Easy Homemade Pickles

Dallas Farmer’s Market Find #1:

As I mentioned briefly yesterday, Nick and I spent the long weekend in Dallas. We did some relaxing, a little shopping, and a LOT of eating. I’m sure that surprises no one. You know how much I complain about food and restaurants in Enid… since we were in a real city, we had to take full advantage!

Dallas was nice… it was a big city, but not too big. Lots to do, but not exactly walkable. It felt like real civilization. For a minute, I almost thought I was back in Boston. Then I saw 2 state troopers (sheriffs?) on the side of the road sporting some huge cowboy hats. It was awesome.

The farmer’s market wasn’t quite up to par with San Francisco or Paris, but after failing to find LIMES (seriously) in Enid last week, I was pretty stoked. They had a whole bunch of local stuff, and also a few produce companies with fresh fruits and veggies from all over.

I’ve been wanting to make homemade pickles all summer, but whenever I see pickling cucumbers around here they are soft and shrively. Almost every vendor at the farmer’s market had overflowing buckets of the little guys, so it was one of the first things I had to pick up!

You can use pre-mixed pickling spices, but I thought I’d get creative. I rounded up what I had…

…and got to work on the creativity. (Ok, I had a little help from edible perspective after a bit of Googling.) I made 2 varieties and both came out great! The best part about these pickles is that there is no heating or boiling involved, and they’re ready in as little as 12 hours! On the downside, they don’t last as long as typical pickles… but trust me, they wouldn’t last that long anyways!

Nicely Spiced Pickles

• 12 oz pickling cucumbers
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tbsp mustard seed
• 1/2 tbsp dill seed
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 garlic cloves, halved
• 1 tbsp salt
• 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• water

Red Hot Pickles

• 12 oz pickling cucumbers
• 1/2 tbsp black peppercorns
• 1/2 tbsp dill seed
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 garlic cloves, halved
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• water

These recipes are for 1 qt glass jars… if your jars are a little smaller, just use a little less of everything. I’m a jar hoarder (especially here, since Enid doesn’t recycle glass), so I have all kinds of sizes.

Slice your cukes into spears or chips. I decided on chips since I knew I’d be eating them like candy. Thought the chips might take a little longer to eat. I was wrong.

Fill your jars with cukes and garlic.

Add the spices.

In a bowl, combine vinegar and salt (and sugar, if using). Stir until dissolved. Add the vinegar to the jars and then top the jar off with water.

Refrigerate the pickles for at least 12 hours before eating. The longer they sit, the better they get!

The regular pickles were awesome… but the red hots… OH MY the red hots. Definitely my favorite! They’ve got a serious kick, and I love spicy! These were so easy to make, I really wish I’d gotten more cukes. I’m thinking about pickling something else, though. Okra? Carrots? Hmm… the possibilities.