I want to eat sandwiches all day long so that I have an excuse to eat these homemade refrigerator pickles. I used this recipe:
1 Pound Pickling Cucumbers (about 8)
1 cup of water
1 cup white distilled vinegar of 5% acidity
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon slightly crushed dill seed
1 teaspoon slightly crushed mustard seed
1 teaspoon cracked peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup fresh dill
4 cloves whole garlic, peeled
Combine cukes (I sliced 'em into rounds, you could leave 'em whole or slice 'em lengthwise), water, vinegar, sugar, salt, dill seed, mustard seed, peppercorns and red pepper in a large bowl.
Let it sit for four hours
Four hours later, place fresh dill (I choped it just a little) and whole garlic in a clean wide-mouthed jar (I used a big bowl w/ a tight-fitting lid). Remove cukes from brine and put them in the jar and cover them w/ the brining liquid (I included the seeds and such). Refrigerate for TWO WEEKS.
The first time I made these I used celery seed instead of dill seed. The question was: sliced or not sliced? I sliced 'em. The hardest part was having to wait for two weeks for the things to cure in the fridge. I tasted them after four hours and they were very cucumbery, but after a week they were more pickly (but still had a cucumberyness to them) after two weeks they were the best pickles EVER. A little spice-y and nice and crisp!
2 comments:
I'm now doing a batch of pickles w/ unsliced cukes (my pickle-eating public speaks, I listen). They'll de done picklin' on Monday.
So, the pickles are crisp, but I think I like 'em pre-sliced better. I'm not much of a out-of-hand pickle eater (if you are then, please, leave them whole) so having them already ready to leap into my sandwich is the best for me. Plus, the whole cukes took longer to attain perfect pickly goodness.
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