5 Spice Ginger Pickles

I love love LOVE pickles. And I love love LOVE ginger. And cucumbers go bad fast, so I decided to make some "quickles" aka quick pickles. Basically these are refrigerator pickles. You slice the cucumber (and onion in this case) and then soak them in a brine in the fridge. I don't bother going through the canning process, mostly because I'm lazy and afraid of botulism.

1 cucumber sliced

1 half sweet onion sliced

1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice seasoning)

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 tsp five spice powder

1/2 tsp salt

combine the liquid in a jar, then layer the pickles and onions and toss in the fridge. The longer they soak the more flavorful they get.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Bread and Butter Pickles
Originally uploaded by kel h

I have an abundance of cucumbers from my CSA, so I decided to make pickles

taken from AllRecipies.com

Ingredients

2 small onions, sliced
1/4 teaspoon mustard seed
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 tsp corriander seed
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon and 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
2 cucumbers, sliced

pour the spices and sugar in a saucepan with the vinegar. Add onion and garlic and boil. Layer cucumbers and onions in a jar, alternating ever half inch or so. Then pour the liquid over. You may need to squish the cucumbers and onions down a bit. Refrigerate. The longer the better.

If you want to "put them up" you should follow a canning recipe, as this is just a refrigerator pickle recipe and is not suitable for keeping unrefrigerated (mostly this has to do with me being too lazy do sterilize everything, and also liking pickles enough that I'm pretty sure I will eat them within a few weeks)

Corn Relish

Corn Relish
Originally uploaded by kel h

i got some corn and cucumbers in my CSA farmshare this week, so i decided to make corn relish

Corn Relish

Ingredients

2 cups fresh or frozen corn
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups chopped seeded cucumber
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 cup sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon corriander seed
1/2 tsp mint
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

put all ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer for half hour until liquid thickens a bit.