Re: [gardeners] sauerkraut

Allen and Judy Merten (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 07 Jul 1998 11:52:45 -0500 

Hi Penny,
    Try this. Pick your cukes when they are only 3-4 inches long. No longer
than your finger. Put the cukes in the vegetable crisper and add enough water
to cover them.
some will float but thats ok. Chill them like this over night. That might
make the slicer cukes a little crisper. You might want to try a batch of
spears to see how they turn out. Oh yeah, be sure that you remove the blossom
and scrub that end with a veggie brush to remove it all. The blossom contains
an aging enzyme that makes your cukes soft as it ripens.
    Gotta ' nuther idea.Try this receipe. You don't can these. But they are
so good.

    Grandma Merten's Refrigerator Dill Pickle Chunks
        Enough fresh cucumbers to fill gal container
        6 cups water
        1-1/2 cup vinegar
        1/2 cup pickling salt
        8 fresh grape leaves
        3-4 cloves garlic
        1 onion quartered
        2-3 heads dill or 2-3 tsp dried dill
        2-4 hot peppers(optional)
    Wash cucumbers and cut into chunks about 1/2 inch thick.Place into gallon
container with grape leaves, onion, garlic, dill, and peppers.
    Bring water, vinegar, and salt to boil. Pour over pickles. Put lid
LOOSELY on container and leave out on cabinet fro 24 hrs. Refrigerate after
24 hrs. Ready to eat in 2 days Keeps well in the Frig for a month or two.
    Allen
    Bastrop Co.,Tx
penny x stamm wrote:

> Allen, now I really am in trouble!  All those 15 cucumber plants
> are NOT pickling cukes!
>
> >>>>
> Use only cucumbers intended for pickling not the slicers like burpless.
> <<<<<
>
> This week for practice I sliced down a firm, slender supermarket
> cuke and liberally salted it. Stuck it in the fridge for 8 hrs, then
> poured off the water which had come, added a bit of sugar, shredded
> purple onion, and some sour cream. Served it in 4 hrs. Did NOT
> like it. I guess I'm used to Raita, the Indian version -- it includes
> some finely shredded fresh ginger, and uses yogurt instead of sour
> cream.
>
> My problem is that I am a vinegar addict -- every day at 5:00 o'clock
> I get an insane craving for a pickle or a relish. Of course, salsa helps,
> but it still ain't a pickle!  For a year I was forbidden all salt, and
> that
> was a death sentence. Then I discovered that the A&P chain carried
> a bread-and-butter pickle which tastes real, but is made without salt!
> I cornered the market. Still, it definitely was not a New York Kosher
> Deli Pickle -- and what's worse, I only like 'em "new". I must admit
> that I even found those in Hong Kong, at the "New York Style
> Delicatessen" where they also had hot pastrami .... ummmnn ...
>
> There's no pickle which comes in a jar on the supermarket shelf
> that can fill the bill. I expect to harvest close to 300 cukes this
> season, and it sounds to me like everyone else's zucchini mania..!
>
> Penny, NY
>
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