Woah. The house smells like vinegar. Like aromatic, spiced, boiled brine to be precise. Made pickles for the first time today. Spent what seemed like a long time standing over that simmering pot of brine (actually only about 15 minutes), getting brine steam in my eyes. But it was all worth it. I gots pickles!!! And these bright green little pickling cukes will still be plentiful at the market for another month or two, so the smell of hot, spiced brine will return to my kitchen again soon. Mmmm, hot brine…
Fennel and coriander seed pickles (adapted from the Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving)
3 lbs pickling cucumbers, thinly sliced
½ lb onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp pickling salt
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups apple cider vinegar
4 cups water
½ cup sugar
*¼ cup pickling spice (recipe to follow)
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp fennel seeds
3 dried chilies, crumbled
Easy. Slice the cucumbers to about half a centimeter (1/4 inch – like all Canadians I can’t help flip-flopping between metric and imperial), toss with salt and put them with the sliced onions on ice (in a big bowl of ice, mix it all up), cover them up and leave them on the counter for an hour or more to preserve their crunchiness. Throw the rest of the ingredients into a pot (preferably stainless steel). Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes.
Drain the pickles, pack them into sterilized jars and cover with brine, distributing the spices evenly. Remove air bubbles with some kind of plastic utensil, leave about 1 cm (1/2 inch) head space at the top, seal and process in a boiling water bath for at least 10 minutes (more if you live at higher altitudes). Let them hang out in a cool dark place for at least a week so the flavours can commingle.
* As for the pickling spice – it’s easy to make your own. Here’s my version:
Pickling spice mix
2 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp peppercorns
2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tsp cloves
5 bay leaves, crushed
1 tsp crushed dried chilli
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp whole allspice
Mix it all up. Put it in a jar. Done.
2 Comments
Tricked out pickles?
Do they have spinning rims, heavy subwoofers, and crazy hydraulics?
Either way they certainly look tasty…let me know how they turn out.
When it comes to pickles, I think we’ve all got a nasty story. Perhaps an adversary at elementary school whose tweenaged odor evoked a briny nightmare, or a current colleague whose vinegar breath is THE topic of discussion at the watercooler. That said, I’m really pleased that – with thanks to people like yourself – pickles are coming back from the brink; from the dark corners of the pantry into the culinary kleig lights. So, in short, and, without further ado, I just wanted to say: bring on the picklin!
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