Bread & Butter Pickles, Refrigerator-style

Barry's garden is lush and the cucumber plants are very productive . . . so that means its time for Bread & Butter Pickles. We used small cucumbers and prefer fresh versus canned pickles for this refrigerator-style recipe fit the bill. Tart yet sweet, and crisp -- we add them to sandwiches but also serve them as a salad, too.

Bread & Butter Pickles, Refrigerator-style    Makes about 4 cups

5½ cups (about 1½ pounds) thinly sliced (about ⅛ to ¼" ) small cucumbers

1½ tablespoons kosher salt

1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cupwhite vinegar

½ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup brown sugar

1½ teaspoons mustard seeds

½ teaspoon celery seeds

⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric

1. Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl or baking dish; cover and chill 1½ hours. 
   
   
   
   
2. Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. 
3. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl/baking dish. 
   
4. Add onion to the bowl and toss with the cucumbers.
   
5. Combine the granulated sugar, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and ground turmeric in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
   
6. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. 
7. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. 
8. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 month.
   

Recipe without photos . . .

Bread & Butter Pickles, Refrigerator-style    Makes about 4 cups

5½ cups (about 1½ pounds) thinly sliced (about ⅛ to ¼" ) small cucumbers

1½ tablespoons kosher salt

1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cupwhite vinegar

½ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup brown sugar

1½ teaspoons mustard seeds

½ teaspoon celery seeds

⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric

1. Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl or baking dish; cover and chill 1½ hours. 
2. Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. 
3. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl/baking dish. 
4. Add onion to the bowl and toss with the cucumbers.
5. Combine the granulated sugar, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and ground turmeric in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
6. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. 
7. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. 
8. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 month.

Bountiful Garden Produce = Sweet Pickle Relish

This small batch recipe makes three pints of relish.
Perfect for the two of us.

     If we didn’t know better we’d swear our cucumber plants were on steroids! We’re not complaining, just trying to find more uses for them including carrying bags of them in our vehicles . . . to pawn off on willing friends.

     I try to pick them when they’re small and I am doing my best to remember that “less is more” when it comes to canning . . . unlike our Kentucky relatives who are again getting ready to can hundreds of jars of pickles (see Dill Pickle recipe).

    This recipe also allowed me to utilize our garden peppers and onions, too.

Sweet Pickle Relish     Makes 3 pints

Seeded cucumbers are ready to be
cut into chunks & pulsed in the
food processor.

4 cups cucumbers, seeded and chopped, skins left on  -- to seed cucumbers cut them in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds (a spoon works well for this task.) I then cut them into chunks & pulsed them in the food processor until they were chunky.

2 cups yellow or white onions, chopped

1 cup green bell peppers, chopped

1 cup red bell peppers, chopped

¼ cup pickling or Kosher salt

1¾ cups granulated sugar

1 cups cider vinegar

1 tablespoon celery seeds

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

1.     Put all the prepared vegetables in a large bowl. Sprinkle the salt over the chopped vegetables. Cover with cold water and let stand for 2 hours.

Chopped veggies set for 2 hours in cold water.

2.     Drain vegetables well, then press out as much liquid as possible.

Water is drained from the veggies.

3.     In a large pot, combine sugar, vinegar and seeds. Bring to a boil. Add vegetables.

Syrup for veggies is coming to a boil.

4.     Once veggies have been added, bring syrup back to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

5.     Add vegetable relish and syrup to sterilized pint jars according to standard canning procedures. (Note: I actually drained the relish, added it to the jars until they were about ¾ to 7/8 full and then filled the jar with the syrup. Any syrup that is left, I refrigerate for a later batch.)

6.     Seal jars (according to standard guidelines) and process in a hot water bath according to your altitude (10 minutes for up to 1000 ft.). Set jars on a cooling rack once jars are taken from the canner.

 For detailed instructions and guidelines for safe home canning, from jar sterilization to choosing the right canning method (water bath vs. pressure cooking) to testing jar seals, go to the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and Preserving.

Pickle a Peck of Dill Okra

After removing the jars from the canner, they
are placed on a cooling rack.

   Pickled Okra is a nice addition to a relish tray, great to set out at a cocktail party, a wonderful veggie addition to a Bloody Mary bar, and it makes great stocking stuffers! That’s right – I did say “stocking stuffers.”

     When our nephews, Daelyn and Jeremy West, were young they loved the stuff so their grandmother, Fern West, always made a point of canning lots of jars, and she always saved a few to add to their stockings each year. And, yes, she easily pickled a peck, or more, of dill okra each summer (a peck is equal to a quarter of a bushel = 8 US quarts or 8.81 liters). Pickled okra certainly recalls fond memories in the West family.

     All pickled okra recipes follow a standard format and although this one varies slightly from Fern’s Dill Okra, it is basically the same with a few additions (peppercorns & mustard seeds). Although okra is what is termed a “low-acid” veggie, the addition of vinegar makes it suitable for the water-bath canning method.   

      For detailed instructions and guidelines for safe home canning, from jar sterilization to choosing the right canning method (water bath vs. pressure cooking) to testing jar seals, go to the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and Preserving.

Pickled Dill Okra   Yield: 4 pint-sized jars

2 pounds young, small to medium okra pods

4 small dried chiles, split in 1/2

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

4 sprigs fresh dill or about 4+ teaspoons dried dill weed (or use dill seeds)

4 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon whole peppercorns

¼  cup kosher salt

2 cups white or rice wine vinegar (rice wine is a bit milder & sweeter)

2 cups water

1. Wash the okra and trim the stems so that just about ½” of the stem is left.

2.  Place 1 chili, 2 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1 sprigs of dill, 1 garlic clove and 1/4 teaspoon peppercorns in the bottom of each of 4 sterilized pint canning jars.

3.  Divide the okra evenly among the 4 jars, standing them up vertically, alternating stems up and down.

Jar on the right has been filled with the flavorings; cleaned & trimmed okra
has been added to the one of the left.

4.  In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, bring the salt, vinegar and water to a boil. Once boiling, pour this brining mixture over the okra in the jars, leaving ½ ” headspace between the top of the liquid and the lid. Remove air bubbles by running a knife down the edges of the jar. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Screw bands onto jars. Note: Any leftover brine can be refrigerated and used in the next batch.

Jars have been filled with the "brine" and are ready for the
addition of lids and screw tops. 

5.  Process using the water-bath method: Pints jars: 10 min. @ 0-1,000 ft. / 15 min. @ 1,001-6,000 ft.  / 20 min. above 6,000 ft.. 

Jars are ready to be lowered into the boiling water. Since this recipe makes only 4 pints, I am also processing a  batch of pickle relish at the same time in order the conserve fuel and energy.