Ya Like Pickles?

Well, if you do I've got a great recipe to make these little goodies right at home. This is from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which some of you might have heard of.

I've made this recipe and was surprised at how good these guys tasted. Even my husband, a real pickle lover, said they were good. They are the New York style, not dill, although there is dill in the jar.

Pickled Cucumbers
makes 1 quart

4-5 pickling cucumbers or 15-20 gherkins
1 T mustard seeds
2 T fresh dill, snipped
1 T Celtic sea salt
4 T whey (or if not available use another T of sea salt - I used the salt)
1 cup filtered water

Wash cucumbers well and place in a clean quart sized wide mouth mason jar. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over cucumbers adding more water if necessary to cover the cucumbers well. The top of the liquid should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to the refrigerator or cold storage.

Variation: Pickled Cucumber Slices
Wash the cucumbers well and slice at 1/4 inch intervals. Proceed with the recipe. Pickles will be ready to refrigerate or cold storage after about 2 days at room temperature.

Some tips I've learned. If you slice the cukes too thin they become soft in the brine. They taste ok, just soft not crisp like a Vlasic. The first time I made them I sliced in rounds, tonight I sliced in spears, and it looks very cool. I also put in several cut in half garlic cloves the first time, and there was a strong garlic flavor. This time I put in 1 smashed garlic, so, if I remember, I'll let you know how that works...remind me, if I forget.

My husband, being Armenian, grew up on homemade pickled vegetables called Toorshi. His mother would faithfully make it every fall when vegetables were harvested in Michigan. It was very labor intensive, and as you might imagine we lazy lugs of the next generation don't care to make it. But maybe now there is hope for my Toorshi yearning husband. In the near future I will be experimenting with pickling celery, onions, carrots and peppers and, again, if you are interested, remind me to write about it.


Happy canning!