On an earlier thread about home preserving, Jeannine recommended a book called "Putting Food By". So I ordered a copy.
We'd not attempted to pickle gherkins before, but since we'd grown some, and the book contained a nice simple recipe, we thought we'd give it a go.
Wild success! If anyone wants to give it a try, here's the recipe, adapted for British and European measurements:
“Little Cucumber Crock Pickles”For about a kilo/a couple of pounds of gherkins:
A litre/a couple of pints of cider vinegar (normal 5% strength)
One and a half tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons whole mustard seed
3 tablespoons salt to start off with (pure pickling salt, NOT table salt. We use sea salt). You’ll need to add more later.
Some fresh dill, to taste (optional)
Thoroughly clean a suitable bowl. Any residue of fat or milk will spoil the pickles. In the bowl dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar. Add the mustard seeds and the dill.
Rub the blossom end off the gherkins and wash them well. Put them into the brine and place a plate on top of them to make sure that they stay submerged. Cover the bowl and keep it in the fridge (or any cool place between 4C and 10C).
If you’re harvesting the gherkins as opposed to buying them all at once, push the freshly harvested ones to the bottom of the bowl so that the first ones in are also the frst ones out.
If a natural mould forms as a skin on the top of the liquid, simply skim it off.
After 3 days add another 3 tablespoons of salt, by sprinkling it over the plate covering the gherkins, so that it dissolves slowly. Do the same a week later, and repeat if necessary until the pickles are ready. They’re ready when they’re evenly clear when sliced. We found this took only a couple of weeks, but it’ll depend on the size and density of the fruits.
Pictures and a bit more of a story here:
http://johnnorman.wordpress.com/2011/08/27/amora-nest-plus-mon-amour/
