Pickled Asparagus

I love pickled asparagus but it is a very expensive relish if I have to buy it from a grocery store.  So, I decided to pickle my own.  It was little scary at first, but with a copy of The Fresh Girl's Guide to Easy Canning and Preserving by Ana Micka and a little creativity (I added some hot peppers to make them a little spicy), I made my own pickled asparagus.  Here's how I did it.

I purchased fresh asparagus, dill, onions, cayenne peppers and jalapeño peppers at the Minneapolis Farmers' Market.  (I got the garlic at my local grocery store.)

I sanitized all of my lids and jar by placing them in water on the stove and bringing them to a simmer.  I removed them with kitchen tongs and placed them on a clean white towel to dry.  Keeping things sterile is must in canning!!!!

I cut my asparagus spears so they'd fit in my jars.

To the jars of asparagus, I added two garlic cloves,

a few onion slices,

some cayenne pepper slices,

some jalapeño slices,

lots of fresh dill,

and 1/2 teaspoon of pickling spice.

Here's what it looks like before the brine is added.

To make the brine, in a large pot I combined 6 cups of water,

two cups of white vinegar,

1/4 cup of sugar,

and 1/3 cup of pickling salt.

I put the pot on the stove......

and simmered the brine until the salt and sugar dissolved.

Using a funnel, I added the brine to the jars of asparagus,

leaving about 1/4 of an inch of headroom.

Next I prepared the canning pot by filling it 2/3 full of water.

To the water in the canning pot, I added 1 Tablespoon of water to keep the hard water from making spots on my jars.

After tightly covering the jars, I added them to the simmering canning pot.

Simmer for about 10 minutes and then remove from the hot water bath.

I tested the seal after taking them out of the water by gentle touching the top of the lid.  Yay!!!  All four jars sealed.  (If one or more hadn't sealed, I would have had to put those jars in the refrigerator and eat them within 2 weeks.)

Here's the finished product.  I have to wait at least 24 hours before taste testing them.  I'm hoping that by adding fresh cayenne peppers and jalapeno peppers that they will be spicy.  These asparagus spears are good alone as a relish or added to a salad.  They also make a great relish to a Bloody Mary.  (This recipe made 4 large mouth pint jars with a little brine left over.)

My next canning project is going to be pickled beets.  I'm hoping to do this together with my mom, to guarantee that they turn out.  Of course, I will blog about it!

"Asparagus inspires gentle thoughts."  -Charles Lamb