September 1, 2011

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

One year I pickled green beans.  I did the whole water bath canning thing, and then I didn't like them.  Too vinegary.  I ended up dumping out at least six pints of Dilly Green Beans. All that effort wasted, not to mention all those beans!  So I haven't been very interested in pickling with a water bath since then.  But sometimes I like a good homemade pickle.  For smaller amounts of produce, making pickles and refrigerating them, without the water bath, with the intention of eating them within one month, is quick and simple.

Last night I used what was left of a bunch of dill with four cucumbers (two homegrown, two from the farmers market).  I cut the cucumbers in thin spears, stuffed then in a one-quart jar with the dill, and then poured over a mixture of cup water and one cup apple cider vinegar with 1 tablespoon kosher salt.  The jar was pretty full of cucumbers, so I had most of the liquid left over. 

I used the leftover pickling liquid to make a jar of something like chimicurri:  pickled sweet peppers, cilantro, parsley, garlic, onion, lime juice, black pepper and olive oil.  I love this as a crunchy, vinegary topping to grilled meats.

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