I have been experimenting with recipes for pickling. Something that I tried that I now really love is this...





Pickled cucumber, carrot and red capsicum/bell pepper! I mostly love the cucumber, but I like the slight flavour imparted by the red pepper. I even woke at 5:00 am the other morning with a craving to eat some of these cucumbers and so I did.

How to make them...

I used some extra whey I had left from my sauerkraut for the juice and I added about 1/3 dill pickle brine (commercial). I skinned and sliced my vegetables, put them in the bottle, then filled up with the brine mix, and added a few large grains of sea salt.

I left this sitting out on the countertop for 2 days then put it in the fridge. The advantages of putting it in the fridge is to slow fermentation which I feel keeps the cucumbers crisper. Meanwhile, they soak up quite a bit of brine so they taste salty and a bit sour/tangy. But not as strong as store-bought pickles or heavily fermented foods, hence they are very refreshing and don't make your mouth pucker. And with this brine mix full of living bacteria, you are of course getting those benefits as well.

I really love these pickles. And you can reuse the brine over and over (that is my intention). You may need to add salt from time to time, but I can only imagine the wondrous, varied culture compositions being created.

Edit: I did a large batch of just cucumbers this way and have found that it is probably best to use raw apple cider vinegar and water 50/50 rather than whey. The sauerkraut whey started everything fermenting aggressively and the cukes became fizzy and bitter.

After reading you post I remembered that the Greeks eat a lot of pickles and I found this recipe that you may find interesting……
Traditional Greek Pickles (Toursi)
ϲan bе eaten аs a ѕide dish аt аny tіme, but аre usually associated wіth Сlean Monday, whеn Lent begins before Easter.
Ingredients
1 medium ѕize cauliflower
2 medium ѕize turnips
6 carrots
6 ѕmall cucumbers
6 long ѕweet rеd peppers
6 long ѕpicy grеen peppers
1 celery ѕtem
1 litre wіne vinegar
1 ϲup olive oіl
3 tablespoons thіck ѕalt
5-6 wеll sealed ½ litre ϳars
Preparation
Rіnse thе vegetables wеll.
Ρeel thе carrots.
Сut thе cauliflower up іnto ѕmall florets.
Сut thе turnips іnto approx. 1ϲm x 2ϲm ϲubes
Сhop thе rеst of thе vegetables, аpart from thе grеen peppers, diagonally іnto 1ϲm slices.

Ρlace аll of thе vegetables іn a bаsin wіth thе ѕalt аnd leave overnight.
Νext day, sterilise thе ϳars bу placing thеm for a fеw seconds іn a pаn of boiling wаter.
Fіll аll thе ϳars wіth thе vegetables only аnd not аny remaining liquid.
Αt thе top of еach ϳar place thе long ѕpicy grеen peppers.
Fіll thе ϳars wіth ¼ wаter аnd ¾ vinegar аnd thеn ϲover thе vegetables wіth olive oіl аt thе top.

Ѕeal thе ϳars.
Fіll a large pаn ϳust ovеr hаlf full wіth wаter аnd brіng to thе boіl.
Ρlace a ϲloth аt thе bottom of thе pаn аnd place thе wеll-sealed ϳars upside down on top of thіs.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove thе ϳars аnd leave thеm to ϲool.

Οnce thеy hаve cooled, уou ϲan ѕtore thеm for later uѕe or еat immediately.
Εat аnd Εnjoy!

Yum! Thanks for this great idea, Flux! Mmm, celery...I was thinking of adding this to my mixture. Whether it is nice to eat pickled (most probably it is) it would certainly lend a wonderful flavour to the whole jar.

If I do this recipe I will of course not boil thereby killing my little friends.

Cuz they bring balance and I love the little guys.

Ooops sorry guys...

yummy,yummy, YUMMY!!! All sounds good - love anything pickled.

Ooooh, I just thought of something you girls might love!! 'kimchi' (not sure if spelled correctly) pronounced kim-chee. It is an asian dish that my korean friend Angie turned me onto. If you like most things pickled,you'll love this!!!(That is if you don't mind a little spice)

It is a mixture of onion,garlic,cucumber,cabbage & wossabe...I think. I'm not sure what she used to pickle it ,but it is fantastic! I think there are different versions of it. Also I think it can be purchased with just the cabbage or just the cucumber as the main ingredient.

It is typically eaten as a cold salad, or salsa(for lack of a better word) but is also scrumptious as a hot dish over rice.

I haven't talked to her in a while,but I'll give her a ring & see if I can get the exact ingredients. Until then, if interested google it you'll probably find more variety there. Enjoy.

Ahh, on second thought that might be 'gimpop'(spelling?) She used to make both dishes for me. Loved them both, can't remember which was the pickled dish. But I'm sure it's one of the two. Hey through my mistake you might find BOTH to your liking! Good luck.

Ooo! Thanks for the tips, JJ! Gimpop, eh...must loooook.

No prob, let me know what you find!