The real heat of summer hasn’t really arrived in Western Australia yet and I am already tiring of salad vegetables. Pickled cucumbers add crunch and flavour to salads. These are not sweet pickles but I like the flavour and the crispness they add to salads and sandwiches.
Pickles are recognized for regulating blood sugar and drinking the brine is very fashionable to aid recovery after intense exercise. It is also thought to promote good gut health.
Quick and easy to make, the ingredients in the pickling brine are standard pantry staples and the process is simple.
EASY PICKLES
Ingredients
- cup of water
- cup of white vinegar ( apple cider tastes good, too)
- one teaspoon mustard seeds ( I used yellow seeds) or mixed peppercorns
- one bay leaf
- a few springs of herbs ( I used rosemary stripped from their stems)
- one tablespoon salt
- a large cucumber
NOTE You can add a teaspoon of chili flakes if you like)
Place all the ingredients except the cucumber in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir and simmer for one minute, turn off heat.
While the pickling brine cools a little, chop a large or two medium cucumbers into slices of regular thickness.
Pack the cucumber slices into an air tight, sterilized jar and then pour the pickling brine over until all the slices are covered. If you run out of the brine, just top the jar up with an equal mix of water and vinegar. Leave it open to cool.
When your pickles are cool, close the lid and store it in the fridge for a few days before opening and using. They will be crisp and refreshing and will add a distinctive flavour to salads.
Apple Cider Vinegar will cause the cucumber to go a darker shade but not effect the flavour.
This pickling method is for quick pickles to be eaten within two months and to be kept in the fridge. Ours are eaten well before their expiry date!
In gardening news, the hydrangeas are surviving the heat and blooming enthusiastically. Lush and cool looking.
The poor tomatoes are all in exclusion bags so we get some. Until I “bagged” them the wildlife were the only ones enjoying them.
The gargoyle and the flowering hibiscus.
The 4th of February, World Cancer Day, is intended to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its detection, treatment and prevention. Many cancers can be treated now days but early detection is important.