The last few days have been super hectic, with family in town and great vintage fabric and clothing hunting. So the sewing and the laundry is piling up, but that will have to wait for my next in-studio work day, stay tuned for lots of new goodies in my Etsy stores...
In the meantime, I’m making a new batch of pickles! They’re so easy, I’m surprised I’ve never done it before. But I always thought it required lots of steps and boiling jars in a hot kitchen, like canning, so the thought of all that made me too lazy to learn.
But then my sister and my friend both mentioned that they’d done it before in a much more simple manner, and when I researched a bit, I found it was the same sort of process that results in a light, crispy pickle, like half-sour kosher pickles, which are my favorites. So I’ve been on a roll lately
This batch is cucumbers with fresh dill and garlic. Everything that can be made with garlic, in my kitchen, is made with garlic, and if it does have garlic, it has a lot.
I think it’s a two liter jar, which I half fill with water and nearly 1/4 cup salt. Then lots of fresh dill, lots and lots of garlic, and the cucumbers. Make sure the cucumbers are pushed down so everything is fully submerged in the water, otherwise, mold grows on whatever sticks out.
Then, I leave the lid partly open, and cover the top loosely with a kitchen towel to keep the dust out, and I let it sit on my counter for a few days. The last few times, I left the jar out three days; this time, I’m trying four. I’ll let you know how it goes.
After it’s fermented for three (or four?) days, I refrigerate them for at least a full day, just so they’re nice and cold, and they’re ready to eat!
By the way, I found that you can re-use the brine from the last batch to make a new batch of light pickles. I had made a batch of pickled cucumber and green beans with dry dill, garlic, and lots of red pepper flakes, and when they were eaten, I cut carrots into long thin sticks and left them in the brine, in the fridge, for 3-5 days (we ate them over that period of time). They were crisp and delicious!
Amy M. Cools 