PICKLES

Peter Piper Picked a Pack of Pickles
How Many Pickles Did Peter Piper Pick


Oh, yeah... It's August. The new Kirby cucumbers are here. The other day I put up a few jars of pickles with my own spice mix that I thought I would share with you:

Pickles
You will need to buy or grow Kirby cucumbers picked when they are small and not wrinkled. Select some of equal size that will fit nicely into quart jars. Boil those jars and lids. I am going to assume you know about canning and I will not go into that here.

For about 12 pickles: Mix together, 2 sliced garlic cloves, 1T whole coriander, 1T celery seeds, 1T dill seeds, 1T fennel seeds, 1tsp whole Allspice, 1tsp cloves, 1tsp black peppercorns, 1tsp juniper berries, 3 bay leaves, a couple of red pepper pods, fennel or dill flowering tops, 1/4tsp powdered turmeric. Add about 1-1/2 cups of vinegar of your choice, I have made flavored vinegars in the past so I used an allium flavored one, add about 1/2 cup (more or less) organic sugar, some salt. Boil all the seeds and spices together with the liquids and add about a cup of water. (You can put a spoon in and taste it now to see if you want to change the salt to sugar to vinegar to water ratio.)

Put the cucumbers into the jars and pour the hot liquid over them. If there isn't enough liquid to come to the top of the jar just add some more boiled water. Cover loosely with the lids (If you intend to keep the pickles more than a couple of weeks then go through the canning process and boil the jars at this point.) and let sit for 1 hour to 24 hours or more,(taste) then refrigerate.

A tip: I cut one pickle into quarters and put it near the top of the jar so if I want to see how they taste I can pick it out with a fork, rinse it off gently, and taste to see if I want to continue the pickling process longer.

If you don't like that slightly yellowish color that is imparted to the pickles then eliminate the turmeric.

Let me know how it goes! Email me at: info@cookingontheriver.com