What possessed me to try and make pickles? Well after work on Monday I was walking to my car with a coworker who mentioned that he was going to go home and make a batch of pickles that night. Weeks ago he brought some in for coworkers to try and they actually tasted quite good. I wasn't the only one who liked them either, Mike Cook, the director of the Be A Maker space whole-heartedly agreed!
I asked my co worker if he could send me the recipe to which he shrugged my questioning aside, explaining,"Nah you won't have time to do it."
So essentially the conversation went as follows, "No your not going to do it."
And my reply was, "Oh yeah?"
...
"Just watch me."
A special thank you goes out to Joe Dorn who doubted me, and gave me the fuel to go out, buy all the supplies(including the mason jars) to make pickles that night. I hope they turn out half as good as I know yours will taste!
Here is the recipe that I used from the website, http://www.onceuponachef.com/2012/04/quick-and-easy-dill-pickles.html#:
- 1-1/4 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups cold water
- 1-3/4 to 2 pounds Kirby cucumbers (about 6), cut into halves or spears
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 16 dill sprigs
First thing first is to make the brine solution in a non-reactive pan such as glass, ceramic, or stainless steel. The brine solution consists of Vinegar, Salt and Sugar. Stir the solution until completely dissolved.
Pour the solution into a bowl add cold water.
The brine solution can now sit in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Unfortunately Walmart didn't have the quart size jars that the recipe called for so I was stuck to using eight pint size jars to complete this recipe.
All the ingredients ready to go!
Cut up the cucumbers into manageable slices. I decided to cut the cucumbers in half, then cut them into four long spears before further dividing them down the center.
Fresh Dill sprigs will be added to each individual jar for flavor.
Go ahead and start stuffing the jars with the prepared cucumber spears. Add the dill sprigs, mustard, coriander, and hot pepper flakes evenly among the jars.
Finally, bring the brine solution out of the refrigerator and add it evenly to each of your jars. If the cucumber spears are sticking out past the brine solution it is ok to add a little bit of water just to submerge the spears.
All done! All eight jars fit into our refrigerator and will be ready to be consumed in 24 hours, which begs the question, anyone looking for some fresh pickles?
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