I got a bag of cucumbers from my Mom’s garden this week and I decided to try to make refrigerator pickles.
It was super easy. First thing I did was thinly slice the cucumbers and an onion before putting them into a large stainless bowl. I gave a generous shake of salt onto the cukes and onions and thoroughly mixed it all together before covering the bowl and setting it aside.
I also added three little Thai green chilies into the bowl of sliced cukes and onions.
Then I made the brine:
- 1 cup of vinegar
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cajun style seasoning
- 1 tablespoon of mustard seed – coarsely crushed with a mortar and pestle
- 2 large cloves of garlic sliced thinly
I put all the brine ingredients into a pot, heated it up to a boil and stirred until the sugar was absorbed into the vinegar and water.
By that time the cucumber and onion slices had been sitting for about 20 minutes. I gave them a stir to make sure they all had some salt on them before using the barbecue tongs to move them from the stainless bowl into a jar.
Purely by coincidence I had almost a full jar – a random jar I had pulled off the pantry shelf.
I poured the hot brine into the jar of sliced cucumbers and onions and then realized I didn’t have quite enough brine to cover them. So I poured in a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (that’s what made it look so dark inthe picture) and then topped up the jar with apple cider vinegar.
The jar of pickles is currently in the fridge. I will wait 24 hours before doing a taste test of these refrigerator pickles.