Half Sour! and Sunburn

Oye, I had a rough weekend. Friday night I was at a show and all of my personal belongings were stolen. Wallet, keys, phone, jacket, bag, bike lights, helmet...everything! On top of that Billy's and my bike were locked to each other, stuck together eternally were it not for an angle grinder and a very long extension cord.

Saturday was spent replacing my stuff, and trying not to stress out about my unfortunate luck. Sunday I spent the day in the sun, only to get yet another putrid sunburn.

All would be lost were it not for a wonderful batch of pickles ready to eat today!

After requesting Holly's pickle recipe, I went on a little kick of pickle making fantasy. I made her sinus clearing recipe and tried something of my own. They are a combination of the east coast tradition of "Half-Sours" and a Dill pickle. I was a little nervous going into the process, but they turned out wonderfully :)

You will need a large glass jar with metal lid. If you can get an enormous Ball or Mason jar it would be best, but you can also use any large jar you have because these are quick pickles that don't need so much fermentation. There is a lot of blabber on the internet about different methods of making pickles, but I ignored just about all of the advice once I started this process. The only advice you need is to make sure your materials are clean, and your brine is clear when settled.

Its all about ratio- so even if you use a different sized jar each time, you can still get the same flavor out of the batch. I used a jar that held about 8 cups of liquid plus 10 pickling cukes. It was a jar that I actually bought a massive quantity of pickles in from our local GM/hyper processed foods grocery store.


Emily's Table-Top Pickles!

4 cloves crushed but still whole garlic
1 t mustard either seeds or power (depending on your liking)
1 t red pepper flakes
3 T pickling salt (no iodine)
1 t freshly crushed black pepper
1 t ground coriander
5 large sprigs fresh dill
5 oz white vinegar
hot water

Start by placing the cleaned cukes in the jar. Try to arrange them in a way that locks them in place. It is best if they don't move around to much during this process. Spoiling can occur when to much of the cuke is over top of the brine.

After the cukes are in place first pour in the vinegar. I would recommend 1/4 of the liquid be vinegar.* Not all half sour pickles have vinegar, but I figured it would only speed along the process without influencing the flavor too much. Measure out the amount of water you need. Use the hottest water that can come out of your tap. It needs to be hot enough to dissolve the salt, so if it is not, you need to boil the water in order to do so. Add the salt and other spices to the hot water. Pour overtop the pickles!

The garlic and dill can be added whole to the brine. Secure the top on tight and mix the pickle/brine combo to evenly distribute the spices and vinegar. Do this every few hours.

Let the pickles sit at room temperature for 2 days. Remember to mix them up every once in a while while also making sure everything is submerged properly. As with Holly's pickles, once they have become pickled to your taste, place them in the refrigerator and they will stop absorbing vinegar.

Yummmm. I'll be using these later in the week when I make Stamppot!
You can look forward to the recipe!

*The ratio of salt to water is 2 t to every 1 cup of water you add. So this recipe can be changed based on the size of jar you are using- Dually, you can really add any spices you want, its really all about experimentation