Peach salsa
Pickled Peaches
Pickled Jalapeños
Tomato Jam
Ham and Cheese grits
Salads for lunch
Corn Chowder
Afterwards I was L'exausted. I had to do something with all those cucumbers so I made 2 different recipes. Hop Pickles and Old Bay Pickles. I love scoping out different kinds of pickles and then trying to find a copy cat recipe on the internet. At Whole Foods they sell some tasty looking pickles but I'm not paying $7-10 for a jar of artesinal pickles. ARE YOU CRAZY! So when I saw that Brooklyn Brine Co. was teaming up with Dogfish head brewery for beer pickles I knew I needed to figure out how to make these. I was a little bit of rebel and didn't dunk my pickles in a hot water bath to process them. Before you freak out listen to my reasoning. After canning for awhile you develope a certain sense of comfort in fiddling with recipes. I have read in the past that for cucumber pickles they don't necessarily need to be processed as long as you are using hot jars, hot liquid and maintaining a 50/50 water to vinegar ratio. There is so much vinegar and salt in the brine that it is nearly impossible for anything to grow. That being said it is something you have to decide for yourself. This is the first time I have done cucumbers this way but I knew that I would be the only one eating them (Nate hates pickles) and I still give everything I can a close look before I gobble it up. You can still process them if you like. I was just looking for another way to make my pickles crisp and save some time.
Hop Pickles
from Cupcake Rehab
MARILLA’S HOP-PICKLES MADE WITH IPA
MAKES ABOUT 4 PINTSIngredients:
- 8-10 small pickling cucumbers (about 3 pounds)
- 2 cups white vinegar, 5%
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons pickling salt
- 4 sprigs fresh dill, 4 dill heads or 4 teaspoons dill seeds
- 1 teaspoon pickling spice (divided into fourths)
- a little sprinkle of mustard seed per jar
- half of a medium sized white onion, caramelized (done beforehand, allowed to cool & patted “dry”) I omitted this from my batch.
- 1 chili pepper, seeded & sliced
- a dash of cumin seeds
- 2 medium cloves garlic, each cut in half
- 1 bottle Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA (or the IPA of your choice)
*** I omitted the 2 cups of water since you need a 50/50 ratio of acid to water/beer. It's always better to go a little heavy on the vinegar and skimp of the water instead of the other way around.****
Directions:
- Cut a thin slice from the ends of each cucumber. This prevents a “mushy” pickle, as the ends of cucumbers contain an enzyme that makes them mushy. Place jars in canner to sterilize them and place lids in hot water to soften seal. Keep jars hot.
- Meanwhile, combine vinegar, water, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Add the bottle of beer (you will end up with leftover brine, it’s almost certain).
- Remove hot jars from canner. Divide the fresh dill or 1 tsp dill seeds, 1/4 teaspoon pickling spice, chili peppers, cumin seeds, onions and garlic among the jars (they should be still hot); pack in cucumbers.
- Pour the hot beer brine mixture over cucumbers to within ½ inch of rim (head space). Place lids, then bands, turning only to fingertip tight. Let sit in a cool dark place for 24 hours. Check seal. If not sealed, put the jar in the fridge and enjoy right away! If sealed, allow jars to sit for one week before opening for optimal flavor.
Explanation from someone else on skipping the hot water bath...
Before anyone gets on my ass, no I didn’t process them. I figured the salt & vinegar was enough to ensure safety, not to mention the fact that I had a feeling they’d be opened & eaten fairly quickly. If you want to process them, then go right ahead. An experienced canner should know exactly how long, etc (as a general rule it’s 10 minutes for pint jars, 15 for quart). However there are a lot of pickle recipes (like this one) that don’t require processing, the lids seal as soon as the liquid/jars cool. I’ve never had a problem with doing pickles this way now & then, but obviously you need to make sure all of your produce is 100% clean and that your equipment is 100% sterilized, and that you’re using white vinegar with 5% acidity. Yes, yes, yes, I know the USDA would have my head for that. But whatever. I’m nothing if not a rebel.
Old Bay Pickles
From Coconut & Lime
Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini, cut into forths and to fit pint jars (I just swapped cukes for the zucchini)
1 1/2 cup white vinegar
1 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons pickling salt
2 tien tsin dried peppers
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dillseed
2 teaspoons Old Bay
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed
2 cloves garlic
Directions:
Bring the vinegar, water and salt to a boil. Prep the lids/jars. Evenly divide all of the ingredients between 2 wide mouth pint jars Pour in the vinegar mixture. Close the jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. Allow to sit 2 weeks before eating.
Yield: 2 pints