I consider pickles my homies’ food. Having grown up in NYC, I am intimately familiar with Katz’s Delicatessen’s pastrami, hot dogs, and pickles. Pickles are always a part of the package; they’re served with everything. Little did I know how darn easy it is to make ‘em the way I like ‘em.
I like dill pickles slightly sweet and mostly sour, and these are not as easy to come by in markets. So my recipe includes honey, however this is optional. If you want the straight up dill sour pickle, just leave out the honey.
You can probably use any kind of cucumber, but I purposely bought pickling cucumbers (also referred to as Kirby cucumbers) at the farmer’s market. Just don’t use cucumbers that have been waxed because that will deter the pickling process.
My pickles were tasty in only two days! But we’ll keep them in the refrigerator for at least a few weeks (if they last that long).
Here is a link I used to guide me, although there are so many recipes for pickling on the Internet.
Comfy Belly
Dill Pickles
Ingredients
- 1 sweet onion (I used a Walla Walla onion), thinly sliced
- about 2 pounds (12 or so Kirby) pickling cucumbers, sliced into spears or coins
- 1 bunch of fresh dill, coarsely chopped (stems included)
- 4 cloves of garlic, whole
- 3 cups apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
- 2 cup water
- 1 cup honey (or to taste)
- 6 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or sea salt)
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 6 bay leaves
Preparation
- Clean and sterilize your jars in boiling hot water. I used quart-size glass yogurt jars with tops, but you can use any glass jar with a top.
- In a large stockpot or sauce pan, add vinegar, water, honey and salt and bring to a medium boil. Boil for just a few minutes, and then turn off (as long as everything is dissolved).
- Place the onions on the bottom of the jar, and then the cucumber slices on top of them.
- Place the dill, bay leaves, coriander seeds, and garlic on top of the cucumbers.
- Pour the liquid over the pickles until they are covered.
- Place the jars in the refrigerator uncovered for about 24 hours, and then cover them.
- Store in the refrigerator.
You might also like...
 |
Well, how do you think these would work without the onion or garlic (we can’t have either.) And we can’t have honey, but maybe we could sub maple syrup? I know Frontier also sells pickling spices, but I’m not sure what’s in them. Does the flavor of the onion & garlic make these? I’m wanting pickles, but bummed that they all have stuff we can’t have!
Oh, no worries about all that extra stuff. It’s just what I like, and what I read others put in their cure. All pickles really need are salt and/or vinegar, water, and dill (if you’re making dill pickles). You can certainly sub the honey out with another sweetener, or just leave it out if you don’t want the slight sweetness.
That was my problem with pickling spices – I couldn’t tell what was in there, and lots of them use black or red pepper, which I can’t eat.
I love slightly sweet pickles too and want to try this recipe. Why do you leave the jar uncovered first?
Carrol – I assumed it was to let the steam escape while the liquid cools in the refrigerator. In my trolling around the Internet, it seemed that every recipe that used the refrigerator technique for dill pickles that I use here, also left the jar uncovered for at least 24 hours. Of course, the refrigerator begins to smell like a pickling vat.
can you pickle other things too, like asparagus, or radishes or even carrots???
Dana – yes, most definitely! I love pickled carrots. Zucchini, string beans, garlic. I haven’t had pickled asparagus or radishes, but I can’t see why not.
Pickled asparagus is the BEST! Don’t steam or cook the asparagus just process them exactly as above and they are wonderful.
This recipe is delicious. They make a nice bread and butter style pickle.
Thank you so much for all your recipes.
How many quarts/jars did you fill up with this recipe?
.
Thanks