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| See the little dill head at the bottom of the jar? I grew that too (she said proudly). The cute little canning jars are Italian and on sale at Tuesday Morning. |
Cucumbers abound at our house and it has been a lot of fun trying all sorts of new recipes. The cucumber recipe du jour was dill pickles. I love making these because they are so easy, and allow for a bit of creativity when it comes to additional flavor-making ingredients.
EASY DILL PICKLES
8-10 small pickling cucumbers (about 3 pounds)
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
2 tablespoons pickling salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
4 heads fresh dill or 4 teaspoons dill seeds
4 small cloves garlic
Place your sterilized jars into the canner and bring the water to a simmer. Keep them warm while you slice the cucumbers and prepare the pickling solution.
Cut a thin slice from the ends of each cucumber. Slice into chips about 1/8 inch thick. A mandolin works great for this as long as your cucumbers are crisp and fresh. Set aside.
Combine vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. If you prefer a pickle more to the sour side, eliminate the sugar.
Carefully remove hot jars from canner. Place them open side up on a towel on the counter to keep them steady. Here's where the fun comes in. You can get very creative with the pickles. For a basic garlic dill, place 1 head fresh dill or 1 tsp dill seeds and 1 clove garlic into each jar; pack in cucumbers.
You can also try the following additions (when I make pickles, each jar is different):
1-3 slices of Jalapeno peppers
1-2 pearl onions
1/4 teaspoon pickling spice
Sprig of dill weed
2-3 peppercorns
Pour boiling vinegar mixture over cucumbers to within 1/2 inch of the rim of the jar. Screw on cap and lid. Process 10 minutes for pint jars and 15 minutes for quart jars. Allow to cool on the counter and be sure to listen for the popping noise that indicates that you've gotten a good seal. Store for 2 weeks to allow for the infusion of flavors.
This post is linked to:
Seasonal Sunday, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Monday, On the Menu Monday, This Week in My Garden, Outdoor Wednesdays and Tuesday Garden Party
EASY DILL PICKLES
8-10 small pickling cucumbers (about 3 pounds)
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
2 tablespoons pickling salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
4 heads fresh dill or 4 teaspoons dill seeds
4 small cloves garlic
Place your sterilized jars into the canner and bring the water to a simmer. Keep them warm while you slice the cucumbers and prepare the pickling solution.
Cut a thin slice from the ends of each cucumber. Slice into chips about 1/8 inch thick. A mandolin works great for this as long as your cucumbers are crisp and fresh. Set aside.
Combine vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. If you prefer a pickle more to the sour side, eliminate the sugar.
Carefully remove hot jars from canner. Place them open side up on a towel on the counter to keep them steady. Here's where the fun comes in. You can get very creative with the pickles. For a basic garlic dill, place 1 head fresh dill or 1 tsp dill seeds and 1 clove garlic into each jar; pack in cucumbers.
You can also try the following additions (when I make pickles, each jar is different):
1-3 slices of Jalapeno peppers
1-2 pearl onions
1/4 teaspoon pickling spice
Sprig of dill weed
2-3 peppercorns
Pour boiling vinegar mixture over cucumbers to within 1/2 inch of the rim of the jar. Screw on cap and lid. Process 10 minutes for pint jars and 15 minutes for quart jars. Allow to cool on the counter and be sure to listen for the popping noise that indicates that you've gotten a good seal. Store for 2 weeks to allow for the infusion of flavors.
This post is linked to:
Seasonal Sunday, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Monday, On the Menu Monday, This Week in My Garden, Outdoor Wednesdays and Tuesday Garden Party
