Easy Recipe: How to Quick Pickle Cucumbers

It's that time of year boys and girls. Your garden runneth over — some things you quickly tire of and some things you don't. One I just cannot get enough of is cucumbers, or better yet, pickles! 

You may remember my grandmother's Hungarian sour pickle recipe; this recipe is similar in taste. Keeping it in the family my dad recently shared with me what's quickly become my new go-to for quick pickles. This method uses minimal ingredients, doesn't require canning and results in fresh batch of pickles bursting with flavor just 3 days after picking from the garden vine. For anyone new (or seasoned) to pickling, the recipe below is an easy way to use up 2 pounds of those green summer vegetables and keep for up to 6 months in the refrigerator — although, they've never made it that long in my fridge!

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds garden fresh cucumbers, cut into spears and rounds
• 1/4 cup of kosher or pickling salt
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 bunch of fresh dill
• 2 hot peppers (any variety as long as you are comfortable with the heat) from the garden, sliced into rings or simply cut in half
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed (I used black mustard seed)
• 1/4 cup distilled vinegar, plus more as needed

This recipe was adapted from — Recipes from a German Grandma

Pour the salt into a large bowl or jar large enough to hold all of the ingredients. Bring 1 cup of water to a vigorous boil, then pour the boiling water into the jar and stir until all of the salt is dissolved. Add ice to cool the water down. Add garlic, peppers, dill, coriander seed, mustard seed and cucumbers. Pour the vinegar on top and stir everything to incorporate. If there is not enough liquid to cover the pickles add more cold water to cover.

Weight a plate or heavy container on top of the pickles, which will keep the cucumbers submerged in the brine. Allow to sit for 24 hours on the counter (yes, on the counter) then taste the brine. If it's a bit too salty for your tastes, add a little more water and vinegar to adjust. The pickles will be ready for a first taste after the 3rd day — repeat the daily taste until they reach your ideal pickling taste.

Once done to your liking, transfer the pickles to a jar, store in the refrigerator and enjoy. As an added bonus, you can also use some of the brine to add a pickly (is that a word) depth of flavor to your Bloody Marys!

I hope you'll give this quick pickling recipe a try and let me know what you think; because it's such a simple way to batch up pickles — I'd be willing to bet you'll make this recipe a couple of times this season if your garden is producing at a good rate.

E.A.T. local E.A.T. well

Discover More:

Pickled Watermelon Rinds | Spicy Dilly Beans | Fig Preserves