If you're cucumber harvest is more than you can eat right now, here's a spicy pickling recipe that will preserve them for about a month.
A few days ago, I posted my wife's recipe for cucumber salad. This salad was made with a variety of cucumber called Beit Alpha which is perfect for making a quick summer salad because it requires no peeling. In this posting, I'll introduce you to a different variety of cucumber and also provide a more traditional way to preserving it.
Delikatesse Cucumbers:
Delikatesse cucumbers are a fairly rare heirloom variety from Germany. The cucumbers have a thin, bitter skin on the outside and very firm, crunchy and sweet flesh.
Delikatesse produces abundant fruits which are paler in color than other varieties. (almost lime green in some cases) They grow 8-10 inches long and are considered primarily a slicing cucumbers, probably because they are a bit bigger than other varieties used for pickling. That notwithstanding, we used Delikatesse cucumbers to make pickles and were very happy with the results.
Growing Tips:
- Plant seeds about 2 weeks after your last frost date when the soil temperature is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Direct sow seeds 1/2 inch deep. I grow my cucumbers hydroponically, but
if you grow yours traditionally, plant them about 9 to 12 inches apart.
- You'll get more fruit if you trellis your plants and trellising results in longer, straighter cucumbers.
Spicy Dill Pickles
Below is a recipe for a spicier version of dill pickles that comes from the Bon Appetit magazine (August 1993). These pickles have that dill pickle flavor, but it's kicked up one notch by the presence of the red pepper which make for a slightly spicier version of the classic dill pickle.
Ingredients:
- 4-5 Delikatesse (large sized) or 12 traditional pickling cucumbers
- 2 cups water
- 1 3/4 cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh dill
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 8 garlic cloves
- 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
- 1 tablespoon pickling spice (In the spice section of the supermarket)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dill seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Recipe:
- If you are using Delikatesse cucumbers, you may need to slice these in order to store them in canning jars. If they are small cucumbers, you can use the cucumbers whole.
- Combine all the ingredients except the dill in a large bowl. Stir and let stand on the counter for 2 hours.
- Transfer the cucumbers to wide-mouth storage jars and cover with the pickling mixture. Add a sprigs of dill to each jar.
- Cover the jars and refrigerate for 10 days.
- Yields between 2 to 2.5 quarts. Stays fresh up to 1 month.
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