Advice: pickled radish pods

[gdenby]

Hello, all,

Was just out in the garden, and see that the radishes I've let go to seed for fall planting have produced an immense number of seed pods. They make great peppery additions to salads, but I have way more than I can use. Has anyone made cold pickled radish pods?

I'm supposing at least I want to blanch them, and dump them into the pickling solution. I'm not trying to can them, just trying to hold them for a few weeks to serve with hot dogs.

[heidih]

I think the methods discussed here for nasturtium seed pods would apply to your radish pods. I have never let the radishes get to that stage - something new to try! Thanks and let us know how it goes.

[gdenby]

Thanks for the link. It appears that the radish pods should be easy to make into a cold pickle.

Radish pods are great. A texture like snap peas, and a heat close to pepperoncini. There is a variety called "rat-tail" available from Seed Savers. They are only for pods, and produce no edible roots. I grew them for several years. They were extremely prolific, pretty much weeds.

It didn't occur to me until just now that radish pods might make a good substitute for sport peppers on 'dogs.

[andiesenji]

You can also pickle green mustard pods. The green seeds are much milder than the mature ones yet have a tangy flavor that complements many foods. Especially nice with roast pork. In fact, I pick them, blanch them and include them in the stuffing when I make a rolled pork roast.

When I was growing a lot of mustard, because there was no handy source for the black and brown seeds, I had a couple of patches but they did cross-pollinate.

Here in the high desert and also in the SF Valley, where I lived for many years, mustard grows like a weed and I could get three crops a year, sewing the seeds in the early winter for the spring crop and so on.

The beauty of this plant is that you can pick the greens, as long as you don't pull more than half the leaves off any single plant, cut off some of the side stems with the green pods and leave the rest to mature and dry.

[gdenby]

Thanks and let us know how it goes.

Tried them yesterday. The bits of stem, and the long thin threadlike "spike" at the other end had become quite stringy, and needed to be nipped off. The pods remained moderately crunchy. They were less peppery, and seemed sweeter, which might just have been the flavor that remained after the heat lessened. Worked well in place of pepperoncini as part of a stuffed fattie.