Mike asked me to share the pickle recipe. It’s really easy and is a great way to keep vegetables from spoiling, especially when you’re trying to find something to do with leftover veggies.
Here are the ingredients:
- 6 small Kirby cucumbers, cut in quarters lengthwise
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup cold water
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 ½ tablespoon (4 ½ teaspoons) kosher salt
- 1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 tablespoon dill seed
- 1/2 tablespoon mustard seed
- 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 1 ½ teaspoon dill weed
To be frank, I’ve never measured any of the ingredients. I simply guess at amounts and make sure there are equal parts water and vinegar. The above is an alteration of the recipe I was given, which called for white vinegar (which isn’t nearly as tasty as the apple cider variety), celery seeds (don’t have any, don’t care), and sugar. I also added the peppercorns. I haven’t tried the red-pepper flakes either. I don’t know if I’ll add that next or opt for a couple splashes of Tabasco.
From there, simply put them all in a jar (spices, then cucumbers, then liquid), seal the top, give it a good shake to mix things up and store in a fridge overnight. They’re supposed to keep for about 2 months, but I’ve never gotten to that point, since they always get eaten within 2 weeks.
Other vegetables which have worked for me: snow peas, asparagus, carrots, okra, garlic (don’t forget, you can just eat the garlic too, which is what Buff’s family does), cauliflower, enoki mushrooms (which aren’t even vegetables, but they were great).
Jalapeño peppers didn’t come out at mild as I expected. Either they need to sit longer, or they need to be cut into to let the vinegar hit the insides of the pepper, or both.
My next attempt will probably be in the direction of more mushrooms, since the enoki turned out so well. Then I can pretend I live in a Dwarf Fortress. Sweet peppers are on my list too.
Sounds great. Will have to try this.
If your pickle’s too easy, often it will get crispy.
Pete – they are great. Seriously – TRY IT. You can pickle other stuff with the recipe too.
BTW: Re: Eating garlic cloves:
There’s this restaurant called “Vinney T’s” where they the rolls come with a dish of olive oil for dipping. Perhaps uniquely in this case the olive oil has half a clove of garlic about the size of a large orange floating in it. They don’t even peal the thing, they just slice it in half and (apparently) bake it in the oil.
Most folks I’ve eaten this with just soak up the oil with their bread and toss the garlic. I actually fished the garlic cloves out (grapefruit style) and found they were in fact delicious. Only one problem: It makes me smell like a walking loaf of garlic bread there-after and hours later my farts begin to reek of burning tires, driving women from the room and making small children sob in uncontrollable terror.
Can’t say I like garlic in pickles though (popular though it may be). Might just leave that part out if I get a chance to make these.
um….don’t get me wrong; i like pickles as much as the next guy.
but how about we get back to something i can actually use — i.e., more ghostbusters-3 insider gossip?
The name was going to happen someday…it was only a matter of time.
Blame Jenkins…if it makes me feel better. And it does.
Anyone posting on this site either knows nothing about what the guy above me is named or he knows too much…
BY CROM I DON’T KNOW WHICH IT IS!
DORKS DRIVE ME NUUUUUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crom? Crom of Conan lore? I had to go waaay back in the archived data for that one…..