Thursday, August 22, 2013

I Got A Pickle

I crossed something off my Summer Bucket List from last year.  Making pickles!  I didn't make pickles last Summer because when I bought plants for my garden, what was labeled as a cucumber plant was actually a zucchini plant.  Needless to say, I didn't have any cucumbers in my garden last year, just a ton of zucchinis.  This year I started my cucumber plants from seed, so I wouldn't have the same problem.

Ryder likes the pickles!  

The pickle recipe I used, I found on the Organic Gardening website.  They are refrigerator pickles, so they don't require any special canning technique, which is super nice.  Any jar will do!  It took me about a half an hour to make these pickles.



Refrigerator Pickle Recipe

1 pound cucumbers
3 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon whole mustard seed
1 teaspoon fresh dill weed
1 whole dried bay leaf
2/3 cup organic light brown sugar
6½ tablespoons white distilled vinegar
6½ tablespoons white-wine vinegar
¾ cup water






Tip - If you are buying cucumbers, make sure to buy organic cucumbers, these won't have the wax coating on them.  Other cucumbers usually have a wax coating making it difficult to absorb all the pickling flavors.

Directions:

Wash and cut the cucumbers, then place into jar.  I cut my cucumbers into spears and circles.  

Add the garlic, peppercorns, mustard seed, dill weed, and bay leaf.  Feel free to add any other spices you want, I added red pepper flakes to a couple of my jars.

Mix together brown sugar, white distilled vinegar, white wine vinegar and water.  Pour mixture over cucumbers.

Put the lid on and shake the jar.  Place in refrigerator and chill.

The website said you could serve the pickles after 24 hours, I tried mine after 2 days and I didn't think they were that great.  Then I tried them again after a couple weeks and I thought they were great.  So, I definitely recommend waiting a little longer if you can.  The pickles will keep up to 3 months in the refrigerator.
Makes 2 quarts (about 18 servings)





I got a pickle, I got a pickle, I got a pickle!   Hey hey hey!  - Just in case you need a Little Rascals reference

Happy Champagne Thursday!

Cheers!

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