Quick, easy, and really fast!

I make these in the summer when the dill and the pickling cukes are fresh and delicious and when the kids and I crave them. These are easy and fun to make. If your cukes are on the small side, pickle them whole, but I prefer this recipe using slightly larger cucumbers sliced lengthwise into halves. They only take a week to work, and you have to keep these in the refrigerator, but them are really delicious and very “fancy deli” tasting. Adjust the seasoning according to your own preference.

If headed dill weed is not available, use fresh dill weed and some extra dill seeds.

You can remove the seeds from the peppers to tame the heat, or leave them in. You can also add more peppers if you like! These will be your pickles after all. I usually add more garlic as well.

You can’t go wrong with this recipe, so feel free to experiment. Add a few other vegetables for color, radishes are nice here, and play around with the spices to suit your own tastes.

1 ¼ cups cider vinegar

8 cups water

¼ cup coarse salt

4 heads fresh dill weed

4 or more cloves garlic, very bruised

2 jalapeno peppers, split in half, stem top and seeds removed

2 tbsp. mixed pickling spice

1 tbsp. mustard seed

2 – 4 fat luscious bay leaves, fresh if possible

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, optional

1gallon pickling cucumbers

Sterilize two half-gallon canning jars, or four, quart jars. This can be done in the dishwasher.

Mix the vinegar, water, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Set aside to cool.

While this mixture cools, prepare your cucumbers. Wash the cucumbers and slice them into quarters lengthwise.

Place half of the dill weed in the bottom of the jars, and pack the cucumbers in tightly, adding garlic, peppers, and rest of the dill along the way. You can get a lot more cukes in the jar if you slice them up.

Place the garlic, pickling spices, mustard, bay leaves, and pepper flakes into your jars

Once the liquid has cooled to room temperature, slowly pour it into the jars. Using a chop stick or the handle of a long wooden spoon, release any air pockets that may have formed.

Cover, and place in the refrigerator for a week. After five days you can start to sample. Keep refrigerated, but you won’t have to worry about the space they take up for long because they tend to disappear. Quickly.

© Copyright 2019 – or current year, Dorothy Grover-Read, The New Vintage Kitchen.