fridge pickles

this year marks the first year that cucumbers have actually grown to be more than pretty green vines that shrivel away come august in my own garden

next to a tomato fresh from the garden, cukes are second to hold a big piece of my heart

i found myself with a quite a few cucumbers on my hands this weekend

too hot to can, these cukes were quickly turned into refrigerator pickles

as you can see they are all different sizes, traditionally pickling cukes are used but i found my straight eights did the job nicely

since the vinegar to water ratio is pretty important, i decided to research fridge pickles online

this included heading over to food gawker, typing in pickles & picking the prettiest picture

the photo linked me to big apple nosh - the recipe she used as her own guideline looked like it would work for me too- i was in business!

the prep is pretty straight forward, cut your pickles in spear- ensuring that you measure the pickle spear to fit inside the jar you are using

some were too tall - time to be creative, i sliced the bottoms into rounds for pickle slices/chips and popped them into a 32oz ball canning jar

coriander seeds

(the lady at sunflower natural food store was so excited that i was buying this )

yellow mustard seeds, black peppercorns along with fresh dill are added to the canning jars

don't forget the garlic! locally grown organic garlic beats the socks off conventionally grown supermarket garlic any day

...i am pretty sure my fingers still smell like garlic- yep a little bit.

a little ball kosher dill pickling spice was added along with the other spices

then you prepare the super fast, super easy brine that is poured over your cukes and provides you with that briny goodness

the down side to this recipe is that you have to wait about 48-72 hours for the pickles to reach their utmost brininess potential - it is worth the wait!

Fridge Pickles makes (6) 16oz jars & (1) 32oz jar
you will need:

• (6) 16oz wide mouth canning jars - or some other type of container with a tight fitting lid & (1) 32oz jar for extra (may not bee needed dependent on the size of your cucumbers and if they require trimming)
• (7) cucumbers - approximately 3lbs
• fresh dill, enough for 3-4 sprigs for each jar; i used the flowers too
• 12 tsp ball kosher dill spice (2 tsp per jar)
• 12 cloves fresh garlic - sliced (2 cloves per jar)
• 1/2 tsp per jar coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp per jar yellow mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp per jar peppercorns
• 4 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity minimum)
• 4 cups water
• 3 tbsp + 3tsp kosher salt
• 3 tbsp sugar

assembly:

• cut the pickles into spears so they fit in the jar with enough room to seal the lid
• add the dill, kosher dill spice, remaining spices & sliced garlic
• to make the brine - in a large pot, stir together vinegar, water, salt & sugar. bring to a boil ensuring the sugar & salt dissolves. boil for about 2 minutes. remove from heat
• allow brine to cool for about 5 minutes. ladle into each jar so the cukes are submerged
• cap/seal the jars with band & lids and refrigerate them for about 48-72 hours

enjoy!

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