Pickles (adapted

• total time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

2lbs Persian cucumbers, sliced into coins about 1/2” thick

4 cloves garlic, chopped

4 jalapeños, sliced*

1/2C fresh dill, chopped

3C white vinegar

1 1/2C water

1/4C kosher salt

1/3C sugar

3T pickling spice**

1 1/2T mustard seeds

1 1/2T black peppercorns

Directions

Add cukes, garlic, jalapeños, and dill to a big container.

Bring everything else to a boil on the stovetop for one or two minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then dump into the container with everything else. Cover and refrigerate. Should be good to start eating in about five days. I can’t say how long they’ll last; mine never make it more than three or four months before I finish them.

Jalapeños — I LOVE the jalapeños and the heat they bring in this recipe, so I use four. You can easily tone this down to one or two, or omit completely (but I wouldn’t recommend it).

Pickling spice — I’ve done this without pickling spice before by using 3T-worth of mustard seeds, peppercorns, allspice, star anise…things like this. I’ve even used mustard powder before, but it does make the brine a little murky.

The ingredients on my current supply of pickling spice are: yellow and brown mustard seeds, allspice, cinnamon, bay leaves, dill seed, cloves, ginger, black peppercorns, star anise, coriander, juniper, mace, cardamom and crushed red pepper.

Whatever flavors you want to taste more of, use more of them. Whatever ones you don’t want, leave ‘em out.