How To Pickle Anything

Warm summer weather and sufficient rain have conspired to make the garden productive. This is a great opportunity to turn some of your vegetables into pickles. While most of us think of homemade pickles as a canning project, you need not make a large batch nor can them. You can make great pickles that will keep in your refrigerator until the end of summer. Here are some tips for refrigerator pickles.

Most vegetables will benefit from blanching before pickling. These include beans, corn, cauliflower, carrots, and asparagus. Green tomatoes, peppers, okra and cucumbers need not be blanched. Cut or break vegetables into uniform pieces so they will blanch evenly. Leave baby cucumbers, okra pods, tiny peppers and cherry tomatoes whole. One to three minutes, depending upon the size of the pieces and their density, is sufficient blanching time. As soon as the time is up, drain the vegetables in a colander and plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking. You may need to experiment with blanching time. You want the vegetables to retain some crunch. Remember that the pickling process will further tenderize them.

Seasoning pickles is a matter of taste and creativity. I suggest adding whole spices and/or fresh herbs to the jar before adding the vegetables. Some of the best flavorings to use are garlic, bay leaves, hot peppers, peppercorns, mustard seeds, allspice, coriander, celery seeds, clove, dill and ginger. Don't overdo it. You don't want to mask the flavor of the vegetables. Turmeric can be added to any pickle if you want the bright yellow color it gives.

Make a "universal" pickling liquid by combining equal parts of vinegar and water and adding one teaspoon of salt per quart of liquid. You can use more salt if you like salty pickles, but do not alter the vinegar-water mix, as it is crucial for preservation. Use a vinegar of 5% acidity. Clear vinegars will show off the colors of the pickles. However, many traditional Appalachian cooks use apple cider vinegar. The choice is up to you, so long as the acidity is at the proper level.

The procedure for any refrigerator pickle is as follows:

Wash a jar and lid in hot, soapy water. Rinse in hot water and stand upside down on a towel until you are ready to fill the jar.

Place your seasonings in the jar. One bay leaf, one clove of garlic and three peppercorns is a basic mix.

Next, pack the prepared, blanched vegetables into the jar. Pack them in firmly, but not so tight that their shape is distorted.

Bring the pickling liquid to a boil, and pour it carefully over the vegetables in the jar.

Allow the pickles to cool to room temperature, apply the lid, and place the jar in the refrigerator. Wait a week before enjoying the pickles, to allow the flavor to develop.

Pictured are some pickled green cherry tomatoes that I recently made when the wind broke some branches off my plant. I pierced each one with an ice pick at the stem scar before dropping them into the jar. Seasonings are coriander seed, white pepper, and celery seed. If I had added a couple of fresh, washed grape leaves, they would be called "Tennessee Olives." Grape leaves add a bitter element to the flavor, but not too much. The resulting tomatoes taste remarkably similar to green olives.

If you want to make canned pickles that will keep at room temperature, a good place to start is the National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia.