Pickle and Preserve

Golden raisins add a bright sweetness to this fresh take on sweet-and-sour pickles. Serve it with our Cider-Brined, Maple-Glazed Pork Loin, spread it onto sandwiches, or use it to top hot dogs.

Pickled eggs, vibrantly colored and flavored with assorted vegetables and spices, are an upgrade to standard hard-boiled Easter eggs and make for a delicious holiday appetizer.

This bright and fiery Haitian condiment (pronounced "pick-lees") is traditionally served with meats and fried food to balance rich flavors.

Try these anywhere you'd use pickled onion, such as in grain bowls, on roasted carrots, or on a cheese sandwich.

Try this alongside a chicken cutlet, on a turkey sandwich, or thrown into a stir-fry.

These bright zesty pickles are equally at home in a cocktail as they are in a salad, with pâté, or as part of a cured meats and cheese board.

You can cook the eggs a day ahead (keep them chilled), but don’t slice until the first guest rings the doorbell.

You can pluck the herbs ahead of time and chill them wrapped in damp paper towels in airtight bags.

Neither long simmering nor heat-canned, this vibrant, lightly spiced jam couldn't be simpler to prepare. Red-fleshed plums lend a gorgeous garnet color, but any variety works well.

These herbaceous pickles combine spicy ginger with bright dill. Although cucumbers are classic, cherry tomatoes or green beans would also work well in this brine.

These spicy pickles pack a mean punch. Toss them into salads for a sharp bite or use them as a fun garnish on your weekend Bloody Marys. This brine is also great with green beans or asparagus.

Invite the gang to make their own lettuce wraps with fall-apart tender pork, rice, and pickled radishes and carrots.

I love kimchi. To me, the world is a better place when we all enjoy kimchi. Fiery and fun, it gives a kick to all food.

If you cut your carrots thin enough, you don't have to cook them to make great quick pickles; just pour hot pickling liquid directly over the carrots and let sit. For more visual punch, use multi-colored carrots.

(Djej Emshmel) Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Paula Wolfert's book Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco. Wolfert also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. Preserved lemons, sold loose in the souks, are one of the indispensable ingredients of Moroccan cooking, used in fragrant lamb and vegetable tagines, recipes for chicken with lemons and olives , and salads. Their unique pickled taste and special silken texture cannot be duplicated with fresh lemon or lime juice, despite what some food writers have said. In Morocco they are made with a mixture of fragrant-skinned doqq and tart boussera lemons, but I have had excellent luck with American lemons from Florida and California. Moroccan Jews have a slightly different procedure for pickling, which involves the use of olive oil, but this recipe, which includes optional herbs (in the manner of Safi), will produce a true Moroccan preserved-lemon taste. The important thing in preserving lemons is to be certain they are completely covered with salted lemon juice. With my recipe you can use the lemon juice over and over again. (As a matter of fact, I keep a jar of used pickling juice in the kitchen, and when I make Bloody Marys or salad dressings and have half a lemon left over, I toss it into the jar and let it marinate with the rest.) Use wooden utensils to remove the lemons as needed. Sometimes you will see a sort of lacy, white substance clinging to preserved lemons in their jar; it is perfectly harmless, but should be rinsed off for aesthetic reasons just before the lemons are used. Preserved lemons are rinsed, in any case, to rid them of their salty taste. Cook with both pulps and rinds, if desired.

These vibrant, savory, and slightly spicy deviled eggs are perfect for parties, but easy enough to make as a snack, too.

There is no USDA data for water bath canning artichokes. I developed this recipe, which has a pH of 3.5, well within the safety limits for water bath canning. The processing time is based on the recommended time for marinated peppers, which contain similar quantities of olive oil—an important consideration when water bath processing foods. Rather than discard the outer leaves, boil them for about 10 minutes. Chill and serve with mayonnaise; or serve hot, with melted butter for dipping. The marinade left over after you've finished the jar of artichokes is delicious and can be used to flavor other dishes.

I make a ricotta that is blissfully dry, which works well in my recipes for ravioli, lasagna, and as a garnish on salads and pasta dishes. If you want a creamy ricotta, to serve dressed with a fruit syrup or to spread on crostini or to make cannoli cream, then you need to add some cream to the recipe: Replace 1 cup of the whole milk with heavy cream. Goat milk makes a creamier ricotta as well.

If you can't find both red and yellow beets, just use all of one or the other, and pickle everything in one bowl. The pickles keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks, making them perfect for snacking with holiday leftovers.

A mixture of white wine and white wine vinegar, plus a host of spices and vegetables, infuse these shrimp with tangy, fragrant flavor. Serve them as a cocktail party hors d'oeuvre or toss them into a salad.

Vegan (when made with agave nectar or sugar) This trick will alter and augment your cooking: Pour boiling water over sliced or diced red onions, then transfer them to a solution of vinegar, sweetener, and salt. The onions will brighten into a gaudy shade of purplish-pink and will keep indefinitely, mysteriously retaining their bright color and crisp texture. rather than slice, the onions, if they are headed for one of the cold soups.) You can vary the cut of the onions—and also the amounts of sweet and salt. Use as a dramatically colorful and refreshing tiara atop dinner plates, open-faced sandwiches, salads, cheeses, grilled tofu, or fish—anything savory. I use these often as an ingredient in cold soups and saladitas. (Mince, rather than slice, the onions, if they are headed for one of the cold soups.) • Use a very sharp knife or a food processor with a thin slicing attachment to cut the onions most easily.

This Old World mustard recipe is an authentic replica of the sweet-style mustard that is served at any Biergarten in Bavaria. Prepare it at least a few days, and preferably a week, before you plan to dip your pretzels.