We are just entering the season for some of the best produce of the year. I wish I could say that I have all of this abundance overflowing from my own garden, but alas, I’m still learning. I can thank some fabulous friends for sharing in their abundance of cucumbers for this week’s treat in our kitchen.
So what do you do with so many cucumbers? It’s just not possible to use them all, even if we wanted to make a cucumber salad. Make dill pickles!
One of the few things that remains on our pantry shelf that I have found difficult to reproduce without all the additives is dill pickles. I tried one recipe, but it just wasn’t flavorful. So yesterday I decided to try a new recipe on a recommendation from my friend. Guess what? It actually was tasty! Thank you Danielle Walker. In her Eat What You Love cookbook, she has a fabulous dill pickle recipe that is super simple.
I made just one recipe to start, but maybe it’s time to break out instructions on how to seal my jars so I can make multiples and keep them on my pantry shelf. Feel free to give this recipe a try if you don’t have one yet that you love. And, when your friend offers you cucumbers, now you can say, “Yes!”.
DILL PICKLES
from Eat What You Love, by Danielle Walker
Makes 1 quart jar
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon light-colored raw honey
- 1 Tablespoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 pound Persian or Kirby cucumbers, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- In a large glass bowl, combine both vinegars, the honey, salt, and mustard seeds. Pour in the hot water and stir until the honey and salt are dissolved. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.
- In a separate large glass bowl, combine the cucumbers, dill, and garlic. Pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers a and stir to combine. Place a small plate over the cucumbers to keep them submerged, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the pickles for 4 hours or overnight, stirring once or twice.
- Transfer the pickles and their liquid to a clean 1-quart jar. Secure the lid tightly, then store in the refrigerator for 1 month.