Inspired by Leuwam’s pickled grapes, I decided to give this pickling thing a try. You guys! I want to pickle everything now. Since this was my very first time pickling anything, I thought I’d play it safe and try some simpler recipes. A little googling and a chat with Liz left me with two recipes that felt pretty manageable. Of course, I can never leave well enough alone, so here are my adapted versions!
Japanese Salt Pickles
- 3t salt
- 1 long English cucumber
- apple cider vinegar
The original recipe for these salt pickles is right here. I don’t own a pickle press, so I spread the salted cucumbers into the bottom of a shallow bowl, covered with a small dish, and weighted it all down with some cans like so:
After thoroughly curing, rinsing, and draining. And rinsing. And draining. And rinsing and draining one last time, they still were WAY too salty. It reminded me of that episode of FUTURAMA where Bender cooks his first meal for the crew. Intense!
Rather than declare the recipe a failure, I crammed the pickles into a little jar, covered with apple cider vinegar, and let them chill in the fridge for about four hours. Goodness gracious, you guys! They are delicious now!
Slightly Spicy Pickled Green Beans
- 2 cups green beans, ends snapped off
- 1/2 cup sliced vidalia onions
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 2-3 whole red chilies, seeds removed
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Liz recommended blanching the green beans beforehand, which I skipped out of total laziness. They came out fine, but I think blanching them would have taken this recipe to a whole other level of deliciousness!
In a large bowl, combine the green beans (blanched or raw) and onion. Sprinkle with salt and mix well. Let that stand for about an hour. Drain. Then, in a medium bowl combine the garlic, vinegar, and hot peppers; stir.
Place the green bean mixture into a glass jar and pour the vinegar mixture over green beans. Cover and chill for at least 24 hours to blend the flavors.
So now, of course, I have pickling fever! Do you guys have any favorite pickle recipes? Do tell!
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matt sent me this link, i’ve been searching far and wide for pickled green beans after having them in my bloody mary in new orleans. i’m excited to try this recipe, thanks guys :)
Awesome! I meant to update the post, but Liz was saying last night that she has now tried making them blanching and without, and she prefers the unblanched version. Laziness for the win!
Awesome pickles! I’ve never tried to pickle before but those green beans look so tasty!
Thanks so much for this post! I’ve been thinking of pickling my green beans when they came in and I had no clue were to start.
Also, I loved your recent aprons and lunch kits! They all came out wonderful, just like everything else you touch. ;)
Yes!!!! Once Fall show craziness is over, I want to make that happen again! Can we?
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