Recipe: Pickled Green Beans, Cucumbers, Carrots, Cauliflower, or Garlic

PICKLED GREEN BEANS
"If green beans aren't your thing, you can use this recipe to pickle cucumber spears, carrot sticks, small cauliflower florets, or - for the bold and zesty among you - whole garlic cloves."



"A Bloody Mary without this must-have garnish would be a lonely brunch cocktail, aching for the snap, salt, and brine of these crisp and piquant pickles. The ingredients for this recipe aren't complicated - you probably have the spices on hand - and in a few short minutes of assembly you'll have fresh, flavor-forward pickles on hand for weeks to come.

PREP AHEAD:
You'll need 3 clean pint jars with lids. You can buy canning jars with vacuum-seal lids (look for Ball or Kerr brand jars), or you can reuse jars from your pantry. If your jars aren't new, make sure they are free of rust and odors and the lids seal tightly. When it comes to labeling, I'm a strip-of-masking-tape-and-black-Sharpie kind of a gal. However, if you are artistically inclined, feel free to create nifty labels either on stickers or tied around the mouth of the jar. Fancy or not, it's important that you prepare some kind of label that lists the contents and date prepared.

3 pounds green beans, stems intact, washed and dried*
9 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cinnamon sticks
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
3 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
6 tablespoons dill seeds
3 tablespoons black peppercorns
6 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 to 2 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar

Add one-third of the green beans, garlic, spices, and salt to each jar. Fill each jar halfway with vinegar (about 1/2 to 3/4 cups). Top off each jar with cool water. Seal each jar with a lid, and shake gently to dissolve the salt and distribute the spices. Refrigerate for at least 3 days.

HOW TO STORE IT:
Refrigerated pickled green beans will beat their prime for 2 weeks but will keep for about 1 month.

HOW TO CAN IT:
Carefully read through the canning directions on page 88 before you begin. In a nonreactive saucepan, combine the vinegar, 6 cups water, and the salt and bring to a rolling boil to dissolve the salt. Divide the beans, garlic, bay leaves, and spices evenly among 3 sterilized pint jars as directed, leaving about 1-inch headspace. Pour the boiling vinegar solution into the jars, immersing the beans fully and leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Process in ahot-water bath for 10 minutes at altitudes up to 1,000 feet, 15 minutes at altitudes up to 6,000 feet, and 20 minutes at altitudes over 6,000 feet.

*If green beans aren't your thing, you can use this recipe to pickle cucumber spears, carrot sticks, small cauliflower florets, or - for the bold and zesty among you - whole garlic cloves.

VARIATION - GARLIC PICKLES:
For super-duper garlic pickles, substitute 6 cloves crushed garlic and 4 extra tablespoons of dill seeds for the cinnamon, bay leaves, and mustard seeds. Vampires need not apply

Makes 3 pints
Used by permission to Recipelink.com from Ten Speed Press
Adapted from source: Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon