Pickles!

I just discovered something magical: I can make homemade pickles.  This might not seem like something noteworthy given the vast selection in any US supermarket, but it is a huge revelation for us because we cannot find pickles in France, and I love them.  Yes, yes, there are pickle counterparts, like the cornichons, but they aren’t the same.  They’re sweet and lack the garlicy crunch that makes a burger perfect.  I like cornichons, but I’m disappointed every time I want a real kosher dill; they just doesn’t stack up.  We’ve been bringing pickles back with us from the United States, and with a 23 pound baggage weight limit, we’ve had to make to some difficult decisions about what goes in the suitcase.  Each year, we ration our pickle consumption so they’ll last until our next trip stateside.  It’s not easy and some polite fighting has occurred over the last, remaining pickle.  So, when I stumbled across a recipe for “ice box pickles” I was curious, and happily discovered that I have most of the ingredients right in the garden.  Everything goes right in the jar, the jar goes in the fridge, and one week later, voila!  The pickles are ready.  And, HOLY COW, they’re great!  Not just “great” as in “they’ll do”, but great as in better than the last store bought jar we tasted them against.  They’re AWESOME!  Still very crunchy, the pickles had all the garlicy goodness I was craving and a bite from the cayenne pepper put them over the top.  I ate three right away.  No more hoarding, no more rationing, I can have all the pickles I want, whenever I want.  I even dreamt about them last night. The cherry on the cake to this is now we have more room in our suitcases for Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, which not so strangely enough, goes great with our homemade pickles.

Here’s the recipe if you’re interested.  I discovered it thanks to fellow blogger The Magic Apron.

Dill Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs Kirby cucumbers (sometimes labeled pickling cukes), cut in half lengthwise.  (I don’t know what type of cucumbers we have in the garden, but I’m guessing most anything would work.)
• 2 cups white distilled vinegar
• 2 cups cold water
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 good handful of fresh dill seed
• 1 tsp mustard seeds  (I searched all around for this, but couldn’t find it.  Strange for a country that loves its mustard so.)
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes or a dried red hot pepper (optional)
• 1 tsp black peppercorns

Directions:

1. Place all the seasonings in the bottom of a 2 or 3 quart jar. Add the cucumber halves, stacking them so they don’t float around too much.
2. Measure out the vinegar, water and salt in a separate container and stir until the salt dissolves.
3. Pour the liquid into the jar containing the cucumbers. Make sure the liquid covers all of the cucumbers.
4. Seal the lid tightly and shake for about a minute. Put in the fridge and wait… patiently.
5. Wait for 6 or 7 days, giving the jar a good shake each day.