To pickle (cucumbers, onions, garlic, etc) first, you ferment the vegetable in a salt-water mixture (the brine) and then preserve in a vinegar mixture. This technique does such a good job of preserving food that Christopher Columbus’ crew survived their long journey across the Atlantic on pickles.
You will need:
~ 4 lbs kirby cucumbers
~ 2 to 3 sweet onions
~ 6 tablespoons kosher salt
~ 4 to 6 cups of ice
* note the above ingredients need to be refrigerated over night, so plan ahead!
~ 3 cups cider vinegar
~ 3 cups white distilled vinegar
~ 4 cups sugar
~ 4 teaspoons whole mustard seed
~ 4 teaspoons black peppercorns
~ 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
~ 12 to 8 cloves garlic
~ a large bunch of fresh dill
Slice the cucumbers into 1/8 inch rounds and thinly slice the onions. Place mixture in a large colander, adding salt and ice. Add a few more cups of ice to the top of the mixture. Place a large bowl under the colander to collect the water and refrigerate over night.
The next morning, put the remaining ingredients (excluding the garlic and dill) into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the cucumber and onion mixture and stirring often until a boil is reached.
Prepare jars for canning by first washing in soapy warm water and then boiling for 10 minutes.
Add pickle mixture to each can (cans must be hot!!) and include 2 to 3 cloves of peeled garlic and a few sprigs of fresh dill. Leave at least ½ inch head space in the jars. Once the jars are filled, add them to a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove the jars with tongs (don’t touch!) and let sit until cool (you should hear the jars seal). If any jars don’t seal, put in fridge and eat first.
Let the pickles sit as long as you can wait or about 6 weeks. I ate a few on the first day and then some more on the second and the second day was better. I’m hoping one jar will be left by the six-week mark!
Photo & recipe courtesy of: http://www.burntcarrots.com/recipes/garlic-and-dill-pickle-recipe/
