#bolsahye

Some of you know that Gregg has been spending a lot of time away from home for work. This means I need to find things to fill my free time. One day I got it in my head that I was going to make turshu (pickled veggies). I bought mason jars. I consulted with my mother and a cookbook, and I got to work.

I've since made four batches of pickles. And now I have my recipe down (but making larger batches gets tricky). The tricky part is figuring out how much brine to make for the jars. Each jar gets filled a little differently so the amount of water that will fit changes. When Gregg was helping me do math he would estimate that the water needs to be half of the total ounces of jar space. (I remembered that when I did my third batch I had some extra brine, so for the fourth batch I removed two cups of water. I was left with enough brine to make one extra 64 oz jar!).

I've been using various jars that range between 24-64 ounces. My first two batches I did 4 - 24 oz. jars. My third batch was 7 jars ranging in sizes. My fourth batch was 11 jars (plus one extra that wasn't originally planned) ranging in sizes. For the fourth batch I had help from Oriort Claudia and Oriort Heghine.

Turshu Brine (4 - 24 oz jars) - this seemed to be a fine amount of brine. I think using uniform sized jars might help.

6 cups of water

1.5 cups of lemon juice

5 tablespoons of salt

5 dried chickpeas

2 large garlic cloves sliced in half

Jalapenos for spice in each jar (optional, but highly recommended)

Decide on veggies to pickle. Prep them to your liking. 

Sterilize jars! 

This can be done in an Instant Pot if you have one and your jars fit. Fill the pot with one cup of water and the handheld trivet. Place the jars and lids in making sure they don't touch the water. Close the lid and put it on sterilize mode for 5 minutes. Remove the jars carefully (they will be hot) and place them on a clean towel to dry.

I also recently did this in the oven because my jars were too big for the Instant Pot. Wash the jars with warm soapy water. Place the jars on a tray (not touching) and turn the oven to 275 degrees. I left them in for 20 minutes. I sterilized the lids in the Instant Pot. You can also put water in a pot and once it's boiling place the lids in for 10 minutes.

Juice lemons. 

Combine lemon juice, water and salt in a pot. Heat the mixture on medium heat until salt dissolves. 

NOW the fun part! Add 5 dried chickpeas and the garlic (jalapenos if you want) to each jar. Fill each jar with veggies.  Pour the brine mixture into each jar until it covers the veggies (make sure to stir it in the pot to make sure it's evenly mixed before you fill each jar). Seal the jar. 

Store the jars in a cool and dark place (covered with a towel) for 2 weeks before enjoying. Once you open the jar refrigerate the pickles (if you even have any leftovers)!

You can save brine in the fridge and continue to add veggies. I recommend not eating the garlic or chickpeas if you decide to do this. 

I like making my own turshu because I don’t like vinegar. It’s also a fun gift! I made turshu as gifts to co-workers, they were all thrilled and asking for more. 

Choreg is typically made during Easter as a braided loaf.  I've made the loaf style in the past, but never made the bzdig (small) choregs before. We used to order them from a woman at church who I've nicknamed The Choreg Lady, but she stopped making it. So, it became my turn to make it.

My day started at 6am. I took out the milk and eggs, so they wouldn't be cold.  I had taken out the butter the night before. I prepared the yeast and while it was proofing gathered everything I needed. The wet items all went into the bowl with the sugar. I felt the bowl get very cold so I took a towel and placed it underneath the bowl to keep it warm.  After the yeast proofed I started by adding three-quarters of the flour needed.  I mixed well and the dough was too sticky, so I knew I could add more flour. I kept adding 1/2 a cup for flour until the dough was smooth and not sticky. I rolled the dough into a ball and covered the bowl with plastic wrap. The dough needs to rise in a draft free place and it needs to stay warm. I put two dishtowels on top and kept the towel under the bowl. The dough then went into the oven to rise.

2 hours later my dough was ready.

I cut the dough into pieces and made little balls of dough.  Then I rolled out each ball into thin 8 to 12 inch strips and shaped the strips into pinwheels (or snails). The dough needs to rise a second time once it's in this shape. Most Armenian Khmoreghen (things made from dough) rise twice. I've come to the conclusion this is to allow for time to clean dishes, cook other things and take care of the children. 

The choregs then get an egg wash, sesame seeds and caraway seeds.  They bake at 350 degrees for about 25  minutes, or until they are a little darker than golden brown.

  The first batch of choregs came out very big and poofy. I was upset because The Choreg Lady's did not look like that. I tried to fix the other choregs and they all came out poofy. They smelled delicious and tasted delicious so my Mom and neighbor decided that this will be my shape.

I've decided to actually use this blog. I've become some what of a dandeegeen in training. Dandeegeen in Armenian literally translates to House Madame, basically Housewife, Woman of the House. 

I will post about the different Armenian food I'm making. Or food that I make which my family puts an Armenian twist on. Or just fun Armenian related stories.