QUICK-PICKLED VEGETABLES
Pickling is one of the oldest ways to preserve foods, and it’s a lot easier than it used to be. The traditional method requires fermenting the vegetables for an extended period, while bacteria slowly convert the brine to vinegar. That’s a smelly and time-consuming process that doesn’t work well in the typical urban apartment.
It’s much easier to cut to the chase and start with prepared vinegar, which is how most commercial pickles are now made. The recipe given here is for a basic universal pickle brine. Depending on your taste, and the vegetables you choose to pickle, you can add any number of flavoring ingredients to make the pickles your own.
A prepared “pickling spice” mixture provides a traditional flavor profile, but you could add chilies and garlic, or fresh herbs, or even Asian flavors like lemongrass and ginger.
Ingredients:
1 litre water
1 litre white vinegar
250 g sugar
25 g kosher or pickling salt
Directions:
Combine the brine ingredients in a non-reactive pot, and bring them to a boil.
While the pot heats, fill clean Mason jars with your choice of prepared vegetables: Green beans, broccoli or cauliflower florets, carrots sticks or baby-cut carrots, sticks of daikon or whole baby radishes, spears of bell pepper and whole small peppers are all excellent choices. Pack the jars as tightly as possible. One batch of brine can fill up to8 or 10 pint jars, depending who well you fill them with the vegetables.
Fill the jars with the hot brine, leaving 1/2” to 3/4” of space at the top. Tap the jars against the counter to work out any bubbles, then seal them tightly and allow them to cool to room temperature in a well-ventilated area. Mark any jars that don’t make a tight seal, and use them first. Your pickles will be ready to eat in 48 hours, and will keep for a couple of months in the refrigerator.
Notes:
Kosher salt and pickling salt are your best choices for pickles. Aside from the nutrient iodine, table salt also has ingredients added to help keep it free-flowing. Sea salt, similarly, is filled with natural impurities. That’s a good thing at the table, but in pickling those impurities can give you a cloudy brine and discolored pickles.
Use perfectly fresh, unblemished vegetables for pickling. A few green vegetables, like green beans and asparagus, benefit from being blanched and shocked (immersed in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, then plunged into ice water to cool). This step is optional, but helps preserve their color.
