White Trash Cooking - Pickled Tomatoes, Radishes and Red Onions

Last weekend my friends David, Scott, Matt and Lance invited me to spend the weekend at their trailer in Ukiah.  Yes, a trailer.  I did not know what to expect.  Would it be a portable house on wheels?  Would there be a Barcolounger on the front porch and an above ground pool in the back yard?  I was totally intrigued and could not wait to go.  What would happen if a tornado decided to rip through Ukiah, would
I end up in Oz? When we got there I was amazed. 

My four friends had transformed a tin can house into the W Hotel.  Flip up the hood and this baby is all single wide trailer (FYI - my friend Lance just explained the dynamics of single wide vs. double wide and this is definitely a single wide), but the cosmetics make it amazing and you really cannot beat the beauty of the mountainous terrain in Ukiah.

A few Christmas' ago my very close friend Ronnie got me the White Trash Cookbook.  I have never made anything from this cookbook, but it seemed so appropriate to bring it with me and choose a couple of for dinner one night.  A few liberties were taken with the following recipe, but it is important to note that the dinner we prepared was inspired by my crafty friends, their white trash trailer and this amazing cookbook.

Pickled Tomatoes, Radishes and Red Onion Over Fish

- 12 oz. rice vinegar
- 12 oz. red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp cloves
- 1 tbsp caraway seeds
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 handful of fresh rosemary
- 3 tbsp sugar (optional)

- Three medium sized heirloom tomatoes, quartered (make sure they are not too ripe/too soft)
- Three bunches of heirloom radishes, chopped in half (the heirloom radishes I used were long and thin and pinkish in color)
- Three medium sized red onions, quartered

Arrange veggies in a large Pyrex dish.  Place all of the remaining ingredients into a sauce pan (except for the veggies) and cook over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes or until all of the sugar has dissolved.  Pour over the veggies, cover with plastic wrap and let set overnight.

Serve with Spicy Panko Crusted Tilapia but you can forget the cilantro rach drizzle.  The juice from the veggies will be enough.

Comments

[Scott Morris]

I am one of the hosts of Casa Basura Blanca and I had the great pleasure of experiencing Michael's fabulous cooking up at the Casa. These pickled vegetables ROCKED MY WORLD! Seriously... I have been dreaming about them ever since.