26 July, 2010
The Scottish weather isn’t conducive to growing cucumbers outdoors but we still manage to get a good crop by growing plants in pairs in large pots in the sunporch. We’ve picked a few for immediate eating but today found ourselves with a little more than two pounds worth ready for picking. With still more fruit coming along nicely, I decided to use the ones that were ready to make a cucumber pickle.
The cucumbers were wiped over and trimmed, then sliced very thinly using a mandolin blade in the food processor. The slices were spread in layers in a large, stainless steel pan with salt sprinkled between each layer to draw off the juice. In all, I used four ounces of cooking salt. The cucumber slices need to rest in the salt for several hours but they also need to be keep cool. The pan was too large for refrigerator so I placed ice cubes on the slices. An upside down plate was placed over the top and it was weighed down with a plastic bottle filled with water.
Four hours or so later, I drained the cucumber slices, rinsed them twice, and drained them again. The slices went back in the pan, which was placed over a low heat and left to steam dry while I prepared the pickle. (The slices were stirred occasionally to ensure they didn’t stick or burn.) To make the pickle, I mixed 16 ounces of sugar, one teaspoon of turmeric, one teaspoon of mustard seeds and half a teaspoon of celery seeds in a separate pan, then stirred in 20 fluid ounces of cider vinegar (must be at least 5% acidity). I brought the pickle to a boil before pouring it over the cucumber slices in their pan.
Cucumber slices are quite delicate so I had to be careful throughout the next stage. I kept the cucumber pickle just off the boil as I cooked it down for 20 minutes, stirring frequently but gently to drive off excess water. (Be careful not to break up the cucumber slices.) When the liquid reached the consistency of a light syrup, I removed the pan from the heat and filled five clean, hot jars with the cucumber pickle, sealing them tightly. And there we have it, five jars of cucumber pickle. They’ll need at least a month to mature, but the pickle tasted good straight from the pan so I have my fingers crossed that this will be a repeatable recipe.
Suberb Stoney. We have grown cucumbers for the first time this year and have been looking for a recipe for cucumber pickle for some of the surplus. Guess what I we will be doing this weekend!
That sounds like a good plan for my gherkin glut!
Got caught up on your week and saw the Cukes! Your recipe is the same as the one I use with one exception – ground cloves. About 1/2 tsp. Wow, my recipe came from a Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbk. in the Amish country! Small world – or – you can only do so much to a cucumber!!