posts may contain Amazon affiliate links, which earn me a small commission when you buy (but doesn't cost you anything extra). Occasionally I receive free products and/or run sponsored posts—this will always be stated clearly in the post. Thank you for supporting this blog.

This website contains some quotations, excerpts, and screen clips from copyrighted material. These uses fall well within the copyright doctrine of "Fair Use".
Friday, June 25, 2010

Easy Refrigerator Pickles

My absolute favorite types of pickles (cucumber pickles) are the In-Your-Face-Garlic-Breath kind of pickles.  These are not those kind...but I hope to make some soon.  These are simple refrigerator pickles...in other words, not "canned".  Make them in small batches to eat over the summer.  Those weeks when you know you'll be cooking out a lot are the perfect excuse to turn a few cucumbers into no-hassle pickles.  Quick pickles are also the perfect time to experiment with flavors.  Test out different herbs, spices and add-ins...that way, when it comes time for preserving large batches for canning, you can make new varieties with the flavor combos you like best!  Last weekend at the Farmer's Market I bought three long and lovely seedless cucumbers.  I did not buy dill.  I could have sworn there was some growing in our community garden, or at the very least that I still had some dried.  Nope...on both counts.  Therefore, my pickles were not dill pickles...but they were still delicious!  We grilled up some burgers, bbq chicken and hotdogs...these were a fabulous accompaniment to all of them.  Slightly sweet with a little lingering heat.  I cut each cucumber a different way, for different textures and jarred them separately.  One was thin and flat.  Another was slightly thicker and wavy (cool cutter from Pampered Chef). And the third was cut on the bias, thick and wavy (big 'uns). The thin ones tucked nicely into hotdog buns...the slightly thicker, wavy slices rocked with tangy bbq chicken...and the big 'uns were perfect for stacking a burger! 
Sweet and Spicy Refrigerator Pickles
for one small batch...depending on how you slice your cucumber, it'll fill a quart jar 1/2 full to all-the-way-full!

1 seedless cucumber (~6-8" long), sliced as you wish
3 Tbs. cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
few grinds of black pepper

a few big pinches of each:
crushed red pepper flakes
yellow mustard seed
celery seed
dehydrated garlic

Combine everything in a clean 1 qt. jar and shake it up until the cucumber slices are well-coated with everything.  Store in the refrigerator.  Use as needed, turning/shaking gently the jar occasionally (because the liquid does not cover the cukes completely).  Will keep for at least a few weeks.

This post is linked to Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade and Wholesome Whole Foods at Health Food Lover.
I am a Food RENEGADE!HealthFoodLover.com

Would you like to comment?

  1. I have a sweet pickle post that will be on your site (from Tina) on Tuesday! Check it out!!! They are delish!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those sound wicked good! My brother makes garlic pickles, I've been meaning to get the recipe from him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Heathie! I have absolutely no idea how you do it but your pictures are always SOOOO beautiful! I love to make these pickles and do it all the time! Pickles are HUGE on long island, little known fact, that we grew tons and tons of cukes to supply the jewish population of new york city in the 19th century and every year in the fall we have a huge pickle festival where vendors who make the most amazing gherkins and half sours and garlics and dills and koshers come with their big barrels and everyone waits on line to get them! OH MAN now i am going to have to break into my cornichons! ;) happy friday

    ReplyDelete
  4. Saw your profile on another page. Glad I checked out your blog, look forward to following you here.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think there is no condiment or relish that I love more than pickles. So salty. So tangy. So delicious. These look fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  6. oh these look tasty on a burger, oh would love to try your pancakes

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love this! This got me to thinking, I need to stake my cucumbers, lol! Heather, I didn't know you were community gardening! Aahh.. so exciting!! I love my community garden. Not just the free space but all the gardeners I have come to know and become friends with :D Have a great weekend!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I just saw a jar of pickling spices in the grocer, though I didn't buy it then I did make a mental note to go back and buy it si I could pickle various veggies for the summer. Your photo has me ready to go get it right now!

    ReplyDelete
  9. That one thing I've been promising myself I would do is to trying pickling stuff. I really need to get on the ball with that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yummmm, I just made a small batch while hubby was gone, I almost had a pickle dinner one night- I can eat them because the salt is minimal to real ones! Yeah for pickles!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love munching on pickles and I love them on my burgers too~!

    ReplyDelete
  12. oh pickles are taken very serious at our house, we consume them by the buckets, yum yum yum great recipe

    sweetlife

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great way to use up some cukes! I love that it makes a small batch.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yum! I made quick Indian-spiced pickles a while back and I was just thinking about them again. These look really good!

    ReplyDelete
  15. These are a great summer appetizer!

    ReplyDelete
  16. You know what they say about great minds! I made 3 kinds of refrigerator pickles this week!

    ReplyDelete
  17. This recipe is arriving at a perfect time, when the markets are priming for fresh local cucumbers. I love that this recipe creates pickles that give you garlic breath.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nothin' like a fresh pickle!

    ReplyDelete
  19. We made pickles last week! My daughter wanted to make some so I made her find a recipe she wanted to try. It was fun, I never knew it was so easy! Yours look and sound wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yummy! I love pickles :) Mr.NN and I just bought a huge pickle crock and plan on making a batch sometime soon.

    ReplyDelete