Emma Alter

DCL

I love anything pickled. Last summer when I was doing all my preserving, I somehow managed to let dill pickles fall off my radar. My pickled beets and green beans were both a huge success, but during the winter I was kicking my self for not making traditional dill pickles.

Last week in my local organic market, they had baby cucumber from Ontario and I decided to get a jump on condiments for the summer barbeque season and make some pickles. These were incredibly easy to make and because they are refrigerator pickles, there was no processing involved. I cut mine into quarters, but you can leave them whole if you like.

You are supposed to keep them for 10 days before opening them. I've been staring at those jars of pickles every time I open the refrigerator, daring me to open them. I decided in the interests of journalistic reporting, that it was time to crack open a jar and actually taste them before I wrote this post on them. At least, that's my story. I am happy to say, that they are quite delicious. I cut the amount of sugar in the recipe by half and I think I would cut it back a bit more, because they were a little bit sweet for my taste. Other than that, they have a great crunch, a fresh cucumber taste, with a bit of heat that stays on your tongue. They'd be a perfect topping for my chickpea burgers. The recipe says they'll stay fresh for a month, but I doubt they'll last that long.

Spicy Dill Pickles

12 pickling cucumbers 2 cups water 1 3/4 cups distilled white vinegar 1 ½ cups packed coarsely chopped fresh dill ½ cup sugar 8 garlic cloves, chopped 1 ½ tablespoons coarse salt 1 tablespoon pickling spice 1 ½ teaspoons dill seeds ½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1. Combine all ingredients except dill sprigs in large bowl. Stir, let stand at room temperature 2 hours until sugar and salt dissolve.

2. Place a few dill sprigs in each jar. Transfer 4 cucumbers to each of three 1 ½-pint wide-mouth jars. Pour pickling mixture over to cover. Cover jars with lids and close tightly. Refrigerate at least 10 days. Pickles will stay fresh for up to 1 month. Keep refrigerated.

From Bon Appetit, August 2003

Difficulty Level: Easy