The saying goes "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade"-or something to that effect. This week I rephrased it as such-"when your CSA gives you an unusable watermelon, make watermelon rind pickles".As the summer of my discontent with our local CSA continues-this week was probably the quintessential new low of the situation. We were given an extra watermelon as we are splitting a share and often will get an extra helping when it comes to foods given in odd numbered allotments. I already had half a watermelon in the fridge from the previous week, so I had an idea to make watermelon rind pickles before I cut into the new crop and realized watermelon pickles would be the only use for this under-ripe beast.
The prep work for making watermelon rind pickles includes cutting out all of the watermelon flesh, peeling off the green outer skin and cutting the rind into chunks. Overall not a huge endeavor-probably took me about 30 minutes. This preparation time would be significantly less if you have a partner in crime to use the vegetable peeler and take the skin off while you chop or remove flesh.
As with most of my canning endeavors, I didn't have a clear recipe in mind so I googled "watermelon rind pickles" and the results that were returned didn't really help me decide on a specific recipe to use. Some called for liming the rind chunks overnight, others didn't call for any activity remotely related to this one.
Watermelon rind pickles, according to most of the historical recipes I located, take 3 days to make. Maybe some day I will decide to devote 3 days to pickle making-but as it stands now that is not an option.
Here is my own adaptation of Watermelon Rind Pickles:
Prepare the watermelon rind of 1.5 moderately sized (not personal melons and not HUGE picnic table filling melons) watermelons. Place prepared and chopped rind in a pot of salted water and simmer until tender ~20 minutes. Drain the watermelon rind and rinse in a colander. Place pieces of watermelon in water that contains 2 cup of ice cubes-make sure all of the rind is covered with cold water. Place in the refrigerator for two hours. Drain watermelon rind in a colander and give a final rinse.
Pickling liquid ingredients:
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
4 cups of sugar
3/4 cup water
1 tied piece of cheese cloth containing: 3 sticks cinnamon, 4 whole cloves, 5 whole allspice
1 tied piece of cheese cloth containing: 1 dried thai chile cut into 4 pieces, 2 slices of lemon
Combine the vinegar, sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Add watermelon rind and the two spice bags. Bring to a boil, and cook for ~20-30 minutes. I tested a couple of pieces of rind to make sure it was the consistency I wanted and the flavor I was hoping for (sweet, spicy, tart).
Spoon watermelon rind into prepared jars, and ladle pickling syrup over the rind, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Seal and process in a water bath for 15-20 minutes.I'm honestly not even sure what I will use my watermelon rind pickles for....but my guess is that these will be a great addition to a cheese plate-served alongside some tart chevre or a creamy blue. Enjoy!
