Thursday Recipe - Sweet Slice Pickles

And another wonderful pickle recipe from my awesome pickle cookbook. This one holds up well to processing. You can use little cucumbers or fully ripe ones or anything in between. It's pretty quick to do, too.

Sweet Slice Pickles

Cucumbers - enough to fill 5 pint jars once sliced
1 T. mustard seeds
2 t. celery seeds
whole cloves
3 c. 5% acidity white vinegar
5 c. sugar
1 T. pickling salt

Scrub cucumbers thoroughly. Slice off blossom end and stem, discard. Slice the cucumbers into 1/4 inch slices. Stuff the slices into pint jars, packing tightly.

Divide mustard seed evenly between jars. Repeat with celery seeds. Add 2-3 whole cloves to each jar.

Heat vinegar, sugar, and salt together until it boils.

Pour hot syrup over cucumber slices, dividing it evenly between the jars. If you need more liquid to fill the jars, just add some plain vinegar on top.

Process and seal as appropriate to your altitude.

Makes 5 pints of sliced sweet pickles.

You can add sliced onions or peppers to this if you want. Just substitute it in for some of the cucumber slices.

Thursday Recipe - Ice Pickles

No, that isn't pickled ice. That would be difficult to manage. Ice tends to melt into water which makes the brine to dilute. These are called ice pickles because they are soaked in ice water to keep them crisp. It works, too. These slices stayed nice and crisp even after processing. They've got a nice mild sweet flavor, too.

This one is also from my awesome pickle cookbook.

Ice Pickles

1 quart cucumber slices
1 small onion, sliced
1 T. mustard seed
1 t. celery seed
1 c. vinegar
1 T. pickling salt
1 c. sugar
1/2 t. turmeric

Place cucumber slices and onions in a large ceramic bowl. Cover with ice and cold water. Place a plate over the slices to keep them submerged. Let them sit for 2-4 hours.

Drain the slices. Pack into pint jars, it should make two. Divide the mustard seed and celery seed between the two jars.

Heat the vinegar, sugar, salt, and turmeric to boiling, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the pickle slices until jars are full.

Seal and process according to your altitude. I processed my jars about 10 minutes, I'm at 400 ft above sea level.

Let them sit in a cool, dark place for at least a month before enjoying.

Thursday Recipe - Watermelon Pickles

No, it isn't the season for pickle making. It's the season for pickle eating. I'm finally getting around to tasting the pickles I made last summer. I'm posting the recipes here so I know the good ones to use next summer when it is pickle making time again.

These are incredible. No, I didn't use watermelon rind, although that's what the recipe calls for - the white part of the watermelon rind. I used giant cucumbers that were somehow missed for a couple of weeks. They were huge, bright yellow, but still good. They make really good watermelon pickles.

These are technically a sweet pickle, but with a different flavor from most sweet pickles. They hold their crunch beautifully. I took a jar to a family party and had many requests to please give them jars of these pickles next Christmas.

The hard part will be ignoring the cucumbers long enough to let them get huge and yellow.

The recipe came from my old pickle making cookbook.

Watermelon Pickles

2-3 very large, ripe cucumbers (they turn bright yellow when ripe)
ice
cold water
2 T. pickling salt
5 c. sugar
2 c. vinegar
1 T. whole cloves
1 t. ground allspice
1 T. whole peppercorns
1 large stick cinnamon, broken into small pieces
1 lemon, sliced

In the afternoon or evening, peel the cucumbers. Slice lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and discard. Slice the cucumbers into 1/4" slices. You should have about 9 c. of slices.

Place the slices in a large ceramic bowl. You could use plastic or metal, but it might discolor or add a funky taste to the pickles. I use a large ceramic mixing bowl for pickles and it works great.

Sprinkle the salt over the slices. Add a layer of ice cubes. Add just enough cold water to cover the slices. Let them sit overnight on the counter.

In the morning, drain the slices. Rinse well with cold water. Set aside.

Prep five pint jars by washing if needed, then rinsing in very hot water. Divide the whole cloves, allspice, peppercorns, and cinnamon stick pieces between the jars.

In a large saucepan, mix the sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Add the cucumber slices. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Divide the slices between the jars. Push down if needed. Pour the hot syrup over the slices to fill the jars. If you need more liquid, use plain vinegar to finish filling the jars.

Wipe the rims and seal in a hot water bath according to your altitude. I processed my jars for about 10 minutes but I'm almost at sea level.

Let them sit in a cool, dark place for a month before enjoying.