Shopping for a Mystery

Sometimes I see something at the grocery store that I've never used before and decided to try it. The black radishes at Whole Foods definitely caught my eye.
Ugly, dark, rooty things. So ugly they were beautiful. I was sad my radishes didn't have any leaves still attached. Still I purchased a few. To be honest I bought them because I hoped they were black all the way through much like a beet is solid red. Instead I learned that only the skin is black, almost like someone colored a turnip with one of those big fat black lead pencils some of us of a certain age used in grade school. The flesh is creamy white. In my research I learned that they were often grown to be a winter storage vegetable. They apparently hold their flavor and freshness remarkably well. The taste of a black radish depends on when it was harvested. Freshly pulled from the ground and your black radish can have quite a bite. However the longer they store, the milder they get. But what to do with the ones I had now?

I googled a bit to see what my choices were. Pickings were slim. Mostly salads. The always excellent Chocolate & Zucchini had some interesting preparations. One in fact I want to try in the future sounded delicious, Chips de Radis Noir. However I wanted to see if I could soften up that strong bitter bite. Why not pickle them? I made a simple brine of white vinegar, water, sugar, ginger, pickling spice and salt heating the mixture just enough to dissolve the sugar. Next I layered my carrots and radish in jar while the brine cooled down. Once the layering was complete and the brine was cool enough to go into the jar, the brine was ladled to cover the veggies and popped into the fridge. I'll let you know how it turned out once it marinates overnight.