Today I’m sharing three homemade pickling recipes. And two of them go way beyond the cucumber!
All three are quick and easy recipes that require no special equipment. I promise you, they are all good.
Chili Vinegar
This is a recipe my sister Monique sent. She says, “Sprinkled on grilled meats, tacos, or even salads, this spiced, salted vinegar is a ranch replacement, Anglo style, for Tabasco.”
For this recipe I used apple cider vinegar and I omitted the garlic (since it’s not on my diet).
Since the vinegar goes right in the fridge, it doesn’t need to be in a sealed jar. I used my handy dandy plastic jar lid with a plastic gasket.
I’m going to add the recipe exactly as my sister submitted it, but because of the size of my jalapenos and my jar, I had to make a double batch of vinegar to cover it.
CHILI VINEGAR
Ingredients
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 3-10 fresh jalapeño or serrano chilies
- 5 peppercorns
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Bring the vinegar to a boil in a covered saucepan (not untreated aluminum). Leave the chilies whole, but trim off their stems and slash them deeply in several places. Pour the vinegar over the chilies and the rest of the ingredients and let stand for a week or so in the refrigerator. The pickled chilies keep indefinitely in the vinegar and can be chopped for table relish after this period. Other versions of chili vinegar are made hotter by filling the container as full of chilies as the liquid will cover. A one-pint jelly jar would hold this amount of vinegar and approximately ⅓ pound of jalapeños.
Vodka Infused Pineapple
I know! I told you this wasn’t your normal cucumber recipe!
Last year when we visited Turtle Bay for hub’s birthday, he was treated to a signature cocktail made with vodka infused pineapple.
Hoping to recreate that drink at home, I had him cut a fresh pineapple into chunks. I then covered it completely with vodka and stored it in the fridge for the last month.
I think it’s ready and he’s heading out to buy the other ingredients for the drink!
Pickled Cucumbers with Red Chili Flakes
Okay, here we go with cucumbers. But! When we visited Sara in Showlow, she had made pickled cukes and she sprinkled red chili flakes on them.
Brilliant! It gives the cucumbers just the tiniest of kicks.
The vinegar and onion last a really long time, so after I’ve eaten the cucumbers, I frequently will use the liquid for one or two more batches.
You can use nice English or Persian cucumbers if you like, but less expensive, more bitter cucumbers will mellow nicely in a few days.
Note: I do not cook the vinegar sauce like many recipes do. I just let the flavors meld in the fridge and the cukes stay nice and crisp.
Pickled Cucumbers
Ingredients
- 1 large cucumber
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1-2 tbsp sugar, optional
- 1 tbsp salt
- few sprigs of dill, optional
- red chili pepper flakes to taste
- ½ white or red onion, sliced in rings or chunks
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and let meld in the refrigerator at least 24 hours. The cucumbers will stay crisp and good for several days and the vinegar can be reused for additional batches.