Suzette Brassica recipe
derived from an old cookbook
put out by the Children's Hospital in Seattle
| 1. | cauliflower | 2 lbs. |
| small carrots | 1 lb. | |
| small green beans | 2 lbs. | |
| small whole onions | 2 lbs. | |
| 2. | green bell peppers | 2 lbs. |
| 3. | red and yellow bell peppers | 1 lb. |
| 4. | mushrooms | 2 lbs. |
| 5. | mixed pitted black olives and stuffed green olives |
2 lbs. |
| dill pickle slices | 2 lbs. | |
| 6. | canned anchovy fillets packed in oil | ½ lb. |
| canned tuna packed in oil | 28 oz. | |
| 7. | artichoke hearts | 2 14-oz. cans |
| 8. | Heinz Ketchup | 56 oz. (4 bottles) |
| apple cider vinegar | 1½ cups | |
| olive oil | 1½ cups |
As you cut or break the vegetables remember that the pieces have to be small enough to stay on a cracker, but big enough so that they don't overcook and become soft.
1. You're going to drop vegetables or pieces of vegetables into a pot of boiling water and cook them for a short time, then remove them with a slotted spoon from the boiling water and rinse with a little cold water to stop the cooking. This is called parboiling.
For all the vegetables that need to be parboiled, you can use the same boiling water, but do the onions last.
Break the cauliflower into pieces; parboil them for 3 minutes.
Peel the carrots and cut them into chunks; parboil them for 2 minutes.
Cut the green beans into pieces and parboil them for 2 minutes.
Parboil the onions for 6 minutes. Then take the skins off of them (skinning is easier after they're boiled). Cut them into pieces if they seem too large for a cracker.
2. Remove the pith and seeds from the green peppers and cut them into short strips.
3. Preheat your broiler.
Cut the red and yellow peppers in half, remove the pith and seeds, and flatten them with your hand. Put the halves under the broiler, skin side up, until the skins are black. Let them cool, and then peel off and discard or compost the blackened skin. Slice the roasted peppers into strips.
4. Slice the mushrooms and sauté them in a little olive oil until they are tender.
At this point, Suzette says:
Don't give up! Keep working! You are over halfway!
5. Sometimes the olives are very big and need to be cut in halves. Or even quarters! Open the jar(s) of dill pickle slices.
6. Open the anchovy and tuna cans, but don't drain the oil off.
7. Cut the artichoke hearts into quarters.
Suzette says:
Got everything together in one place?
8. Pour the ketchup, vinegar, and olive oil into a big pot. Bring them to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer them for 10 minutes.
9. Stir in the cauliflower, carrots, beans, green peppers, and roasted red and yellow peppers. Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes.
10. Stir in the onions, olives, and dill pickles and simmer the mixture for 5 minutes.
11. Stir in the rest of the ingredients including the oil from the anchovies and the tuna. Cook everything for 14 minutes. Stir the pot occasionally to make sure everything gets well mixed and evenly heated.
If you have many hungry friends and lots of crackers, you can eat it all now, or put some in the refrigerator for as long as two weeks.
Suzette says: If you want to keep it longer, you need to seal it in jars.
alteRecipes says: Canning is beyond the scope of this website -- if you can badly, you die. But find instructions anywhere on the net, such as http://www.ball.com and z thousand home canning sites. It bespeaks our confidence in Suzette that we devoured her canned antipasta without a flicker of disquietude.