Happy 4th of July!
You’re planning to grill hamburgers today, right? Hotdogs? You know what you need with those ‘burgers and ‘dogs? Pickles. And I’m not talkin’ Vlassics here, folks. I’m talking home. pickled. cucumbers.
So far this year, we have picked about a gazillion cucumbers from our teensy little backyard garden. I enjoy a good cucumber, but I don’t necessarily care to eat twelve cucumbers a day. So, pickles it is!
I’m rather choosy about my pickle type. I don’t bother will sweet pickles. I don’t jive with bread & butter. I do devour dill.
I didn’t think I had quite enough cucumbers piled up to justify a full-out canning session, so I looked for a refrigerator pickle recipe. I made a small batch (two jars) first, to test the taste. No need to waste bazillions of pickles on a yuck-o recipe, right?
This recipe (after a few tweaks) produced excellence. Aaron said they were the best pickles he’d ever eaten. And he’s not just willy-nilly with his “the best ever” statements. He’s really not.
But he was right. These are the best. And they are like, twenty-seven easy. That’s really easy. Especially on a scale of one to ten.
So make these! Pile ‘em on your burgers! Chop ‘em up for relish on your hot dogs! And step outside, take a deep breath, and meditate for a moment on your blessings. We live in a pretty choice country.
Refrigerator Dill Pickles
adapted from recipe in Bon Appétit
1 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Maui), thinly sliced
1 bulb garlic, peeled
2 pounds medium pickling cucumbers, scrubbed, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 large bunch dill, coarsely chopped (stems included)
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt
Divide sliced onion and garlic cloves between two 1-quart wide-mouth glass jars.
Pack cucumber slices horizontally in jars. Top each jar with dill.
Using mortar and pestle or resealable plastic bag and mallet, crush mustard seeds and peppercorns together. Place crushed spices in medium saucepan. Add vinegar, 1 cup water, sugar, and coarse salt. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Ladle mixture evenly over cucumbers. Leave jars uncovered and chill 24 hours. Cover glass pickle jars tightly with lids. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep refrigerated.
How long should these last in the fridge?
The vinegar and salt act as preservatives, so these guys should last several weeks.
The prepration guide says add dill seeds, but the ingredients list does not show them. If you use them how much? Thanks
Ah! I neglected to edit those out. I didn’t have dill seeds on-hand, so I didn’t use them. The taste is nevertheless superior to most store-bought pickles.
I don’t understand the “leave uncovered” part. You put them in the fridge with no lids? why?
You leave the lid off for the first 24 hours to allow time for the cucumbers to brine and shrink. Once they have shrunk, there is more head space in the jar, allowing the lid to screw on tightly.