Early Morning Pickling

This morning I woke up very early. The cat was puking on the carpet outside my bedroom, and there were about 10 million songbirds singing at their peak volume right outside my window. OK, so it probably wasn't 10 million, but it sure sounded like it. Like it or not, my day began at 5:30am today.

So I came downstairs and began to putter around in my kitchen - like I do. I washed some dishes, put some other dishes away, emptied the clean dishwasher, and poured myself some cold-brewed coffee, and started thinking about things. I had bought the stuff to make some pickles recently, so that is what I found myself doing.

Mise en place for dill pickles

I make a style of pickle called refrigerator pickles. They are simple to make, and come together in a jiffy. They won't last at room temperature, since they are not canned (or jarred) hot, but they keep a reasonable time in the fridge, and this recipe doesn't make a ton of them. Besides, once you taste them, they won't last long I promise you.

I use the small hot house cucumbers that you can get this time of year, rather than the big long ones. These cut up into smaller medallions, and the seeds are not as large so you don't get too many of them hanging around. If you want to cut the pickles into spears, you may want to consider using one of the larger varieties of cucumber. Overall you want about a pound of cucumbers for this recipe.

The recipe for the brine is pretty simple:

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp dried dill
• 2 tbsp whole peppercorn
• 1 tbsp minced / 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 tsp sugar

Mix all the brine ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until the liquid comes to a boil, then turn the heat off and cover. While the brine is cooling, cut your cucumber and place into the jars you will be using. These jars should be sanitized, either using the dishwasher or by placing them in a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds. Either way works just fine.

Pre-brine cucumbers

 Pour the (now only warm) brine over the cucumbers until they are completely covered. If you come up short on your liquid by a little bit, you can add just a little more water - it won't throw off the brine very much at all. Place these jars in the fridge for at least 3 days to allow the pickling to do its magic, and then enjoy them with reckless abandon. 

Pickles ready to go into the fridge

The pickles should keep about 3 weeks in the fridge, but ours usually don't last that long. They are fresh, have no crazy ingredients or dyes, and are absolutely the best pickles you will have. You can also play with the recipe and the look of the brines a little bit. This time I threw in a little bit of dried thyme into the brine as well, and instead of mincing the garlic I sliced it thin giving me those tasty looking garlic pieces that you can see in the photo above. I am looking forward to seeing how those taste once they have been pickled too!