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Make your own Pickled Walnuts, an English Treat!

Make your own Pickled Walnuts, an English Treat!

I was lucky enough to have lived in England for years in my 30's. Now, while many folks (including the English) make fun of English cuisine, there are some really delicious treats there.  Among these are, pickled walnuts.  They are great with horsd'oeuvres, meats and cheese plates, even in cooking. They have a sweet, tart pickle taste to them, and a soft but firm texture - much like the firmest cucumber pickle you've ever had, but not hard!

Pickling walnuts is quite easy.

Here's what you need to know, upfront!

1. Think Green - You must be able to get the walnuts BEFORE they ripen.  They must still be green, soft and before the shell starts to form inside.  This is usually June and July in most of the northern Hemisphere, or December and January in the Southern Hemisphere.
2. Walnuts stain everything - Walnut shells are used to make ink. They will stain everything; your hands, plastic containers, you name it.  Wear waterproof gloves (latex, vinyl, etc.)
3. It's a Simple Process - pick green walnuts, wash and prepare then, brine them, pickle them

Ingredients

• Green walnuts , any quantity
• 5% vinegar , typically white vinegar but you could use apple
• Salt - pickling salt, sea salt or kosher salt. Any salt that is NOT iodized.
• Water
• Pickling spice - about 1/4 cup per 10 lbs of walnuts

Equipment

• Mixing bowl - glass or plastic works well, but platic may stain.
• Large jars - quart, half-gallon or gallon

Directions, step by step

It's really simple!

Step 1 - Get the green walnuts

They must be unripe and green, before the hard shell inside starts to form. Or rather, before it starts to become hard. 

This is usually June to early July.

They aren't sold in stores, you must have access to a living walnut tree!

Step 2 - Perforate the walnuts with a fork

Just take a fork and punch holes in the skin of the walnut as shown in the photo. You don't have to go deep or apply a lot of pressure.  This is just to let the pickling liquid in.

Step 3 - Wash the walnuts, cut off the ends

Remember, you will want to wear waterproof gloves, the liquid, which starts out clear or greenish, will turn black and stain everything, including your skin.

Once you harvest the green walnuts, you wash them in water and then cut of 1/8 to 1/4 inch from both ends (stem and opposite) of the walnut.

Step 4 - Brine the walnuts

Simple: just let the walnuts soak in a salt solution (1 lb  or 1 cup per gallon of water) for 1 week.

After a week, drain and rinse the walnuts and pur in fresh brine. Alone them to rest for another week.

By now, the walnuts have turned black.

Step 5 - Drain and rinse

Just discard the salt water, and rinse the walnuts

Step 6 - Prepare the vinegar pickling solution

The pickling solution is 50% water, 50% vinegar (5%) and 1/4 cup of pickling spice per gallon of solution.  Heat the spices and liquids until simmering on the stove.

Step 7 - Pickle in the fridge for at least 2 or 3 weeks

Combine the walnuts and hot pickling solution in a large glass jar. Just pop the jar in the fridge and let it rest for at least a week.  Thereafter, keep the walnuts stores in the fridge.  There is no lab-tested canning recipe, so we can't say what the processing conditions would be for safe home canning of pickled walnuts.

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Canning Books, Supplies and Accessories

These are my favorite essential canning tools, books and supplies. I've been using many of these for over 50 years of canning! The ones below on this page are just the sampling of. my preferred tools. but you can find much more detailed and extensive selections on the pages that are linked below.

• Vacuum Foodsealers for freezing, dried foods, and refrigerated foods - the FoodSaver line
• Selecting a KitchenAid mixer and attachments for home canning
• Steam Juicers
• Strainers, pit removers, seed-skin-stem removers, jelly strainers, et c. All types, makes and prices (from $19 to $350)
• Cherry pitters reviews , prices and ordering
• Food dehydrators - easy and fast to dry your own fruits, veggies, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.

Basic Canning Accessories

From left to right:

1. Jar lifting tongs  to pick up hot jars
2. Lid lifter - to remove lids from the pot of boiling water (sterilizing )
3. Lids - disposable - you may only use them once
4. Ring - holds the lids on the jar until after the jars cool - then you remove them, save them and reuse them
5. Canning Jar funnel - to fill the jars