In spite of the early crazy weather, this has probably been one of the best years for cucumbers that I can remember. With some of the abundance, I wanted to make pickles. Traditionally, I’m not much of a pickle person. I’ll eat just about anything, but pickles were not high on the list. But, homemade is always better, right? So a little over a week ago, I made a small batch of fresh dill pickles, roughly based on this recipe. It’s very easy and very quick compared to many other pickling processes.
The quick and dirty version:
Mix equal parts water and vinegar, and add salt (approximately 1 Tbsp per 2 cups total liquid). I used two cups of each. Bring to a boil. Clean and cut cucumbers – I used seven (some of which were probably a little past their pickling prime, but still worked), and cut them into quarter spears. Put the cucumbers into pint or quart jars, then add (per jar), 8-10 whole peppercorns, a few slices of onion, a crushed or sliced clove of garlic, a hefty pinch of pickling spices, and a sprig or two of fresh dill. Fill the jars with the brine mixture, then cap and put in the fridge. For full flavor development, let it sit for at least a week.
Well, a week was up this past Friday, so we opened the first jar for a sample – all pickles are not created equal. Crunchy, dilly, briny. So. Good.
Refrigerator dills! Yes! The ONLY kind of pickle worth eating, in my opinion. Sadly, we have no cucumbers yet, and maybe won’t at all if this drought keeps up. I will have to search out pickling cucumbers, because a life without my refrigerator dills is no life at all.