#quickles

I was away on vacation all last week. While gone I had had a thought to make a burger called “I Like Pickles”. It would have dill pickle chips, pickled red onions, and a pickled garlic aioli. I told my husband about it and said “sounds tasty! You can literally make that” and I was like holy shit I COULD make that. And that set off a pickling hyperfixation.

We got home yesterday, I have 3 more days off before I go back to work. Red onions, cucumbers and garlic are now quick pickling in my fridge.

I will never pay for pickles to consume at home again. Why? Because of the recipe below, adapted from Rachael Ray. It's really easy, all you have to do is heat up some liquid, pour it over some cucumbers and let it cool. Voila - crisp pickles! You should eat these within a week because they're not technically "pickles" - sterilized through anaerobic fermentation like traditional canned pickles you find in a jar in the grocery store. But, they're so good, they're usually gone within a day. 

Ingredients

The juice aka brine: 

1/2 cup white vinegar (the industrial kind that comes in a jug) 2 rounded teaspoons white sugar 1 teaspoon mustard seed (or coarse grain mustard, or even a squeeze of mustard from a tube)  1 teaspoon salt 1 clove cracked garlic

NOTE: depending on the storage container you're using, you may need more liquid. You want the liquid to completely cover the pickles. In that case, just double or triple the amounts above and you'll be fine. 

The stuff you pour the juice over: 

1 teaspoon dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves, chopped or snipped 1-2 bay leaves 4 kirby cucumbers, cut however you want (I prefer them quartered)  

Directions from RR: