Recipe: How Make a Pickle (with make-ahead brine)

HOW TO MAKE A PICKLE
Makes just under 1 quart of brine

"Joey is the pickle maker in our house, and when the summer hands us twenty pounds of cucumbers, they're his. Those pickles sit in the basement through the winter, and we pull out a jar every so often to eat with sandwiches or slice onto burgers. But "pickle" has become more useful to me as a verb than a noun, and whenever I have a few too many vegetables in the fridge, I make refrigerator pickles. Nearly every vegetable pickles well: green beans, snap peas, or gingered carrots can slip into salads or snacks. Most vegetables will keep in the fridge for six months."



"I like to make the brine and keep it in the fridge; then I can make a little jar of pickles whenever I have extra vegetables. The more flavor-packed your ingredients, the tastier the whole jar will be, so garlic cloves or scapes, onions, and hot peppers are all great additions to your mix."

2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar (raw or pasteurized)
1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard

TO MAKE THE BRINE:
Combine the water, sea salt, and honey in a quart jar. Stir to dissolve the salt and honey. Add the vinegar and mustard. Cover, shake to combine, and refrigerate indefinitely.

TO MAKE PICKLES:
Stuff a clean jar with vegetables, herbs, and spices. Top with brine so that it covers the produce. Fasten a piece of cheesecloth or thin fabric to the top with a rubber band. Leave the jar out on the counter for about 8 hours. Then replace the cloth with the jar lid and refrigerate. The pickles will be ready to eat the next day, but they'll get even better with age.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE FRIDGE PICKLES:
- Carrot sticks, radishes, and chunks of fresh ginger
- Green beans, dill, and a few garlic cloves
- Sugar snap peas
- Asparagus with tarragon

STORAGE NOTES:
Fridge pickles keep in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 months.

Used by permission to Recipelink.com from Clarkson Potter
Adapted from source: The Homemade Kitchen: Recipes for Cooking with Pleasure by Alana Chernila