half day pickles
j remembered this recipe of his mom's as "soak a bunch of cucumbers in a bowl of vinegar for a day". surprisingly, he wasn't far off. and i'm so proud of my first ever attempt at pickling anything, that i felt like sharing.
i call these half day pickles because if you make them after breakfast, they should be just about ready by lunch. like most great recipes, it's both brainless and flexible, so here's what i did:
slice 4 pickling cucumbers into 1/4" rounds and dump the lot in a large mason jar
add 1/4 onion thinly sliced or roughly chopped
cover completely with 3 parts vinegar, 4 parts water
season with a pinch of mustard seeds and about 2 Tbs dill (i'm told salt and black pepper are nice, but i skipped 'em both)
cover and shake up every once and a while for a few hours, then let sit uncovered until you feel like eating 'em
store covered in the fridge (you may want to dilute the vinegar further or you'll end up with pucker pickles - you know, the kind that make your face implode and your jaws scream with sour vinegar flavor) and enjoy!
i think they were especially good because they were made with cukes fresh from my landlord's garden which were crispy and full of flavor (as all picked ripe home-grown organic produce are).
here's to the O family and all their kindness!!
i call these half day pickles because if you make them after breakfast, they should be just about ready by lunch. like most great recipes, it's both brainless and flexible, so here's what i did:
slice 4 pickling cucumbers into 1/4" rounds and dump the lot in a large mason jar
add 1/4 onion thinly sliced or roughly chopped
cover completely with 3 parts vinegar, 4 parts water
season with a pinch of mustard seeds and about 2 Tbs dill (i'm told salt and black pepper are nice, but i skipped 'em both)
cover and shake up every once and a while for a few hours, then let sit uncovered until you feel like eating 'em
store covered in the fridge (you may want to dilute the vinegar further or you'll end up with pucker pickles - you know, the kind that make your face implode and your jaws scream with sour vinegar flavor) and enjoy!
i think they were especially good because they were made with cukes fresh from my landlord's garden which were crispy and full of flavor (as all picked ripe home-grown organic produce are).
here's to the O family and all their kindness!!