A Simple Lunch with Home Made Spicy Pickles

It's true.  Sometimes I enjoy a good Tofurkey sandwich.  This particular sandwich is full of store bought, easy, convenience foods: Vegenaise, SmartBacon, Sourdough grilled with Earth Balance, and pre-washed bagged baby spinach.  Why? Because I don't always have time to make all of my food from scratch.  I mean geez, a girl has to go to work, write cookbooks, play with the dogs, do a little laundry every now and again, and still find time to have a life with the husband!  But even when I throw together a convenient meal, I do like to have at least one aspect of it be home made.  In this case it was the pickles!

These pickles are a recipe from my upcoming book, Vegan Food Gifts: Spread the Vegan Love DIY-Style with 100 Inspired Recipes for Homemade Edible Gifts, Baked Goods, Preserves, and More


Spicy Garlic Dill Pickles 


This recipe is so simple, you'll have your pickles all jarred up in about the time it takes to boil the water and slice the cucumbers.  I wrote this recipe so that you could make 1 jar or 10 jars!


For the brine:

For each cup of water, use 1 tablespoon of fine sea salt

For each (16 ounce) jar of pickles you will need the following:
1 sterilized jar, with lid and ring
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
1 to 2 cucumbers, cut in desired shapes to fit in your jar
4 garlic cloves, cut in half
1 bay leaf, broken into pieces
1 tablespoon fresh dill

1 teaspoon dried red chile flakes (adjust according to heat preference...this measure makes for a very spicy pickle!)
Brine to fill the jar

Bring water and salt to boil.  Boil until all salt is dissolved.  Reduce to low, and simmer until ready to pour.
In a very dry pan, lightly toast the peppercorns and mustard seeds.  Set aside.
Add cucumbers to jar.
Add garlic, bay leaf, dill, chile flakes, toasted peppercorns, and mustard seeds to the jar.
Pour hot brine to fill the jars, allowing 1/2-inch of space at the top.
Place lids and rings on the jars, and give it a good shake to distribute all of the ingredients.
Place upright and allow to cool.  The lids should self seal as the brine cools creating a vacuum in the jars. Place in a cool dark place for 1 week, before gifting/opening.

MAKE IT A GIFT
Attach a handwritten label or tie on a gift tag with a piece of twine.  Make sure it's known that these are special hand made pickles, that you made with love!  Also make a note to keep refrigerated.


REMEMBER:  These pickles should be refrigerated after the one week of fermenting, even if you don't open them right away.