Yield: 12 eggs
Ingredients
Instructions
Place eggs and onion in a wide-mouth jar. Combine remaining ingredients in a nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour over the eggs. Cover and refrigerate for a week before serving. Eggs will keep about two months in the refrigerator.
Variations. Try garlic-purple basil vinegar, or substitute carnation vinegar or cinnamon basil vinegar and use only cloves and cinnamon for the spices.
Yield: 12 eggs
Ingredients
Instructions
Place eggs, shallots, herbs, garlic, and pepper or peppercorns in a wide-mouth jar. Stir honey into vinegar and pour over the eggs. Cover and refrigerate for a week before serving. Eggs will keep about two months in the refrigerator.
Variations. Consider substituting other vinegar flavors, especially raspberry, tarragon, thyme, dill, basil, or garlic chives. Also substitute fresh herbs as desired.
Yield: 1 pound
The classic way to serve these is by first buttering a thin slice of rye or pumpernickel bread, then adding a leaf of butter head lettuce and several pieces of drained marinated herring. Add some onion rings from the marinade, chopped capers, radishes, chives, parsley, or dill, a lemon slice, and a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche.
Ingredients
Instructions
Rinse herring under running cold water. Slit the bellies and remove the innards. Place in a shallow nonreactive dish and cover with cold water or buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Drain and rinse under running cold water. Remove tails, fins, and back bones, if desired. Slice crosswise into 1-inch pieces.
In a wide-mouth quart jar, alternate layers of herring and onion. In a nonreactive saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, allspice, mustard seeds, cloves, bay leaves, and hot pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool and pour over the herring and onions, cover, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
This keeps for at least two months.
Variations. Substitute salt-cured but unsmoked salmon, also called lox or belly lox, cutting off the skin after soaking. Pickling spices may be substituted. Or, add 1⁄2 teaspoon each coriander, cumin, and dill seeds to the spices above.
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
Instructions
In a large nonreactive bowl, combine all ingredients except shrimp. Whisk together.
Fill a large kettle three-fourths full of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add shrimp and cook until opaque in the center, or about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and add to the marinade, stirring to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 or 4 hours before serving.
Yield: 21⁄2 cups
Ingredients
Instructions
In a mixer or food processor, mix together the two cheeses, 1⁄2 cup pecans, apple, vinegar, and sage. Add additional vinegar if mixture seems too dry. Form entire mixture into a ball and roll it in remaining pecans. Cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving.
Yield: 2 pounds
Ingredients
Instructions
In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge the salmon in the flour mixture and shake off the excess. Warm the oil in a heavy nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the fish on both sides until lightly browned, or about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove to a shallow nonreactive dish.
Add the onions and carrots to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in the marjoram, bay leaf, hot pepper, vinegar, and water, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Pour the vegetable mixture over the salmon, cover, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving.
Variations. Mackerel, shad, or other firm oily fish can be substituted for the salmon.
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients
Instructions
In a nonreactive bowl, combine cucumber, vinegar, burnet, dill, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir in the ricotta and yogurt, adding more vinegar if necessary to get the desired consistency. Cover and refrigerate for at least several hours before serving.
Yield: 1 cup
Ingredients
Instructions
In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients until just blended. The dip should still have some recognizable pieces.
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients
Instructions
In a nonreactive bowl, combine all ingredients. Arrange in a mound on a serving platter or bowl, cover, and refrigerate for several hours before serving.