Quick Pickle Brine
Quick pickling is a simple technique every cook should learn. Once you have the basic pickle brine recipe down, you can pickle anything and everything at the farmers’ market. Maybe skip the bar of artisanal lavender soap, though?
Submitted by: Geoffrey Marshall from Chicago, IL
Yield: 5 cups of brine.
Preparation Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan on medium high heat. Stir while liquid is heating so that any salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Once liquid reaches a boil turn off heat. The brine is now ready to pour over your soon-to-be pickles. This is a good recipe for beets, cucumbers, carrots, and radishes. You may wish to strain the spices out of the brine before adding to the vegetables.
Make sure the vegetables are completely submerged in the brine. Once the brine cools to room temperature, the jar can be placed in the refrigerator and be kept for weeks. Be mindful of how hot the brine is before pouring over your desired pickled vegetable. The hot water can overcook the vegetables if you are not careful.
The spices in the recipe can be swapped to suit your personal tastes.
thespicehouse.com
More About This Recipe
This is a basic 3-2-1 pickle recipe—three parts vinegar, two parts water, one part sugar. Salt and spices are totally up to you. You can also reduce the amount of sugar for a more savory pickle brine.
OMG!!! Just what I needed for my bumper crop of cukes. First batch: followed the recipe as is: sweet, tangy, delicious. Second batch: added some crushed red chilli: sweet, hot, delicious. Third batch: cut the sugar and added minced California garlic: tangy, garlicky and delicious.