My kitchen counters are covered with fermentation crocks in the late summer, making batches of pickles and sauerkraut to put up the garden harvest through the winter. If you don’t have a fermentation crock you can use a jar but you will need an airlock to let gasses escape while keeping anything from entering. I suggest using small, firm pickling cucumbers for this recipe. However, if you have wandered into your garden and found your cucumbers have grown tremendously while you were not looking, you can slice them and make pickle chips. You will have to take greater care not to let them ferment too long because they tend to get mushy faster.
Ingredients
- 1 young grapevine with leaves
- 6 grape leaves
- 3-4 sour cherry leaves
- 6 1/2 lbs pickling cucumbers
- 1 large onion sliced into rings
- 1 bunch of fresh dill
- 1 bunch of fresh tarragon
- 1 large handful of salt
- 1 gallon of water
Instructions
- Dissolve the salt in the water
- Place the grapevine in a ring at the bottom on the crock
- Arrange a layer of cucumbers on the grapevine
- Arrange 2 grape leaves, a sour cherry leaf, a layer of onion rings, and sprigs of dill and tarragon over the cucumbers
- Repeat steps 4 and 5 until reaching the top of the crock
- Place the fermentation weights on the cucumbers to keep them from floating
- Pour the salt water over the cucumbers until it reached the top of the crock
- Place the lid on the top of the crock and cover with a cloth. I like to place a rubberband around the cloth to hold it in place
- Let the crock sit on the counter 6-10 days, adding water as needed to maintain the level of water to the top of the crock
- Don’t be alarmed by the scum that forms on the top as part of the fermentation process
- When the pickles are done remove them from the crock and place them in clean jars, filter the liquid into the jars to cover and place in the refrigerator. They will be good for several months if kept in the refrigerator
Aprile's Kitchen 