This year, we planted a garden filled with all of my favorite vegetables... turns out, most of my favorites are viners and prickly!
We have had lots of squash and cucumbers and tomatoes. With this extra produce, we decided to play with pickling and in particular, make our own pickles! We both spent a lot of time on the East Coast and LOVE our half-sours! Here is the recipe we used/made up. Try them with some farmer's market cucs and then next year, grow your own! :)
What kind of cucumbers did we use? We grew the typical small pickling cucs and our plot neighbors were growing salt and pepper cucumbers. Since we were plot sitting for them (watering and picking) we ended up with several of different kinds of cucumbers. As for pickles, Dan liked the small green cucumbers we grew best and I liked the lighter salt and pepper cucs better as pickles. We may even explore pickling lemon cucumbers next! Pick them when they are small and if you are buying them, the younger the better. Larger ones taste very different and sometimes you have to skin them.Never heard of a half-sour pickle? Oh I am SO SORRY for you!! These little guys are DELISH! John Thorne (The Dill Crock, 1984) describes half-sours as "cucumbers still, not pickles-little cucumbers who died and gone to heaven." It's so true! They are mild and perfect!
Here's our method:
Please note: our recipe is super free form. You can make a small batch or large. The only thing that is relatively exact is the salt...
Talia and Dan's Half-Sours
Ingredients:
Kosher salt
Coriander seeds
Black peppercorns
One bay leaf
Garlic cloves
Dill (stalks, flowers, and leaf)
Cucumbers
Water
Optional: A fresh grape leaf
Directions:
Find a jar that fits the number of cucumbers you want to make. You can continue to add cucumbers in later if you want. Note: If you want to eat them half-sour —> plan to eat most in two weeks. The longer they sit, the more pickled they will become.
Place the pickles in the jar and cover them with cool water. Yes they will float but push them down and see how much water it needs to just cover all the cucs.
Then measure the water you put in. We did this by pouring the water out into a measuring cup.
You will need approx two tablespoons of kosher salt per liter of water. Don't be afraid to add a little more or less... just play!
Once you have measured out your salt, dissolve it in hot water. This makes it easier for the salt to work.
Now that it is dissolved, DON'T PUT IT ON THE CUCUMBERS! Whoah! Why the yelling, Talia? Because I don't want you to have mushy pickles! We like them nice and crunchy and the warm water will make them soft. Okay, now that we have calmed down, put some ice in that hot, salty water and cool it off.
While it is cooling off throw the rest of the ingredients on top of the cucumbers in the jar.
Throw some coriander seeds in the jar... It is a great flavor but should be secondary so don’t go overboard.
Put some black peppercorns in the jar also. Again, don't go crazy.
Toss a bay leaf on there. You can crack it in half first but Dan says just toss it in.
Two or three garlic cloves for a small jar, six or seven for a large jar (depends on how garlicky you want your pickles). You can cut them in half first if you want.
Dill time. Dill + cucumbers + salt = the flavor you love in pickles! So I recommend getting fresh, smelly dill from a farmers market or grow your own. If you can get the stalks and flowers in addition to the typical dill leaves (the stringy things you think of as dill), your pickles will be very happy. The stronger the dill smells, the better! Put half a head of flowers in a small jar or a head or two in a large one. Break some stalks into the jar and add the leaves.
The water should be cool by now so pour the salt water in and then fill the jar with cool/cold water. Remember how many cups you put in before? Yes, same number. It should just cover the cucumbers.
If you are using a large jar and the cucumbers won't stay submerged, place a glass or bowl in the water to help keep them down.
Let them sit on the counter for two-ish days. By the second day you should see some bubbles forming on surfaces in the jar and the water should start to be cloudy. This is GOOD! After two days, take one out and try it. Once the water is pretty cloudy, put them in the refrigerator. This slows the process down.
Enjoy!
This is a total experiment and eat project. Have no fear if they don't come out perfect... they continue to pickle as the days go on. But don't leave them out of the fridge too long or you will end up with full sours... unless you want full sours!
Let me know how yours come out!
2020 update:
We have been making this recipe now for 8 years and they work amazingly well. We put up 10-15 jars a year and eat them all year long!