Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Oh how I love Spring!! I hope you enjoyed your long weekend!! What did you do? We spent ours spring cleaning. It was nice to get started, but there's still lots to do! I hope it doesn't become summer cleaning!! Too much organizing can be exhausting, so I took a break to try out this Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickle recipe I recently found on Pinterest. I was intrigued by the fact that there was no canning involved and that they were ready to eat in only a few hours! I halved the recipe just incase, but was so impressed with the results I thought I should share the recipe with you!
Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles (half recipe)
INGREDIENTS
1 head garlic
5 cups water
2 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
3 tablespoons pickling salt
1/2 tablespoon dill seed
1/2 tablespoon mustard seed
1/2 tablespoon black peppercorn
2 1/2 lbs small cucumbers, quartered lengthwise
1 bunch small carrots, greens trimmed and halved if necessary
1 small head cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 bunch green onions, tops removed and cut to a length they fit into a quart size jar
sprigs of fresh dill
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large saucepan, bring water and garlic to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes. Add vinegar and salt, raise the heat to high, bringing to a boil, stirring until the salt dissolves. Remove from the heat.
Using 4 1-quart glass jars, place 2-3 sprigs of fresh dill in each. Divide the dill seeds, mustard seeds and peppercorns evenly between the jars. Using tongs, remove the garlic from the brine and divide it evenly among the jars. Then pack the jars full of cucumbers, carrots, green onions, and cauliflower. You want them to be tightly stuffed.*
Bring the brine back to a boil, pour it over the vegetables to cover completely, let cool, then cover and refrigerate. Apparently the pickles will taste good in a few hours, but even better after a couple of days if you can resist them! I refrained from tasting until the next day and couldn't believe how good they were!! Pickles will keep in the fridge for about 3 months.
* I didn't stuff my jars enough even though I used more vegetables in my half recipe than are called for in the full recipe! I ended up stuffing more cauliflower in at the end because otherwise I didn't have enough brine. If you stuff your jars tightly to begin with you shouldn't have a problem.
**I opted to not include hot peppers in my version of the recipe
Thank you to Mountain Mama for this amazing recipe!! Check out her blog post and the full recipe at http://www.mountainmamacooks.com/2013/08/quick-refrigerator-dill-pickles/
Let me know if you try the recipe, your thoughts, and tips!
On that note, a quick Plumbing Tip!
"Learn where your Main Water Shut Off is and how to use it in case of an emergency!"
Carene - The Princess of Plumbing
