Watermelon rind pickles
8 Pints
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | pounds | Thick watermelon rind |
| ¼ | cup | Pickling salt |
| 1 | quart | Cold water |
| 1 | teaspoon | Alum (opt) |
| 7 | cups | Sugar |
| 2 | cups | White vinegar |
| ½ | teaspoon | Oil of cinnamon* |
| ½ | teaspoon | Oil of cloves* |
Directions
FORMATTED BY LISA CRAWFORD
*Note: You can substitute two sticks of cinnamon and about 12 cloves in a spice bag for the oils. Trim pink flesh and outer green from melon rind so you have white pulp. Cut pulp to 1-inch cubes overnight. Dissolve salt in cold water and soak melon-rind cubes overnight. Make more brine as needed to keep rind covered. Combine sugar, vinegar, oil of cinnamon, oil of cloves in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and pour over rind. Cover and let stand overnight. In morning, sterilize canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's directions. Drain off syrup into a saucepan. Pack the rind into sterilized canning jars. Bring syrup to a boil and pour over rind in jars; leaving ½" head space. Seal with sterilized lidss according to manufacturer's instructions. Process ina boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Nutritional info per 2 tbls: 48 cal; .2g pro, 12g carb, .1g fat(2%), .1g fiber, 0 mg chol, 201mg sodium Exchanges: ⅒ fruit, .7 bread Source: Blue Ribbon Pickles & Preserves by Maria Polushkin Robbins (St Martin's Press) Miami Herald, 9/28/95