This is a recipe handed down from generation to generation in my family. My mother was very proud of and famous for her pickles. This same cucumber recipe can be used to pickle almost any vegetable, including onions, peppers, squash, baby corn, green tomatoes, cauliflower, and anything else you might fancy. Growing your own dill will be a wonderful finishing touch. Gather:
- 3 dozen baby cucumbers (three to four inches long)
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups vinegar
- 6 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 bunch fresh dill or ½ teaspoon dried dill per jar (you can use seed heads, leaves, and stems, too)
- ½ to 1 clove garlic per jar, blanched and sliced
- ½ tablespoon mustard seed per jar
- 2-quart Mason canning jars (or 6 one-pint jars), sterilized
Wash all the cucumbers using cool water. In a big stockpot, pour in the vinegar, three cups of water, and the kosher salt and bring to a boil. This is the brining liquid. In the bottom of a sterilized quart jar, place a generous layer of dill, a clove of garlic, and ½ tablespoon mustard seed. Pack the cucumbers vertically into the jar until half full, then add another layer of dill and fill the remainder of the jar with cucumbers. Fill all the jars in the exact same way, leaving a half-inch at the top for brine. After you have poured in the brining liquid, go ahead and seal the Mason jars. Place the jars in a boiling-water bath for fifteen minutes. Label once your pickle jars have cooled and store on a cool, dark shelf for two weeks to allow the flavor to develop.
Magical correspondences to draw from in labeling your fresh batch of pickles:
- Cucumber: healing, peace
- Vinegar: security, cleansing
- Dill: prosperity, safety, luck
- Garlic: protection, healing
- Salt: purification
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