Pickling Brine and Your Garden Bounty ...

Today, it's clear to me that the garden produce will be coming fast and furious for the next four to six weeks. In defense, I'm calling up my Sprout Sara's pickling brine that she uses to 'quick pickle' red onions.

I have the first of the zucchini and some beautiful Vidalia onions that all all the rage on the end bins in the produce departments right now.  So, with our grilled steak and fresh steamed green beans, we'll have some pickled zucchini and onions this evening.

I'll probably be setting aside some green beans and adding them to the pickling broth in the days to come. I was thinking that salad radishes might be interesting too.

Here's how I do it. I have a small covered ceramic crock that I dedicate to pickling broth.  For this batch of quick pickles, I halved the brine ingredients and used one small (8 inch) zucchini and half a medium Vidalia onion. The vegetables need to be pretty well immersed in the brine once they go into the crock. Stir them up several times over the course of 24 - 48 hours and keep them refrigerated while the brine does its work.

Sprout Sara makes the brine in the morning and pickles the onions all day, then eats them in the evening or serves them in the next couple days.

Quick Pickles

1. The night before you wish to make/eat the pickles, slice vegetables, place in a bowl large enough to cover them with ice water.  Add Kosher or pickling salt to make a salty brine and submerge the vegetables. Cover and refrigerate.

Ideas for vegetable combos:

   2 big red onions, peeled and French cut or 

   2 small zucchini and a medium Vidalia onion or

   3 to 4 handfuls of fresh green beans, tipped and halved

   3 or 4 pickling radishes and a couple jalapeno peppers, sliced into coins

2. The morning after, in a non-reactive saucepan, stir together:

1 1/2 c. red wine vinegar

6 tbsp. sugar

a generous pinch of Kosher salt

2 bay leaves

a generous pinch of red pepper flakes

1 very small sprig rosemary

1 tbsp black peppercorns

1 large clove garlic, smashed

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

3. Bring the brine to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer to completely bring the sugar into solution and to let the spices and herbs release their essence.

4. Simmer 10 minutes and then remove from the heat and cool completely.

5. Meanwhile, drain the vegetables and place them in a ceramic crock or covered casserole.

6. Pour the cooled pickling brine over the vegetables and stir well to get the seed and peppercorns dispersed. Push the vegetables as best you can under the brine, cover and refrigerate.

7. Toss the vegetables several times over the course of the day to make sure the ones on top get their time submerged in the brine.

8. To serve, spoon into a bowl and add some of the brine. 

NOTE: I truly think small batch is the way to go with these crisp, tart pickles. Those of you who are limiting sugar can decrease the amount of sweetness, but I think you DO need some sweetness with this brine. As for storing, the pickles should be eaten with a few days, as they will start to get soggy.

Also, once you have some experience making brines, experiment with the types of vinegar. Rice wine vinegar and Asian aromatics (garlic, red pepper, and ginger root) make wonderful quick pickles!