Super-Easy Pickles

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Pickles seem intimidating, don’t they? Making brine, filling jars, boiling water baths or pressure cookers, spending the whole day in a steamy kitchen. That’s true if you want to make a lot of pickles for storing your harvest, but, if you want to make just a few pickles for eating, they are super-easy. Honest. Fifteen to twenty minutes and the pickles are done. And you have pickles that you’ve scratched yourself. Now that’s what Scratchin’ It is all about!

Super-Easy Pickles

Author: Shawn

Ingredients

  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp celery seeds
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup distilled vinegar
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2-4 pickling cucumbers

Instructions

  • Slice the cucumbers. Slice about 1/8 inch thick and layer them in a microwave-safe bowl or dish.
  • Add remaining ingredients. Stir a bit, but don’t worry if everything doesn’t dissolve. It will in the next step.
  • Microwave for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring twice.
  • Let your pickles cool a bit on the counter, then put them in the fridge. Once completely chilled, they are ready to eat.

Ingredient discussion:

Nothing special here. Just use plain white vinegar (we buy it by the gallon), and plain granulated sugar. The spices are pretty easy to come by, too. The turmeric might be the most exotic but it mainly adds color, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to leave it out (we’ve not tried that, so you’d be in uncharted waters).

Procedure in detail:

slicing cucumbers for pickles
No need to be exact; just slice the pickles about 1/8-inch thick (3 mm for you scientists).

Slice the cucumbers. Slice about 1/8 inch thick and layer them in a microwave-safe bowl or dish. We have a Pyrex refrigerator box that does the trick just perfectly. It has a glass cover so we can pop it all in the microwave, then put it in the fridge for the pickles to cool. We’ll never know why Pyrex stopped making such useful kitchenware.

cucumbers with pickling ingredients
Add all the ingredients. We kept the ingredients in separate locations so you could see them. We’re nice that way.

Add remaining ingredients. We dump the dry ingredients on first, then pour the vinegar over it all to help dissolve everything. Stir a bit, but don’t worry if everything doesn’t dissolve. It will in the next step.

Microwave for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring twice. To us, this is unbelievable! We’d expect that the cucumbers would turn to mush. Be honest, that’s what you’re thinking, too, isn’t it? Well, we were wrong. The cucumbers do cook, but they also remain crunchy. Yes, unbelievable, but try it, you’ll like it.

pickles
Pickles! In under 20 minutes. Now just let them chill, then eat ’em up, yum.

Done. Let your pickles cool a bit on the counter, then put them in the fridge. Once completely chilled, they are ready to eat. And you are ready to have some really great pickles that you’ve scratched up! Congratulations!

These are sooo easy and sooo good — better than store-bought — it’s our primary way of using the cucumbers we get from the CSA.

Worth the trouble?

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