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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Pickled cucumbers

One of two jars
I was thinking about pickles.  I thought at first that pickled beetroot was the only pickled veg I really liked.  But then we had a jar of pickled cornichons and I remembered I really like those too.  So then I had my eye out for really small cucumbers or cornichons.  I found some pretty tiny cucumbers at the Haymarket, and decided to try pickling them.  It was really hard to choose the pickling method.  I know what I want them to be like, but it will be a month before I get to find out how close I got...  I know what I don't want them to be like too:  I really don't enjoy the massive, chunky, fizzy, fermented, overtly garlicky style of pickled cucumber - the ones I like are the dainty, firm / snappy, delicately herb / spice flavoured ones - perhaps it's the French style, but I'm not sure.  I tried to follow the combo from the ingredient label of the last jar of cornichons we bought, and used a combination of recipe methods. Hopefully they will turn out.  Now I just have to wait and see...

~1 1/4 lb of the smallest cucumbers you can find (these were the Lebanese type, 4-6 in long and ~3/4 in wide)
~3 tbsp salt
half a medium onion, sliced quite fine
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
10-15 small sprigs dill (tarragon might have been better, but we had dill so dill it was)
~2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
~1 tbsp black peppercorns
~2 cups vinegar (used 1 cup white vinegar plus 1 cup cider vinegar)

Chop the cucumbers into 1-2 in long pieces, put into a colander and salt generously in layers.  Put colander over a bowl with a plate+weight on top and leave for ~24 hours.

Rinse the cucumbers and dab dry with a clean cloth.  Clean and sterilize the jars (this amount neatly filled two large ex-caper jars ~450g).

Pack layers of cucumbers into the jars, interspersed with the garlic, onion, dill and spices.  Leave an inch of space at the top.

Heat the vinegar to just about boiling point in a pan.  Remove from the heat, fill the jars right to the top and cover immediately.

Store in a cool, dark place for at least one month before eating.


Update April 29th 2012: They are good!  Nice and crisp, with a good, sour vinegar taste but no fermentation.  Bonus pickled onion and garlic.  Pretty much exactly what I was aiming for, give or take tinier cucumbers and tarragon vs dill.
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