pickles!

While Megan has been making cucumber drinks, I've been fermenting those little suckers. And they're so delicious and easy. Get yourself a quart jar and a little tray of pickling cucumbers (you know, the tiny ones with thick skin). Can you use normal, larger cukes? Meh. I tried it, slicing them thinly, but they're just not so tasty. You've been warned. I've also been using whey to kick start the fermentation process. You could just add extra salt, but "making" whey is, uhh, whey easy.



Ingredients:
enough cukes to fill your quart jar
1 T mustard seeds
2 T fresh dill
1 T sea salt (non-iodized, unrefined)
4 T whey (or an additional 1 t salt)
1 C filtered water

I've also added some whole peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, garlic, celery seed, etc. to batches. Stick with whole spices, though, as the ground kind tend to turn into a slimy film at the bottom of the jar.

To get the whey:
Plop a bunch of whole milk yogurt into a clean dish towel and let it sit over a bowl for a day or so. The yellowish liquid that ends up in your bowl is your whey. You also have a bunch of really thick yogurt, which is delicious in these.

To make the pickles:
Pack your cukes into the jar along with spices, dill, etc. Add the salt, whey and filtered water. The top of the liquid should fully cover your cukes and be at least one inch below the top of the jar. Put a lid on the jar and let it sit on your counter for 2-3 days. I always cover mine with a dish towel, as I've heard that sunlight can hinder the fermentation process. If your cukes are fermenting particularly rapidly, you might want to let off some pressure by quickly unscrewing the lid and then screwing it back on. If you like a sour-er pickle, let it sit on the counter longer. When the pickles are pickled to your liking, transfer them to the fridge. They'll continue to ferment in there, but much, much slower.