‘Tis the season for pickling!
I grew up with these pickles.. the recipe was actually kind of a guarded secret (emphasis on the was). I don’t like pickles much, but these sweet ones were something I would eat as an after school snack or munch on as I waited for dinner to be ready.
Here on the island we have several weekly farmer’s markets with local produce. I stopped by one last week and picked up 3lbs of pickling cucumbers to add to the 2lbs that I had grown at home. When you’re picking out your cucumbers, aim for ones that aren’t too fat and try to get ones of similar thickness for uniformity.
Wash, slice, and measure out your cucumbers. Dice your onions and peppers.
Put them all together in a bowl and add your salt. Stir them all together and leave them out overnight (or for at least 8 hours). The pickling salt will pull all of the liquid out of the vegetables.
Drain the liquid out and use a colander to rinse the salt off. Throw everything in a large pot, adding the vinegar, sugar, and spices together. Bring it to a rolling boil (if you stir it with a spoon, it doesn’t stop boiling) and boil for 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and pack pickles into the jars, ladle the liquid over the packed pickles, wipe the rim of the jars with a hot wet clean towel and place lid and rim on (be careful not to touch the inside of the rim).
Process in a water canner for 10 minutes of boiling. Leave them for a least a week before using to give them time to soak.
Ingredients
- 4 quarts (16 cups) pickling cucumbers, sliced
- 1 Red Pepper diced
- 2 Green Peppers diced
- 2 Large Onions diced
- 1/2 cup of Pickling or Kosher Salt
- 1 quart of Vinegar (I personally like half Apple Cider Vinegar and half White Vinegar)
- 4 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/8 cup whole mustard seed
- 1 Tbsp celery seed
- 1 Tbsp Turmeric
Add sliced cucumbers and diced peppers and onions into large bowl or pot with pickling salt. Stir and leave overnight or at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse.
In large pot, add vegetables, vinegar, sugar and spices. Bring to roiling boil and boil for 1-2 minutes. Pack pickles into jars and ladle liquid over. Seal and process in canner for 10 minutes at boiling.
