Crunchy Salty Sweet

One of the most satisfying things in the world is discovering that something you’ve bought 1,000,000 times is one of the easiest things to make in your own kitchen. I mean don’t get me wrong, I always knew pickles were just cucumbers soaked in vinegar (for the most part…), but I just never took the plunge to making them myself.

I couldn’t find pickling cucumbers, but after a little google search, I learned that persian cucumbers work perfectly well for pickling, so I went for it. This recipe makes over 4 cups of pickles…ask me how many are left in my fridge 😛

Slice cucumbers into chips, you want enough heft so they hold their crunch, but not too thick so the pickling liquid doesn’t soak all the way through. Use the photo below to judge how I sliced mine.

Combine cucumbers and salt in a large bowl and cover. Place in the fridge for about an hour. It seems like a ton of salt, but don’t worry – most of it gets washed away in the next step.

Once chilled, strain the cucumbers in a colander and rinse with cold water. Make sure to get all visible salt off the cucumbers. Drain thoroughly.

Slice onion in thin half moons.

Return cucumbers to bowl and add the onion.

Combine all remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber and onion. Stir around to coat.

Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours (pickles will start being pickle-y after 4 or 5 hours, but are best after at least 24 hours).

Eat on top of everything (or own their own!)

Note: Pickles can be stored up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge, but they won’t last that long 😉

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Adapted from: Recipe Girl

Makes: 16 (1/4 cup) servings

Prep: 20 minutes, Cook: 5 minutes, Total: 25 minutes (plus up to 24 hours pickling time)

• 28 oz pickling cucumbers (or persian cucumbers)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1/2 large white onion
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

Combine cucumbers and salt in a large bowl and cover. Place in the fridge for about an hour.

Once chilled, strain the cucumbers in a colander and rinse with cold water. Make sure to get all visible salt off the cucumbers. Drain thoroughly.

Return cucumbers to bowl and add the onion.

Combine all remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber and onion, and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours (pickles will start being pickle-y after only a couple hours)

Note: Pickles can be stored up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.