You might recognize this picture. I included it in my vacation post on Monday. Several people wrote in, hoping that I might post the recipe. I’m happy to do so, though I must confess that it’s barely a recipe at all.

I have a basic formula I follow for quick, refrigerator-type pickles like this. It’s one cup vinegar (any 5% acidity vinegar will do), one cup water and one tablespoon pickling salt (sea salt is also fine). This is typically enough for a quart of pickles, which a little bit leftover. It can be expanded or contracted as needed.

Spices can be anything you like. For this particular batch of pickles, I used a generous tablespoon of pickling spice. Depending on what you’re pickling, you can add garlic, peppercorns, red chili flakes, dill seed, mustard seed, etc.

After you pour the brine over the veg, place a lid on the jar and let is sit on the counter until it’s cool. Once it’s returned to room temperature, pop the jar into the fridge and let it sit for at least 48 hours before proceeding to munch.

Related Posts:

• Asian-Inspired Refrigerator Pickles
• Pickled Asparagus
• Urban Preserving: Refrigerator Dill Pickles

I had the first incarnation of these pickles at a potluck I hosted nearly two years ago. My friend Wendy brought them to the party, and by the end of the night, the once overflowing bowl was reduced to a puddle of brine and with three little spears bobbling amidst the hot peppers and onion slivers. Crisp, fragrant and flavorful, they seemed to pair perfectly with every other dish on the table.

When the evening wrapped up, Wendy gave me permission to pour the leftover brine into a jar to save and reuse. The next day I added a fresh batch of cucumber spears and let the sweet/sour liquid work its magic. These days, I make these quick fridge pickles regularly during the spring, summer and fall, when kirby cucumbers are readily available (these do okay when made with English cucumbers, but not so well when made with waxed cukes). The brine can be reused several times (trash it when it gets cloudy).

Feel free to alter this recipe to your liking. Wendy’s original recipe calls for shallots and cilantro. I used scallions and mint because that’s what I had. If you don’t want your pickles to be too spicy, use half a hot pepper (or none at all if you can stand the heat). The recipe is after the jump.

Asian-Inspired Quick Pickles

5-6 kirby (pickling) cucumbers, each cut into six spears
1 chili pepper
1 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar (look for a brand that uses sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, Trader Joe’s makes a good one)
2 limes, juiced
3-4 scallions, chopped (greens and whites)
2 garlic cloves, sliced
4 sprigs of mint, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pack the cucumber spears into a quart jar. Slide the chili pepper down in among the cucumber spears. In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine the rice wine vinegar, lime juice, scallions, garlic cloves, mint and salt. Pour over the cucumbers. Using your fingers, poke some of the garlic slivers, mint and scallion down amidst the cucumbers. Screw a lid on the jar, and holding the over the sink (in case of leaks) invert the jar and give it a good shake, in order to distribute all the delicious bits.

Let your pickles sit in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before eating.

Related Posts:

• Pickled Baby Pattypan Squash
• Pickled Asparagus
• Urban Preserving: Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Oh asparagus! How I avoided pickling you. I kept you waiting in the fridge for over a week, as you anticipated your spicy vinegar bath. And yet, already you’ve given me so much! After just two days of pickling, you are the perfect balance of crisp and pucker. You make the perfect sidecar to just about any meal. I am enamored.

That’s right kids, the pickled asparagus has turned out to be a riotous success, despite the fact that I used asparagus that was a tiny bit past its prime (life, why much you always throw distractions into my canning schedule?) and forgot to include the peppercorns in the brine.

I based my recipe on one from Putting Up, a really terrific book about Southern-style canning that was recommended to me by my friend Taylor. It’s by Stephen Palmer Dowdney, who ran a successful canning business in Charleston, SC for many years (although I’m far more impressed by the fact that he was a college classmate of Pat Conroy, who is one of my favorite authors). If you’re looking to expand your food preservation reference library (I make it sound so official, don’t I), this is definitely a volume to consider. I like how it’s organized by month, as well as the fact that it has really excellent details on the basics of canning.

Before we get into the recipe, I want to take a moment to encourage all of you to consider pickling something. Possibly even this week. The reason? It is so very simple. You can prep just a single jar at a time, which makes it the perfect first canning project. Honestly, you don’t even need to do the hot water bath if you’re just making a jar or two for yourself, you can just stash your pickles in the fridge. Making pickles will build your canning confidence and get you excited for more ambitious projects. I’m certainly chomping at the bit for my next pickling project (onions and then okra). If I’ve got you sufficiently excited, my favorite refrigerator pickle recipe is right here.

I’m not going to be giving a jar of these pickles away, since this whole pickling thing is new to me, I want to wait and make sure they continue to be good for the weeks to come before I start handing them out, all willy nilly. However, do not despair. I’ve got another giveaway up my sleeve that will be coming soon.

Pickled Asparagus
adapted from Putting Up by Stephen Palmer Dowdney

4 pounds asparagus, trimmed to fit your pint jars and blanched in boiling water for approximately 10 seconds

3 cups vinegar (half apple cider vinegar, half white vinegar)
3 cups water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons Penzeys pickling spice
1 tablespoon red hot chili flakes
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3 slices of lemon

3 pint jars (if you use the taller, 12 ounce jelly jars, you don’t have to cut your asparagus quite as short and you’ll probably fill four jars. I didn’t have any, so I didn’t use them).

Sterilize your jars. Put the lemon slice in the bottom and pack the trimmed and blanched asparagus into the jars (it’s up to you to determine whether you want to go tips up or down). Tuck a garlic clove down into the asparagus spears.

Bring the vinegar, water and spices to a boil. Pour into jars on top of asparagus, leaving at least 1/2 inch of head space.

Put lids and rings on the jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes (you can skip this step if you plan on just putting your pickles in the fridge).

Wait at least 24 hours before eating, to give the asparagus spears a chance to get sufficiently pickly.

Related Posts:

• Pickled Baby Pattypan Squash
• Asian-Inspired Refrigerator Pickles
• Urban Preserving: Refrigerator Dill Pickles