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Our Green Garden was so late, but, we were excited when the cucumbers finally started the end of July. Hubby was enthusiastic and planted four different kinds of seeds. It's so nice to use your own cucumbers, free of pesticides and harmful chemicals.
And cucumbers that are fresh and not waxed, like the store ones--last far longer in this recipe.
Here's a couple of different ones, the fat one is kinda big, but very fresh, so perfect for fresh pickles. This is my Danish grandmother's recipe for Agurksalat, or Cucumber salad.
Very few ingredients, fresh cucumbers sliced very thin, salt, white wine vinegar, touch of sugar, water, and fresh dill--the feathery part of the dill plant.
In a glass bowl---sprinkle maybe a quarter cup of salt over a bowl of sliced cucumbers...Mix well. (I peel thick skinned cucumbers, but leave the thin skinned ones with skin.)
(IF you wish to add onions, add ratio of 4 parts cucumbers to 1 part white onions, sliced very thin or green onions sliced very thin.)
Push all the cucumbers to the center, place a saucer on top that fits in the bowl, and a heavy weight. This is a huge jar of peanut butter. Let this sit, room temperature for a few hours, or until the cucumbers have weeped enough water to cover themselves.
Here you can see the water. This water has to be squeezed out, you can put all of the pickles in a towel, rinse well with cold water, (you want to remove all that salt). Ball up the towel, and then turn and squeeze the juice out until nothing more comes out.
You can put them back in the original bowl, or maybe a smaller covered glass container.
Add some sprigs of fresh dill (I used 4), just lay them in the dish or just add some onion slices or both.
Make a brine of two parts water, one part white wine vinegar, start with sugar-1/4 to 1/2 the amount of vinegar. (We like them not too sweet, so when you taste the brine, it's first a bit sweet, but then the vinegar kicks in and still goes up your nose) Add more vinegar or sugar to taste. Pour this over the cucumbers, chill, covered.
Example of brine for say 3-4 small to medium cucumbers (not too big)
Brine for fresh cucumbers
1 cup of water,
1/2 cup of white wine vinegar,
I start with 1/4 cup of sugar and then add. If you need more, add to taste. (Sprinkle of white pepper optional)
Make more brine if you have lots of cucumbers. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month, but they never last that long, LOL.
This first batch didn't last very long---and I had my lunch of tomato basil hummus on multi grain bread and a healthy dose of my Danish Dill Pickles, NUM.
Grandmother would say, "There you go to eat!" or
Vaer sa god at spise!
Thank you for your cooperation,
Sandi
I love fresh cucumbers. Your recipe looks great!It is nice that you can get them of your own vegetable garden!Hugs,dear Sandi,best wishes!
ReplyDeleteI must have replied through mail, thanks so much for visiting! This is just so easy! I made a big bowl for this weekend. Thanks, for your sweet visit, Maristella!
DeleteYum! I love dill pickles and yours look so good! Alas, my hubby won't eat them so I never make them. Thanks for your visit, Sandi. Always nice to hear from you. From the other Sandi :-)
ReplyDeleteHi, Sandi....you can make them without dill, add a bit of celery seed to the juice. Drain them without the dill, and with a touch of chopped parsley and sour cream...even more nummy! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThe gardens have been late this year...even my little container gardens! Your cucumbers are so great looking...might have to try those pickles!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by...they really are so good--and yes, everything is late---we are hoping our squash are ripe before frost!
DeleteThese look so tasty! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
ReplyDeleteThanks, for visiting! They are delicious!
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