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Several weeks ago, while walking around the farmers market, a bin of pickling cucumbers caught my eye. I bought some and on the way back to my car bought the rest of this recipe’s ingredients — well, almost. The three cherry bomb peppers came from my garden. They turned out to be the only cherry peppers that I’d harvest until well into autumn. My tomato plants, taking full advantage of their new flower bed and soil, grew to monstrous proportions, overcrowding everything else in the process.

I have served this pickle atop every kind of sandwich imaginable, not to mention burgers, dogs, and wursts, too. I’ve also served it alongside a variety of grilled meats. For my tastes, a little something acidic on the plate is often a welcome accompaniment.

If you prepare this recipe, the ingredients aren’t nearly as important as the pickling liquid. You can change the spices to suit your own tastes but If you’re going to make a smaller batch, just keep the amounts of vinegar, sugar, and water proportional to what I’ve listed. It couldn’t be easier and, since this isn’t being canned, you needn’t worry about whether the solution is acidic enough. So long as you use sterile jars & lids and clean utensils, it should last several weeks in your fridge.

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A Fresh Pickle Recipe

Ingredients

Pickling liquid

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup pickling salt – If substituting kosher salt, add an additional tbsp
• ½ tbsp coriander seed
• ½ tbsp yellow mustard seed
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp celery seed

Vegetables

• pickling cucumbers – about 3 lbs
• 1 small red onion
• 4 hot green peppers
• 4 sweet Melrose peppers
• 3 cherry bomb peppers
• 1 bunch of radishes
• garlic

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Directions

1. Place all of the pickling ingredients into a sauce pan and heat over a medium heat.
2. Continue to simmer for 5 minutes after the salt and sugar have dissolved.
3. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, slice the remaining ingredients.
5. Once cooled, combine the pickling liquid with the sliced vegetables, stir, fill jars, and cover.
6. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before serving.
7. Will keep in your fridge for several weeks, at least. Just be sure to use fresh, clean utensils when serving.

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Notes

For my tastes, this recipe is a little heavy on the cucumber. Next time I’ll cut the amount of cucumber and increase the other ingredients, especially the radishes. I’ll probably cut the turmeric, as well. As the pickle sat in the fridge, the turmeric gave everything the same hue, eliminating any color variation among all the ingredients save the cherry bomb peppers. The first photo was taken a few hours after I made the pickle. The second was taken one week later.

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It’s déjà vu all over again …

I know, I know, Every year I bring you back to this recipe for giardiniera — and with good reason. Next to the blueberry cheesecake ice cream recipe, this condiment is the most requested and savored by my taste testers. It really is that good. Best of all, it can made anytime because its ingredients are readily available year-round. You can learn all about it by clicking here HERE.  

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Coming soon to a monitor near you …

Ground Cherry Jam

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