Sweet and Sour Pickles from The Careless Cook

 

Sweet and Sour Pickles from The Careless Cook

 

My pickle history goes back to childhood.  Allow me to rephrase.  My pickle history goes WAAAAAY back to childhood, which was so long ago  my childhood seems like someone else’s childhood.  But, I clearly remember the pickles.  My grandmother made them, with cucumbers from an expansive backyard garden.

 

My parents carried on the tradition with cucumbers from a farmer’s market. The pickles were dills, sometimes with a little heat from jalapeños.

 

While all the childhood pickles were great, I decided to go in a different direction with Sweet and Sour Pickles. My parents pickles required weeks of aging and I’m impatient, so I created pickles that take only about four days to cure and less than fifteen minutes to put together.

 

Sweet and Sour Pickles

 

Ingredients

 

12 four-inch cucumbers

8 pepper corns

1 heaping tablespoon sea salt

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 heaping tablespoon of dried dill and the same amount of mustard seeds

Water

1 bottle seasoned rice vinegar (seasoned rice vinegar is a bit on the sweet side)

 

Puttin’ It Together

 

These pickles are so simple I could say do anything you want, but The Careless Cook is not THAT careless.

 

Slice the cucumbers and put them in a container (glass or plastic) that’s just large enough for all the slices to fit.

 

Add the salt and spices, stir well, cover with water, cover and put them in the frig.  Let the pickles mature for three days or longer.  I shook my pickles once or twice a day, just to make sure the flavors were well distributed.

 

Pour off the water (Not the garlic and herbs!), then add a full bottle of seasoned rice vinegar.  Stir well.  Leave the pickles another day or two. C’est tout! That’s all!

 

You’re ready to surprise your guests and tingle their taste buds.  I eat mine plain, or put them on hamburgers, or serve them with hors d’oeuvres. Your guests will want this recipe!

 

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