Mud Pickles

“Mud Pickles”

The cucumbers are coming in. Not in huge numbers but a steady flow of two or three each day. We eat them and keep up with the production but sometimes the supply exceeds the demand and the surplus begins to stack up in the ‘fridge and on the counter top. A week ago I took a jar and made some “quick pickles” with a twist. I half filled the jar with white vinegar and some spices and salt and sugar. But instead of boiling the mixture on the stove, I put it in the microwav-right in the jar- for three minutes until it was almost at a boil. Taking it out of the microwave I imprudently took an up-close sniff of the mixture and it ‘bout knocked me out. The fumes from the cooking vinegar were very, very strong and made my nose wrinkle and my eyes water right up. I will not make that mistake again.


While the mixture was in the microwave I sliced a couple of medium (4 1/2” long) cukes into spears. With my hand protected by a kitchen towel and the hot jar clamped firmly down to the counter top I packed the spears into the brine until I could push no more in. I topped the jar off with another ounce of vinegar so the spears were totally covered. Then I screwed on the lid and put the jar to the side to cool. When it was cool I put it into the ‘fridge. In a couple of days I unscrewed the lid and pulled out one of the spears. It was tasty. Crisp and spicy, but not as salty as a brine pickle. I had used very little salt. The sugar and pickling spices came through a bit but the overall taste was one of vinegar. I vowed to try again to improve the flavor.


So…today the surplus of cucumbers was such that I decided to give the recipe one more try. This time I used three different kinds of vinegar-white, wine and dark, balsamic. Also I used a touch more salt and sugar, and for drama, a little bit of red pepper flakes. I hope they are as good or better than the first batch but I will be happy no matter what. I will call them Mud Pickles, on account of the dark color from the vinegar.