Fermented Turnip Pickles – Ingredients
This will produce enough pickles for one 1-quart (liter) mason jar. You can scale it if you wish but they will take up room in your fridge and are best made in small batches.
1 beet
4 cups of turnips (you can use more or less). This is often 4-6 medium turnips.
4 cups of cool water (or the leftover cooking water from beets, per my note above)
2 tablespoons coarse salt
1 hot pepper (optional) cut into large slices
1 conventional (i.e. not wide-mouthed) mason jar (1 quart/ liter in size)
Fermented Turnip Pickles – Instructions
Peel the beet and cut it into small pieces, add it to the water and bring to a boil. Boil until you want to eat the beet (or for several minutes).
As the beet cooks, peel the turnip and cut it into batons (large rectangles). Place a few of the longest pieces to the side.
Clean the mason jar with hot water and soap. Rinse well.
Fill the jar with the turnip and hot pepper.(keeping the long pieces to the side for now).
Add salt to mason jar. Place a lid on the jar and shake it around to distribute the salt.
Wedge the longest pieces of turnip under the shoulders of the jar (they will run parallel to the bottom of the jar). This is called seatbelting and will prevent the turnip from floating to the surface.
Leave the turnips on your counter (avoid drafts or warm spots and allow the water to cool to room temperature for a few hours (I’ll often do this overnight). The turnips will produce some of their own liquid and this will help the fermentation.
Add the beet water to the mason jar (per step 7, I often do this the next morning)
Mix the two jars, ensuring the turnip is submerged under the water.
Place the jar on a small plate (in case it bubbles over) and leave on your counter or another part of your kitchen that’s room temperature.
It should be done within 7 days but taste each day after day 2 when you’re learning (the longer you wait, the more sour it will become).
Store in fridge and eat within 6 weeks for best taste.