Quick Refrigerator Pickles
“You just put your pickle on everybody’s plate, college boy, and leave the hard stuff to me.” – Johnny Castle
I love Dirty Dancing.
I used to run the catering department for the resort used in filming the movie, so I guess it holds a pretty soft spot for me. But I loved the movie before I worked there, and I love it still. I’ll sit down and watch it every single time it comes on TV – which is really quite a lot. I never get tired of it! Like I said – soft spot.
I also hold a soft spot for these pickles.
A couple of weeks ago, when cucumbers started making their appearance in our garden, Jon decided to give pickle making a shot. I’m so glad he did (Damn him!) I can’t stop eating them. it’s an addiction, really. Instead of the typical dill used, he used fresh cilantro – and to me – there is nothing tastier. The proof is in this pickle recipe. I highly recommend it!
So, without further ado, I turn this post over to Jon DoughMessTic, whom I have allowed to make a second post here on my site. Welcome him back? (Pretty please? For me?)
Its the husbands guest post time again. Not talking about grilling, smoking, or the variety of kick ass Italian dishes I make. Its all about pickles this time. Well, this time of year people are getting over run with all manner of garden veggies. We can only eat so many vegetables in salad or on sandwiches or just plain straight up, so this means we must find something else to do with them. Something sparked my interest in pickles. I think it was a show on the food network…I’m not sure what show though. Anyway…
I decided to try my hand at pickles, not the yucky ones my mom used to make when i was growing up, but good ones that don’t sit in the back of the refrigerator for a year before you just throw them away. Sus said she liked bread and butter pickles so that at least gave us a place to start, as neither of us would be considered pickle eaters. I hopped on the computer and found several recipes that sounded good, but as I read through them they all took something like 4 years of fermenting or whatever before you could eat them. That wasn’t going to work for me. I kept searching and finally came up with some quick pickles, kitchen pickles, refrigerator pickles- whatever you want to call them, they are fast.
Now, since I had looked at several recipes I took the bits and pieces I liked from different ones. I double this recipe for the amount of cucumbers we have and still tend to run out of fluid. (tonight I canned 4 quarts and had to triple the recipe to get enough liquid to cover all of the cucumbers.) This is just the basic recipe for a pretty small amount of cucumbers though—-Hope you enjoy them!
Quick Pickles
- 6 cups -sliced cucumbers (chips)
- 1 cup- Chopped cilantro (or to taste) ( we like alot)
- 1 cup- chopped green onions
- 1 cup- white vinegar
- 2 cups- sugar
- 2 Tbsp- Kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp- celery seeds
- 1 Tbsp- Mustard seeds
- 1 Tbsp- Turmeric
Okay, you get all the stuff together, get everything cut and chopped and ready to go. Put everything except the cucumbers, onion and cilantro in a sauce pan, stir and bring it to a boil. Let this boil for just a minute or two to get it good and hot. As you chopped all your onions, cucumbers and cilantro you should have thrown them in a big bowl together so you can mix them easily. While it’s coming to a boil go ahead and stuff your jars with the cucumber mix, packing the jars tightly.
Now you are going to ladle your liquid pickling goodness into the jars. Be careful what you use as a ladle since the sauce has tendency to stain white stuff.. oops. Once you’ve gotten the jars all topped off, screw the lids on, let them cool for a little and stick them in the refrigerator… Done and done.
The first time I made these they were in the refrigerator for maybe 5 or 6 hours before we tried them. Susan claims they are the best pickles she has ever eaten. The recipes I looked at said this method keeps in the refrigerator for “a long time”- i don’t know how long that actually is because they aren’t lasting in mine for a long time. Sus is eating them like she is pregnant with octuplets. So yeah.. they are pretty freaking good.
Hope everyone has a great week, and thanks for stopping by!
