Elements: White vinegar pickled vegetables
Updated: 08/17/08 7:11 PM
What’s the coolest way to deal with an overabundance of summer vegetables?
Pickles.
But there’s no need to get out the canning pot. We’re talking about refrigerator pickles, which will preserve them in chilled brine for weeks.
The magic is in the white vinegar in the brine, which retards spoilage as it delivers tangy crunch in each bite.
Vin aigre is French for “sour wine,” but white vinegar is distilled from grain alcohol and diluted to a consistent acidity. Not all that distinctive tasting, it’s rarely used by itself.
Besides pickles, white vinegar is used in sweet-and-sour sauces, for making homemade cheese curds and marinades. It can also be used to make summertime drinks called “shrubs.”
Good around the house: White vinegar has long been used in nonedible ways too, like cleaning glass, attacking stains and neutralizing odors.
Dissolving power: Don’t use vinegar with aluminum or copper pans, bowls or utensils. The acetic acid in vinegar reacts with those metals, causing corrosion pits if left long enough.
Refrigerator pickles
Look around to see what extra vegetables you have for pickling. Wash them well and leave them whole or cut them into decorative shapes or bite-sized pieces.
Pickle candidates: Cucumbers, large and small; string beans; zucchini; onions; turnips; celery; peppers; cauliflower; carrots; radishes, etc.
Brine recipe:
4 cups distilled white vinegar
2 cups water
3/8 cup salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 to 1/3 cup pickling spice (usually a blend of mustard seed, bay leaf, clove, black pepper, coriander and dill seed)
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
Dissolve sugar and salt in water and vinegar. Pour over vegetable medley scattered with garlic and spices, and stir to distribute. Refrigerate.
After three days or so, they’re pickles. Add more vegetables as room allows over a month or two, replenishing vinegar, salt and sugar, and spices occasionally.
