PICKLING!

Vegetables are abound here in New Hampshire right now. August, it turns out, is a bountiful month. I love learning about what comes into season as the summer progresses. Equally interesting and important to learn, I think, is how best to use the vegetables that our land produces, especially when there is a pretty extreme surplus for such a brief time. We have a short growing season here in the Northeast, but when things do grow they can grow in large numbers. If we don't take the time and care to preserve the bounties we produce, then lots of our crops surely go to waste.

So right now I would like to briefly discuss one incredibly effective method of preserving veggies: PICKLING!

Pickling is the process of preserving food in brine or vinegar (thanks wikipedia) and is in no way exclusive to the cucumber (although it is the most popular pickling vegetable). You can pickle beans, peppers, onions, cauliflower or really any vegetable you'd like. That is why this is a great preservation method to use during a time of such wonderful veggie bounty!

There are essentially two different ways to pickle something - using using salt (either dry or with a brine), or vinegar, which is a much quicker process. Whatever you are looking to pickling, you can choose a method that works for you. And don't be afraid to Google it or wing it! I personally like to do to the quick refrigerator pickling method, which is super easy and works great.

For example, I had a surplus of cucumbers (not even "pickling cucumbers", just regular cucumbers) the other day so I decided I should pickle some of them. Here is what I did:

• Sliced 3 large cucumbers into chips and set aside in bowl
• Collected my ingredients for the vinegar solution: cider vinegar, water, sugar, 3 garlic cloves, salt, dill, garlic powder, ground cloves, ground mustard seed, and celery salt.

•  I mixed about a cup of vinegar, half a cup of water, a cup of sugar, 1-3 teaspoons of each spice (totally winged it) and the garlic cloves and brought it all to a brief boil just until the sugar dissolved.

• Meanwhile, I prepared 3 jars with some strips of CSA scallions for added flavor. Some people take great care to sterilize the jars and such, which would never be a bad idea just a little more work, but I did not this time around. Oh well. 

• Once the sugar dissolved, I poured the vinegar mixture over the cucumber slices in the bowl. I let it hang out for a minute and cool down a bit before pouring in the jars. I put one clove of garlic (that had been hanging out in the vinegar solution) into each jar, then filled them with the cukes and poured in the juice. For fun, I added a little extra juice from a jar of pickled jalapenos I had from the grocery store. If you find you did not make enough liquid to fill the jar about 3/4 full, don't be afraid to substitute with pickling juice from other things you have like hot peppers or store-bought pickles. 

• The longer these jars sit in the fridge the more flavorful and pickled the contents become. I say give it about 12 hours and they will be perfect. Delicious!!!