I found some nice looking organic watermelon gherkins at Whole Foods this week that were coming from a local farm {Suzie's Farm} , so I could not resist. I have tried to plant my own gherkins in the garden, starting them from the seed but without any success. Since I love making pickles that we can enjoy all year long, when I saw these little beauties ... I had to get them.
Pickling is a Summer activity I have done since my childhood with my grandparents. In their country house, they were growing cornichons that were then pickled. We also pickled mushrooms we would harvest in the wood during the Fall.
Pickling is very easy and does not require much ingredients. As long as the vegetables are organic and very fresh { ...no mold or decay}, you are good to go.
I especially love the watermelon gherkins because they have a soft skin and do not need to brushed before processing.
Ingredients
16 oz (450gr) of organic watermelon gherkins pickles
1 quart (1 liter) of organic 5% acidity white rice vinegar
3 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon of dill and fennel seeds
3 pint (425 ml) Mason jars
Preparation
Rinse the pickles and pat them dry. Pack them in the jars, alternating with the mustard, fennel and dill seeds, fresh thyme, shallots and garlic. Fill the jars with white wine vinegar, making sure it covers all the pickles. Close the jars and don't forget to label them. The jars should be placed in your pantry at least 1 month and a half for the magic to happen.
After only a 1 day in the vinegar, the pickles have already lost their bright colors.
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