As September approaches, I find myself in a bit of a pickle.
I am in awe of friends who manage to put away food for the future. I spoke to my friend Jennifer on the telephone recently as she described the many batches of pickles and beans she had assembled and processed that day. She was boiling jars throughout our conversation.
I have never quite matched Jennifer’s output, but there was a time when I did a fair amount of canning.
I made salsa with my bounty of tomatoes. I assembled jars of hot pepper jelly to give as a gifts. I turned the extra fruit I could not keep myself from buying into jam. And I happily canned dilly beans and bread-and-butter pickles.
This year none of that happened. I took on too many jobs, did too much volunteer work, and went to (even sang in) too many concerts. I probably attended a few too many parties as well.
As a result, I have made nothing that will last for months. If I were a squirrel, I would have no nuts to get me through the winter and would perish pathetically in the snow.
Fortunately, I’m not a squirrel — and I was brought up by a mother who taught me never to succumb to feelings of guilt or inadequacy. As a result, I admire my neighbors who do what I cannot instead of resenting them.
Happily for me, I can purchase homemade jars of goodness; a number of local enterprises have done the canning for me.
I can find jams and pickles at Hager’s Farm Store just outside of Greenfield, Apex Orchards in Shelburne, or Pine Hill Orchards in Colrain. Barberic Farm of Shelburne sells its jams and pickles not only at farmers markets but now at Avery’s General Store, my go-to emporium in Charlemont.
When I’m desperate for a home-style, real pickle, I can always purchase one made by Real Pickles in Greenfield; these products always live up to their name.
Every once in a while, however, I long to make something of my own despite my lack of time. Luckily, I can always throw together a jar of refrigerator pickles. I was introduced to these quick-to-assemble savory treats years ago by Ivy Palmer, who ran the Shelburne Falls Farmers Market.
Refrigerator pickles don’t last for months on end the way regular pickles do. They do offer genuine pickle flavor … and nearly instant gratification.
Many of the pickle recipes in my repertoire require the cook to wait six weeks or more to break into a jar of pickles. In contrast, if made with small bits of produce, refrigerator pickles may be eaten in three days. That’s about as instant as gratification can get in the pickle world.
I generally make dill refrigerator pickles with cucumber. As fall advances, however, I’m considering expanding my repertoire to include carrots and cauliflower … maybe even Brussels sprouts. As long as I cut them into small pieces, these veggies should lend themselves nicely to quick pickling.
Readers who are busy canning right now: I salute you! (Contact me so I can write about you in future summers.) The recipe below is for those who, like me, aren’t going to get around to canning their own pickles this summer.
You don’t even have to have a garden to make these. My cucumbers came from Butynski Farm in Greenfield. I looked for firm, deep-green pickling cukes there. Cucumbers that have started to turn yellow or white make less crunchy pickles.
I even purchased my dill at Butynski’s because the dill in my herb garden had wilted in this summer’s dry heat. And my cider vinegar came from Apex Orchards in Shelburne.
Ingredients:
3 to 5 pickling cucumbers (depending on size)
3 tablespoons pickling salt, sea salt, or kosher salt (but not iodized table salt)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 head dill plus as many dill leaves as you like
1 clove garlic
3 black peppercorns
Instructions:
Cut your cucumbers into spears or slices, as desired. I prefer slices; they are easiest to stuff into a jar. Left whole, the cucumbers will take a long time to pickle in the fridge so cutting in some fashion is a must.
To increase the crunchiness, place the cut cucumbers in layers in a colander over the sink. Sprinkle each later with salt — about 2 tablespoons total — and let them sit for 2 hours. This drains out much of the water in the cucumbers. Rinse them, place them in a clean dishcloth, and gently squeeze out the excess moisture.
Prepare a quart jar with a lid by running it through the dishwasher or washing it in very hot, soapy water and letting it air dry. Any jar with a lid will do; the wider the opening, the easier your work will be.
Place the dill in the bottom of your jar, peel and lightly crush the garlic clove, and drop it in along with the peppercorns. Put in the cut cucumbers. If you have leftover pieces of salted cucumber, use them in a salad or a sandwich.
Mix the remaining tablespoons of salt, the vinegar, and the water in a saucepan, and bring them to a boil. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes; then pour it over the cucumbers, filling the jar right to the top.
The pickles will be ready to eat in three days and should be eaten within a month. (I have been known to stretch them out for more than a month.) Makes 1 quart.
Tinky Weisblat is the award-winning author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook,” “Pulling Taffy,” and “Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb.” Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.