7 Day Spicy Pickles

7 Day Spicy Pickles

Just a quick picture of some more 7 day pickles.  I used a 5% salt brine (50 grams of salt per liter of water), with a lot of garlic, black and green peppercorns, coriander, whole mustard seed, a couple of bay leaves, and 3 hot peppers.  I also added a few grape leaves to help the pickles stay crunchy.  Special thanks to The Gan Project for providing the cucumbers and garlic.  This time they came out perfectly.  The major difference from the last time was I used less brine relative to the number of pickles, so they were not to salty.  I put it all together and just let them sit on my counter for about a week.

Burger of the Week

Burger of the Week

Burger of the Week From the Top Down

Top of a toasted nice soft bun

Heinz Ketchup

Roasted Corn Peach Salsa

Sauteed Onions

Medium Rare All Beef Patty Season with Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Quick Pickled Zucchini

Fresh Spinach

Tarragon Aioli

Roasted Corn Salsa

2 Ears of Corn Grilled or Charred Under the Broiled in the Husk, Shucked, and the Kernels Stripped Off

1 Large Peach Chopped

1/2 Red Onion Chopped

1 Handful of Cherry Tomatoes Chopped

1 Jalapeño Chopped

Juice of a Lime

Salt to Taste

Quick Pickled Zucchini

Thinly Sliced Zucchini or Yellow Squash courtesy of The Gan Project(I use a peeler)

The Other 1/2 of the Red Onion Sliced

Enough Rice Wine Vinegar or Cider Vinegar to Cover the Zucchini 

1 Tsp Whole Mustard Seed

1 Tsp Ground Turmeric

1/4 Tsp Red Pepper Flake

1 Bay Leaf

1 Clove of Garlic Smashed

Put everything in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, simmer for a few minutes, and let cool.

Pickles in a Week

Fermented pickles are actually pretty easy to make.  Get the freshest cucumbers you can, submerge them in a salt brine of 50 grams of pickling salt per liter of water.  Yes I do weigh my salt.  If you do not have a food scale get one.  Let it sit for a week on your counter, and you will have pickles.  Of course you will likely want to add some other flavors.  Of course you can buy pickling spice, but it is fun to customize.  Thinks you might like to add: garlic, whole peppercorns, coriander, dill, bay leaf, and red pepper flake.  Those are just suggestions, but feel free to add any flavors you like.  You make want to also a a grape leaf or two as they help to keep the cucumbers from getting mushy.  The cucumbers and garlic I used came from The Gan Project, and the dill I used came from the small garden on my balcony.  I also threw in some scallion just to see what would happen.  They can out pretty good, although I think I added a bit to much salt which I corrected by watering down my brine after I tried the first pickle.