For those who haven’t spent quality time in the greater Chicago area, giardiniera is a condiment made up of crisp, spicy, pickled vegetables usually cauliflower, carrots, and celery. My version is called Jew Giar and it’s spiked with a healthy dose of horseradish.
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
2 medium carrots
2 stalks celery
2 jalapeno peppers
Pickling spices
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. yellow mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. peppercorns
1/2 tsp. chili flakes
1/4 tsp. celery seeds
1 bay leaf
Additional items you’ll add later:
2 garlic cloves, each cut in half
Enough fresh horseradish so when you grate it you’ll end up with about 3 tablespoons
Brine:
3 cups white wine vinegar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup white vinegar
4 cups water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
Chop up your veggies to your desired level of chunkiness. I like to leave em fairly chunky because you can’t put the pieces back together later you but can always dice them up. Put the pieces in a bowl, cover with water, sprinkle in the salt and stir until dissolved. Cover and stow in the fridge overnight or otherwise 6-10 hours.
When you take the vegetables out of the fridge, drain and rinse them.
Combine the brine ingredients and boil.
While that’s heating up, put all of the pickling spices - except for the garlic - in a quart sized ball jar.
Okay, now peel and grate like two to three inches of horseradish, enough so when you grate it, you have three tablespoons. I use a Cuisinart for this. It’s a heady undertaking. Add half the horseradish to the spices.
Then add the veggies to the jar.
Once your brine is boiling, remove it from the heat and pour it over the vegetables.
Add the remainder of the horseradish and the garlic halves and push down to submerge.
Wipe the mouth of the jar and seal. Let this cool down for about a day on your countertop, then put in the fridge and leave it there for at least five days. The veggies will be tasty in two days but you need extra time for the horseradish to really express itself.