Culinary adventures: Penny's perfectly simple refrigerator dill pickles
Garden season is upon us and while I anxiously await picking and eating the vegetables grown from plants I started from seed and nurtured to maturity, it doesn't take long for my family to wish I was serving them something other than tomato and cucumber salad every night. Blessed with a bumper crop of cucumbers last year, I searched for a recipe that would fit my needs and found a new family favorite in a simple refrigerator pickle. The recipe is for a slightly sweet, but still salty, dill pickle that is ready in just 24 hours and tastes delicious - perfect because I love pickles.
I cannot remember a time when pickles weren't around, but now understand mine is but a brief history with this savory, and sometimes sweet, treat. According to the New York Food Museum, pickles have been eaten since 2030 B.C. and are known to have been a favorite of everyone from Cleopatra and Napoleon, to Christopher Columbus. With no refrigeration available, pickling was a necessity, as it was the best way to preserve food for an extended length of time. Thomas Jefferson was quoted as saying "On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below the stairs of Aunt Sally's cellar."
I don't have an Aunt Sally, but I did have a grandmother who made fantastic pickles. Jars of dill and bread-and-butter pickles were lined up by variety and identifiable by hand written grease pencil notations on top of the lids. My mom also tried her hand at homemade pickles, but was often disappointed with the texture of the final product never being as crisp as she would have liked, until she found a garlic dill refrigerator pickle that did the trick. This is what made me look for a refrigerator pickle recipe.
I'm not an expert canner, another reason why refrigerator pickles are perfect for me, along with the fact this recipe is just plain easy, made us the perfect match. Onions, cucumbers (or pickling cucumbers if you're lucky), apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt and spices are added to freshly sliced cucumbers and allowed to sit in the refrigerator overnight. A short 24 hours later you have pickles!
It is that simple; no boiling jars or worrying if they have sealed. And, the recipe can be customized to your own taste, a sort of "pickle couture." Add less sugar if they are too sweet, or perhaps a shake or two of red pepper flakes if you'd like some added heat. If you are really adventurous throw in some freshly grated or thinly sliced carrots, as the sweet/salty dill flavor is a great addition to any coleslaw recipe.
Your pickling experience doesn't have to end here. The brine, or liquid used in making pickles, is a basic mixture of vinegar, water, salt and sugar that is heated until the salt and sugar has dissolved. Spices are then added to create the desired flavor for the item being pickled. With a little practice you can learn to adjust the measurements for each to pickle just about anything. Last year I also had success with jalapeños, banana peppers and even purple onions - perfect atop a fish taco.
Beyond the classic cucumbers, asparagus, beets, peppers, cauliflower, carrots, onions, and green beans are a sampling of the vegetables that are perfect for pickling. I have even found recipes for pickled cherries, grapes, peaches, rhubarb, strawberries, squash and watermelon. Experiment! My goal this summer is to try my hand at pickling and canning even more of my garden harvest. I will let you know how it goes.
• Penny Kazmier, a wife and mother of four from South Barrington, won the 2011 Daily Herald Cook of the Week Challenge.