Pickled, Super Easy Homemade Pickles

The other day I discovered a bag of almost totally frozen cucumbers in the back of the refrigerator. Even though here in Israel, cucumbers aren't all that expensive, I still didn't want to throw them out. You must have heard the saying:

If life gives you lemons, then make lemonade.

So, I took those frozen cucumbers and made pickles!

I made the pickles the easiest and quickest way possible. I don't measure. I just cut, poured and sprinkled.

Ingredients:

• cucumbers
• fresh garlic
• an onion
• coarse salt
• I should have added a few peppercorns but forgot
• dehydrated dill and kusbara, (Coriander, also known as cilantro or Chinese parsley,) fresh would have been even better
• vinegar
• boiling water

I brought it to a boil and then let it simmer over half an hour. After it cooled I stored the pickles in a glass jar in the fridge. 

My husband even agrees that the pickles taste fine. And they don't have that over-salty chemical taste you frequently find in store-bought pickles.

If you're on a low salt diet, you can make low salt pickles at home. Get the flavor from the onion, garlic, dill and vinegar. 

Another advantage to the cooked pickles is that they just take a couple of hours from beginning to eating them. And don't forget that if I hadn't made pickles I would have thrown out the cucumbers.

Perfectly Pickled

It's really amazing how easy it was to make these pickles.  Contrary to what's written in other places, I discovered that the cucumbers don't have to be perfect.  When I got up from sitting shiva for my mother last week I found that we had too many cucumbers in the fridge, and even worse was that some were frozen.  I kvetched about it on facebook and a friend suggested pickling them. I did some Google searches for easy pickles and eventually came up with this method.  I boiled them, because I was afraid of spoilage.  The whole business didn't take long.  Here, "watch."

I rinsed off the cucumbers.  The dark color is from the iciness.  They were otherwise fresh and had no smell.  As per instruction I saw on the internet.  I cut off the ends.  Then I sliced them the long way and placed them in a pot.

I added, coarse (aka kosher) salt, white sugar, peppercorns, dehydrated dill and garlic.

I cooked the cucumbers and spices up with some plain vinegar and water until the color changed.  Then I left it to cool a bit until it was safe to put them in glass (from instant coffee) jars.

My husband and I both like the flavor.  Normally I don't like pickles.  But these are good.  The hardest thing is now remembering to eat them, since I never buy any; they're not on our regular menu.  Next time I pickle,  I'd like to add some different veggies, such as carrots.  Yes, I'm planning a next time.  It's really easy and a good way of using vegetables before they "go bad."