Easy Peasy Pickles

Makes 3 x 500ml Kilner Jars

Oh how I love a good pickle. Pickling vegetables turns them into their more interesting and tangier super cousins!  These pickled onions, cucumbers and peppers are absolutely perfect to eat in sandwiches and burgers (duh – obviously!), are deliciously tasty in salads (especially when paired with a creamy goats cheese) and seriously up your taco game (the chipotle red peppers work especially well in them).  But none of that compares to my all time childhood favourite (and now my go-to adult hangover food) – hot bubbly cheese on toast, slathered with a mountain of these pickles. If that doesn’t get your taste buds a-tingling, I don’t know what will.

I used to put pickles in the “too scary to make at home” category, until I tried my hand at them a couple of years ago and was truly astounded at not only how easy they were, but how they tasted far and away more delicious than any shop bought or restaurant-served ones I’d ever had. And they have the added benefit no nasty preservatives and a short ingredients list that you can actually pronounce!

Because the recipe calls for only 2 base ingredients for the liquid (vinegar and maple syrup), it makes it very versatile - so feel free to switch up the vegetables and whatever herbs and spices tickle your fancy! 

For these particular pickles I used:

·     Cucumber + Dill + Chives
·     Red Onions + Black Onion Seeds + Pink Peppercorns
·      Rainbow Baby Peppers + Chipotle Chilli Flakes

I like to slice my vegetables relatively thickly so that I get a good crunch to them, but if you are in a bind time-wise, then slice them very thinly.  They will need a much shorter time (under an hour) to pickle instead of leaving them overnight as I have done here.  

INGREDIENTS

For the Liquid
·     ½ cup (125ml) Apple Cider Vinegar
·     ½ cup (125ml) Red Wine Vinegar
·     1 cup (250ml) Water
·     3 - 4 tbsp (45-60ml) Maple Syrup

For the Veggies
·     ½ Cucumber
·     1 Large Red Onion
·     125g Rainbow Baby Peppers 

For the Herbs and Spices
·     For the Red Onions - ½ tsp Nigella (Black Onion) Seeds + ½ tsp peppercorns
·     For the Peppers - ¼ tsp Chipotle Chilli Flakes
·     For the Cucumbers - Handful of fresh Dill and fresh Chives and ½ tsp peppercorns

METHOD

·     In a saucepan, heat the vinegars, water and maple syrup over a medium heat.
·     Bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes.
·     Let cool slightly.
·     Slice the vegetables.
·     Sterilize three airtight glass jars— see note below on how.
·     Place whatever herbs or spices you are using at the bottom of each jar and add the veggies on top.
·     Pour in the liquid and seal the jars.
·     Once cooled, place in the fridge.
·     The pickles will be ready to eat after a few hours or overnight (depending on how thin you sliced the veggies), but will keep well in the fridge for two weeks.

How to sterilize a glass jar — Preheat the oven to 140 degrees C (fan oven). Wash the jars in hot, soapy water and rinse well. Place the jars on a baking sheet and put them in the oven to dry completely (around 10 or so minutes). But if you use Kilner jars, boil the rubber seals instead, as dry heat damages them.