it is a more controlled process and not dependent on the vagaries of yeasts and bacteria. The process is also usually simpler and hence used more in the commercial pickling process. There are two types of brining, cold bring where no heat is used, and hot brining where the vegetables are usually cooked for a short time in the brine. The process varies for the type of vegetable used and how crunchy you would like the pickles to be.

These pickled beans will steal the show!. they are crunchy and permeated with vinegar, lightly spiced with the chillies and have a lovely sweet-ish flavour. They are so easy to pick up and bite into and look lovely on. any table. I like to serve them as part of a cheese plate, but you can also serve them with main courses especially if they are heavy stews or grilled meats. They are perfect as a palate cleanser.

This book is one of my favourites to go to for a variety of vegetarian recipes. The chef's twists on vegetables want me to cook the entire book, we will get there eventually. Each recipe has been fabulous, with the wonderful combination of ingredients and the perfect recipes to highlight each vegetable, this is a cookbook I should be cooking from the everyday.

For more recipes from this cookbook click here.

Ingredients:

For the brine:

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

15-20 baby green beans, the base trimmed and left whole

4 garlic cloves, sliced

2 dried red chillies

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

Add all the ingredients for the brine to a glass container and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Add the rest of the ingredients and submerge well.

Pickle for 3 days and the beans are ready. However, they will continue to pickle over time. Store in the fridge for 1 month.