Easy Pickles

When I was walking around the farmers market today I spied a pile of perfect Kirby cucumbers that needed to be made into bread & butter pickles.

Ingredients: 2 lbs of Kirby cucumbers, 2 small or 1 large sweet onion, 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon, 1.5 scant cups white vinegar, 2 tablespoons of  mustard seeds (you must use whole), 1/2 scant teaspoon of ground turmeric, 1 tablespoon of crushed coriander seeds (use 2 tablespoons of whole and 1/2 a tablespoon of powdered), 1/2 tablespoon of celery seeds.

Slice up the cucumbers into rounds.  Thinly slice the onion.  Mix the cukes & onion in a large bowl and then add in 1/2 cup kosher salt.  Mix well again.  Cover with ice and let sit out 2-3 hours on the counter top.

In a large saucepan heat together the spices, vinegar and sugar to a simmer.  Turn off heat and wait for your salted veggies to be done.  It might seem that you are not making enough of the pickling liquid, but trust me your are.

After the veggies are done sitting out drain them and add them to the pickling liquid.  Mix well.  Bring to a simmer.   Turn off heat and let cook.  Put the cucumbers into containers with lids and pour the liquid over the top.  Store in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.

As always my spices always come from The Spice Station in Silverlake.