Some of you may remember last Christmas the husband and I got the bright idea to make our own pickles and gift them to our small group. Well after batch number one, we took a rather lengthy hiatus and patiently awaited the arrival of actual pickling cucumbers in stead of substituting the overgrown retail version of it’s rather smaller brother. As we both love Wickles, (this is part of what we gifted as a thank you during our engagement period to all of our loving host & hostesses) and in light of the upcoming football season in which they make a perfect tailgate treat, we decided that not only should we make a batch for the season, but that our homemade “wickles” (spicy pickles) were going to be our family tradition & go to gift (until of course home brewing is not illegal in Alabama and then we shall have a pair of bottled goodness to make!).
The one thing we have truly loved about our time in Mobile has been the delightful Flea Market we frequent rather often. Aside from the hilarity of people watching and the incredible finds hidden within, the local Farmers Market has been such a blessing. We get most all of our fruits and veggies from there and have begun to make friends with the vendors as well. All of the fresh ingredients for the pickles come from there! Below are the instructions for these fabulous spicy pickles…
Ingredients
- About 10 pickling cucumbers, sliced 2 cups sliced onions
- 1/2 cup pickling salt 6 cups water
- 3 cups white vinegar 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 3 1/2 cups sugar 10 tablespoons chopped garlic
- *2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds *1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- *4 whole cloves (*you can use a combined pickling spice for these 3 instead*)
- 24 dried cayenne peppers (we get ours from the mercado latino so they’re extra spicy)
- 2 teaspoons 100 percent Natural Pickle Crisp, optional
Directions
- Put the cucumbers, onions, pickling salt, and water in a large (non-reactive) bowl.
- Cover and let the cucumber/onion mix soak for about 2 hours.
- Drain the water from the cucumber/onion mix through a colander and rinse well for 5 minutes. Drain well and set aside while you mix the remaining ingredients.
- Combine the vinegars (white & apple cider), sugar, *mustard seeds, turmeric, cloves*, garlic, and dried peppers in a medium saucepan over high heat.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium then add the cucumber/onion mix. Stir the mixture while in the pan. Bring to a simmer and then remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Set up a station of the hot sterilized pint-size preserving jars & tongs near the saucepan mixture.
- sterilize the jars in a hot soapy soak in the sink for about 30 mins, then place on a cookie sheet in the oven (lids & jars) to dry – about 30 mins at 200°
- Fill each of the jars with the pickle mixture (using a soup spoon & a wide mouth funnel if you have one), dividing them evenly, and enough of the liquid to come within 1/2-inch of the top.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of Natural Pickle Crisp to each jar (to make more crisp if desired).
- With a clean damp towel, wipe the rim and fit with a hot lid.
- Screw on the metal ring just until the point of resistance is met.
- Process the jars in a hot-water bath for 15 minutes.
We've got the pickles in their jars cooling now. Very excited about tasting them…in 2 weeks. Thanks for the post!