Pickle Recipes - Quick Dills

4 pounds cucumbers washed and stemmed
1/4 cup black peppercorns
1 garlic bulb
6 small chile peppers (if you like spicy)
6 dill heads with fronds
2 3/4 cups vinegar (cider vinegar preferred)
3 cups water
1/4 cup pickling salt

The peppercorns, peppers, and garlic are all optional but they do make for some tasty pickles.

Put the spices into your jars (6 pints).
Put your cucumbers and dill into the jars.
Put everything else into a non-reactive pot and bring to a boil. Simmer until the salt is dissolved.
Pour the brine over the cucumbers. Leave 1/2 inch headspace.
Close the jar with hot two-piece caps.
Boiling-water bath for 10 minutes (15 minutes if you use quarts).
Store in a cool, dark place for about a month and then enjoy!

Pickle Recipes - Fried Dill Pickles

You can use pickle spears or pickle slices for frying dill pickles.

Here is a quick and easy recipe:

1 egg
2 Tablespoons buttermilk

Beat the egg and the buttermilk together, throw in your pickles. Set these aside for a minute.

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspon baking powder
picnch of salt

Mix all that together. Toss your egg-coated pickles in the flour mixture until they are evenly coated with flour. Then drop them into hot oil (375 degrees) and fry until golden brown (about 2 minutes).

If you are feeling adventurous add 1/2 teaspon chile powder (or more if you like) to your flour mixture. You can also try garlic powder, onion powder or ground mustard (or all of them) to give your fried pickles a unique flavor.

Pickle Recipes - Bread and Butters

There are dozens of bread and butter pickle recipes out there. I hope you like this one.

6 Pounds cucumbers, cleaned and sliced crosswise
2 pounds small onions, slicked into rounds
Ice
1/2 cup pickling salt
4 1/2 cups vinegar
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon celery seeds
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

Toss the cucumbers and onions with the salt.
Cover them with ice from 2 ice trays and let stand for 4 hours.
Drain the vegetables.
Put everything else into a pot and bring to a boil.
Add the vegetables and slowly bring it back toa boil.
Pack the vegetables into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Add brine, again leaving headspace.
Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Store in a cool, dark place for 3 weeks and then enjoy!

Pickle Recipes - Fennel Pickles

This is a large recipe but you can always cut it down.

3-4 Handfuls of grape leaves
15 pounds of pickling cucumbers
4 tablespoons peppercorns (I prefer black, but use what you have)
2 tablespoons whole allspice
Zest of 4 lemons
1/2 cup fennel seeds
16 fennel fronds
1 large bunch of parsley
1 cup white wine vinegar
2 gallons water
1 1/2 cup salt

Lay half the leaves in the bottom of your pickling crock. Wash your cucumbers. Layer the cucumers in the crock with teh pepper, allspice, lemon zest, fennel and parsley. Add the vinegar to the water and dissolve the salt to make your brine. Cover the cucumbers with the brine. Spread the remaining grape leaves on top. Weight the cucumbers down to keep them submerged. You can use a plastic bag filled with leftover brine or with a plate topped with a clean weight. Cover the crock with a cloth and store it at room temperature.

You will see bubbles forming in the brine within 3 days. If white scum forms on top of the birn, skim it off once per day and clean off your weights. The pickles will be ready in 2 to 3 weeks when the bubbles have stopped forming and the pickles are sour and pickle green throughout.

Once fermentation is complete, strain off the brine into a non-reactive pot. Bring the brine to a boil and then simmer it for 5 minutes. Skim of the scum that forms. Then let it cool. Rinse the pickles in cold water and drain them.

If you are going to store the pickles in the fridge, pack them into jars and cover them with the cooled brine. You can add fresh spices if you want.

If you are going to can them, pack the pickles into jars, cover them with hot brine (leaving 1/2 inch of headspace) and boiling-water bath them for 10 minues for pints or 15 minutes for quarts.

Pickle Recipes - Wine Kraut

8 Pounds Trimmed Head Cabbage (white)
5 Tablespoons Pickling Salt
3 Teaspons Caraway Seeds
3/4 Cup dry white wine

Quarter and core the cabbage then shred it very thin. You can use a cabbage shredder if you have one or a good old knife. Mix the salt, caraway seeds and cabbage. Make sure the cabbage is well covered with the salt and everything is thoroughly mixed. Put this mixture into a crock and weight it down with a food grade plastic bag filled with brine.

Brine: 1 1/2 tablespoons salt per quart of water

You can also cover the cabbage with a plate and top the plate with clean weights (like washed rocks or bricks).

After 24 hours remove the weights and add the wine to the mixture. Replce the weights. The saurkraut will ferment for at least 2 weeks. Each day you should check to see if any scum has formed and if it has remove it and wash the plates and weights. After two weeks start tasting it. When the sauerkraut is ready it will be pale gold and have a flavor that you like. Fermentation can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 weeks depending on the temperature. The colder it is the longer it will take.

This recipe is safe to can if you are into canning. The sauerkraut should be processed in a hot water bath for 20 minutes for pints or 25 minutes for quarts.

Pickle Recipes - Summer Pickles

This is a tasty half-sour that is quick and easy to make. This pickle is fermented in the sun, rather than in the dark. If you expect temperatures to rise above 80 degrees you will want to move them to a cooler place.

1 Quart of pickling cucumbers (3 to 5 inch cukes work best)
1 tablespoon of pickling salt
2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar (substitute apple cider vinegar if you have to)
1 fread head and 1 frond of dill
2 cups of water

Clean your cucumbers. Use a knife to slit the cucumbers through lengthwise but leave the ends intact. This will help keep them from floating. Some people prefer to skewer them instead. Put the salt, vinegar and dill into a narrow-mouth quart jar. Add the cucumbers to the jar so they won't float. Leave 1 inch of headspace. Cover the cucumbers with water (or brine). Cap the jar loosly with a non-reactive lid. Place the jar outdoors in the sun or in a sunny window. You can put the jar in a dish if you are concerned about seeping brine. Bring the jar inside at night (especially if you live at high altitude where it gets very cold at night even in summer). In about 3 days you should see bubbles rising in the jar. The pickles will be ready in about 5 days, when the bubbles stop rising.

Chill them and enjoy a satisfying summer treat! Keep them refrigerated and they will keep for a few weeks. Enjoy!

Pickle Recipes - Curtido

1 1/2 pounds shredded cabbage
1 small red onion, sliced thin
1 medium carrot, slivered
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon pickling salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup pineapple juice

Toss the cabbage, onion, carrot, garlic, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Add the vinegar and pineapple juice.

Pack the mixture into a jar and cover tightly. Refrigerate for 12 hours, stirring occasionally.

Pickle Recipes - Pickled Carrots

1/2 pound carrots, slivered
2 teaspoons pickling salt
1 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 or 2 chile peppers (or more if you like)

Toss the carrots with the salt. Let stand for 1 hour.
Put the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let the liquid cool.
Drain the carrots. Pour the pickling liquid over them and toss them. Let them stand for 1 more hour.
Cool and serve.

Pickle Recipes - Lunch Spears

1 1/4 Pounds 3" cucumbers cut into spears
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons pickling salt
1 quart plus 3/4 cups water
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 small onion, peeled
1 dill head
2 grape leaves
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pickling spice

Put the spears into a bowl or crock. Dissolve 3 tablespoons salt in 1 quart of water and pour it over the cucumbers. Weight the crock with a heavy plate. Let stand for 8 to 12 hours.
Drain and rinse the cucumbers and drain them again.
Pack the cucumbers, garlic, onion and dill head into a 1 quart jar. Add the grape leaves.
In a non-reactive pan boil the 3/4 cup of water, 2 teaspoons salt, vinegar, sugar and spices. Pour the hot liquid over the cucumbers. Cap the jar tightly.
Store the jar in the refrigerator for 1 week before eating.

Pickle Recipes - Dill Pickles with Mustard

4 Pounds cucumbers
1 Large Onion
1/2 cup chopped horseradish
1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds
4 to 6 dill heads
6 tablespoons pickling salt
2 quarts water

Put the cucumbers, onion, horseradish, mustard seeds and dill in layers in a jar or jars. Dissolve the salt in the water adn pour enough brine over the cucumbers to cover them. Weight the jar with a freezer bag filled with brine.

You'll see bubbles form within 3 days in the jar. If scum forms in the jar skim it off and rinse your freezer bag.

The pickles will be ready in 2 weeks when the bubbling has stopped.

Refrigerate and eat.