Quick Pickles 'n Dilly Beans

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Pickles! Who the hell doesn't love pickles? And the beauty of it - you can pickle ANYTHING! Cucumbers! Garlic! Onions! Cauliflower! Beets! Eggs! 

I read up a bit on other types of pickling brine, and adapted the original recipe for use in making zesty dilly beans (pickled green beans, a little bit spicy). Please note: these are rookie pickles! I know a lot of you out these may be scandalized that these aren't sealed in a hot water bath and stored for 2 months. Don't be such a Pickle Purist, ya dingus! Or else teach me your more complex pickling ways ... But for the rest of this, these are unbelievably good pickles that we can make at home without any special equipment.


This recipe is for Quick Pickles. Jar them, and they'll be ready to eat the next day. The pickles are best if eaten within 12 days. These are not long-term pickles! These make great treats for attending dinner parties, for late night drunk snacks, and for tabletop gaming sessions. Spoiler: I know what everyone is getting for Xmas this year!



If you have it, carefully use a mandolin. I opted for some sweet knife skills myself.


Look at those delightful Fire Escape Herbs! Nice work, JP!

Notes:

  • I used the small 1.5 cup mason jar for the pickles, and a larger 3 cup jar for the dilly beans. The amount of brine created from this recipe will be appropriate for the 3 cup jar or two of the 1.5 cup jars. Be sure to have enough brine to fully cover the vegetables!
  • On that front, I found that one cucumber, trimmed, was almost exactly the amount that fit into one jar.
  • I bought 1 lb of green beans, trimmed the tops and bottoms, and they fir perfectly into the 3 cup jar.
  • Do not be afraid to trim the beans and to not use the entire cucumber. Ideally, you fill the jar about 7/8ths of the way to where it begins to taper towards the lid. It is imperative that you leave room for the garlic, onions, spices, and dill. Fill the jars as high as you can, but make sure everything is covered.
  • The best cucumbers will be firm and warty and dark green. The best beans will be stiff and snap-not-bend. I'd venture a guess that whatever you decide to pickle, firm=best.
  • The internet has many good ideas for sterilizing your jars and lids. The most obvious is to use tongs and boiling water. For the homebrewer, like myself, a little spray bottle Star San goes a long way. Be sure to read up on sterilizing your jars before you start adding the veggies to them.
  • The recipe as adapted for dilly beans is indented below. The measurements are for doing one batch of either pickles or dilly beans; if doing both, double the appropriate ingredient measurements.




Ingredients:
  • 2 firm, dark green cucumbers, sliced thin like pickles (or quartered into spears); 
    • or, 1 lb firm green beans, trimmed to fit inside the mason jar.
  • 1.5 Cups rice vinegar
    • Or, 1.5 Cups apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 4 Tbs granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbs kosher salt
  • 1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
    • Or, 2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 Tbs yellow mustard seeds
  • 1 small yellow onion, sliced thin
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
  • fresh dill

To Prepare:
  1. In a sauce pan, over medium-high heat, combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, cloves, bay leaves, and mustard seed. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Once dissolved, remove the pot from the heat and cover. Set aside for 30 minutes.
    Rice Vinegar for the cucumber pickles.

    Apple Cider Vinegar for the Dilly Beans.
  2. Sterilize your jars, then fill them about 7/8ths to the top with cucumber/green beans.

  3. Top off your jars with the onion, garlic, and a large pinch of dill, divided evenly between all of your jars. Set aside while waiting for your brine to rest.

  4. After 30 minutes, bring your brine to a boil again. Pour the brine over the veggies in the jar, filling until all of the contents of the jar are submerged. If possible, ensure a bay leaf ends up in each jar - this will help keep the pickles crispy. Set the jars aside to cool to room temperature.
  5. Tightly screw your lid onto the jar, then refrigerate. Pickles are ready to eat within 24 hours, and are incredibly delectable at 48 hours. Be sure to eat the pickles within 2 weeks, though I have yet to see this timeline as a problem.
Bon appetit!

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