Homemade Pickles

Source: Feast Magazine

Click here to read about my experience making this recipe for my state meal challenge!

Servings: 6

Total time: 1 hour if serving immediately, 8 hours if refrigerating overnight

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups thinly sliced cucumbers
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup distilled white vinegar
• ½ cup water, room temperature or colder
• 4 Tbs sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 sprigs dill
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 bay leaf

DIRECTIONS

• Place the cucumbers in a colander, add a couple handfuls of ice, and let them sit over a sink for 20 to 30 minutes. This adds extra crunch.
• Mix the vinegars, water, sugar, salt, and peppers in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. 
• Put the sliced cucumbers in a heat-proof jar and pour the hot brine over top. Add dill, garlic, and bay leaf, then seal. 
• Let the jar sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving or refrigerating until cucumbers are pickled to your liking.
• Serve with smoked brisket. 

NOTES

• The recipes I used said you could eat the pickles right away, but when I tasted them, they still tasted too much like cucumbers, if that makes sense. I let mine refrigerate for a full day and a half, and they were perfectly pickley to me after that!