Dill Pickles in the Fall
An in-between MF events recipe for you
We’re coming off a soul fulfilling pottery painting class that took place earlier this week with our friend KT of House of Tao at her cozy Cabbagetown studio. Good vibes, good people, MF friends new and old (to see repeat guests around the table truly warmed our salty1 hearts), and time well spent painting our treasures and ooh-ing and aah-ing each other’s artwork - it was all just - great. More to come on this once our creations come out of the kiln!
Shoot, this is turning into one of those annoying recipe posts where the food blogger tells a non-related story then goes into 40 paragraphs about things so the ads have time to load on your website - non-intentional of course because we don’t have ads and don’t actually even know how that would work even if we wanted to. But we2 digress…
So, pickles in autumn. Not quite the seasonal treat this comforting time of year tends to bring to mind, but we’re sharing this recipe nonetheless because our farmers markets are still cranking here in Atlanta and with that, the most beautiful little pickling cucumbers, ready to be made into something special.
We love our farmers markets. Freedom Farmers Market (FFM) is a favorite - a place that makes us feel at home and like we belong among the people and food and farmers who work so hard to bring beautiful produce to our kitchens and tables. At FFM, our friends from Signal Mountain Farm3 show up at the peak of summer with tomatoes galore, a few other veggies, but also, truly, some of the most beautiful cukes we’ve ever laid eyes on. And one of us can never resist buying as many pounds as she can fit in her market tote whenever she spies them. So today - we’re sharing the famous4 dill pickle recipe.
A few tips before we jump in:
If you don't have a water bath canner to process your canned goods, make sure you have a preserving rack to put in the bottom of your stockpot so the jars don't rattle and crack. You can get these at your local hardware store (recommended over Amazon any day) or… on Amazon (we won’t judge).
Highly recommend a jar lifter to make the entire process much easier in terms of submerging and removing your jars from the hot water.
Turmeric is not necessary here, but why would you skip it when footnote 4 below states that these are blue ribbon winners. If you do go with turmeric (good on you!) keep in mind it stains easily (hands, countertops, bowls). Bar Keepers Friend will help get out of counters / sink if needed but just be mindful.
OK finally - the recipe!
DILL PICKLES
Makes about 6 jars. Wide-mouth, pint canning jars work best!
Ingredients
4 pounds pickling cucumbers (4 to 5 inches long)
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 1/2 quarts boiling water
Fresh Dill (enough for ~3 sprigs per jar)
Fresh Garlic Cloves, sliced in 1/2 (enough for 2 cloves per jar to your preference)
2 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
2 1/4 cups water
3 tablespoons non-iodized salt
Instructions
Rinse cucumbers with cold water. Trim ends and cut lengthwise in halves or quarters. You can also do rounds!
Place cucumbers in large bowl* and sprinkle with turmeric, if using. Pour boiling water over cucumbers, stir in turmeric and let sit for at least an hour. Rinse cucumbers well.
Prep and clean your mason jars, add dill, garlic, and cucumber spears. Trim ends of any cucumbers that did not fit and put cut ends in a separate jar with dill and garlic.
Mix your brine of vinegar, water and salt (very important to use non-iodized - we like Diamond or Morton's kosher salt) in a sauce pan and stir over medium-high heat until salt is dissolved. Remove from heat.
Ladle hot brine over cucumbers, leaving 1/4-inch of space at the top of the jar. Remove any air bubbles from inside of jar with a wooden skewer or chop stick - do not use metal for this part. Dry rims and add lids then tighten bands to secure jars.
Process submerged jars in simmering water for 12-15 minutes.
Remove jars from water and line up on a towel-lined countertop or cooling rack, cover with dishtowel and let cool for 12-24 hours. You'll know they're ready when you hear the seals pop (best sound of summer)! Store in a cupboard until opened or in the fridge to guarantee crispy spears.
If you make them, will you let us know?
‘Til then, thanks for following along on this little journey of ours. Stay tuned for our next MF meetup!
to be fair, only one of us has a salty heart and she’s the F in our MF acronym
same salty one behind today’s post / substack / article - what do you call these anyways?
Garry at Hickory Hill Farm has great pickling cukes too, also at FFM
we don’t want to brag, but this recipe has won the blue ribbon (and a whopping $3 in prize money!) in the North Georgia State Fair and Guilford Fair… along with the hearts of many across ATL as this is how the salty gal mentioned above makes friends, by sharing jars of pickles. consider this a salty, dilly, vinegary way to make friends.