Thursday, September 10, 2009

sunday dinner redux - love on a plate with a twist 3 - pickled!

At left... my awesome kosher dill pickles and bread & butter slices!
What to do with all those cucumbers? Well, there's really only one thing you can do: make pickles (or try to pass them off on friends and family who have an overabundance of cucumbers as well).
My favorites are the kosher dills; hubby likes the sweet bread & butter variety. Fortunately I make both... and they totally rock!
I'm sharing the kosher dill recipe because it's my personal favorite... don't rely on those "easy" pre-made seasonings; it's just as easy to gather some simple ingredients and make your own from "scratch." Check it out:

Per quart of pickles:

1/2 lb. small pickling cucumbers (or trim larger cucumbers to a comparable size)
2 tablespoons dill seeds
1 clove of garlic, peeled and halved
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, if you like
2-1/4 cups water
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon pickling salt

Pickle Crisp, use as directed on package

Carefully clean and trim cucumbers; be especially sure to trim blossom ends. Pack loosely into prepared, hot canning jars leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Add dill seed, garlic (and pepper if you like).

Prepare the brine with the water, vinegar and salt and bring to boiling.

Slowly and carefully pour hot brine over cucumbers in jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the jar rims and adjust new lids. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes (start timing when water returns to boil). Pickles are fabulous in about a week!

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I wish I had thought of this before I gave away all of our cucumbers! They look great!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE pickles! I was going to can some last weekend but our local crops of baby cukes never came in due to cold this year. :(

I've love to taste yours!

Lonesome Road Studio said...

Plenty of cukes here but our tomatoes did absolutely nothing. No pizza sauce this year. wahhhh!

goodkarma said...

i got ONE cucumber out of my garden this year. and i finally, just now, have a couple tomatoes starting to turn orange. it's been a bad summer for gardening here.

Doris Sturm said...

I love pickles. If nothing else, I have to have pickles in the fridge. I always buy the biggest family size jar they sell and go through them like water. Have you ever had pb and pickle sandwiches? They're fantastic! Maybe I should consider making my own pickles the way I go through them...thanks for the recipe.

SleightGirl said...

Yum! Kosher dills are my favorite too!

cabin + cub said...

Oh yummy! I have never tried to make my own pickles before... seems like a fun thing to try! ;)

Lonesome Road Studio said...

The process is easy enough and best learned in-person, watching someone else. It's one of those things; forget a step and you're out a lot of time and effort.

Wear Your Wild said...

I love dill pickle! My recipe is similar to yours, but I don't add the pepper flakes.

Lonesome Road Studio said...

I especially like the garlicky kosher dills... mmmmmm.

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