Pickle your family time for memories that last

By: Dan Zahra, for the Auburn Journal

With the bounty of produce available this time of year, the pickle producing possibilities are endless. Pickling is a positive way to spend some quality time with family. Everyone creating their own jar of pretty pickled produce concoctions. Pickled asparagus to zucchini and everything in between can be pickled with different blends of vinegar, sugar, salt, peppers and water or other flavor neutrals.
The blends of herbs, spices and enhancers (such as whiskey, hot sauce or whatever you desire) will make your pickles unique. This is in every way the kind of food you play with.
I made pickled red onion, Persian cucumbers and carrot. One jar of regular, one jar of red pepper flake and one jar of whiskey pickles. I was pleasantly surprised with the whiskey pickles. I had a light bulb moment and added the whiskey to the jar to see what would happen. It added just a hint of oak-aged whiskey flavor that comes up on the backside of taste. Remember, as always in food preparation, the golden rule is “you can add more but you cannot take it out,” same as you can’t un-cook something you have overcooked. So start out with a hint and add more if needed.
I had some brine left over after filling three jars so I quickly sliced some red cabbage and garlic and pickled them as well. It all came out delicious. If you saw last week’s column on pumpkin potatoes cakes, the pickled veggies were in the foreground in the photo. They were a perfect side to the pan seared salmon.
As I write this I have some favorites waiting to bath in the glory of the brine. This batch will be cauliflower, sweet peppers, Brussels sprouts, red onion, garlic, Persian cucumbers and green beans.…

Pickling Brine
Ingredients:
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Directions:
• Place your desired herbs and spices in the jars.
• Bring the vinegar, water, salt and sugar to a boil and then let cool somewhat before pouring the liquid into the jars.
• You can add fresh herbs, red pepper flakes, mustard seed, cumin seed, pepper corns, cloves of garlic, or just use the store bought pickling spice mix and save a bunch of money by not buying them separately.
•With my pickles I made three versions all using the same brine. To make them unique I just added 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to my spicy pickles. To my whiskey pickles I added 1 tablespoon of Irish Whiskey to the jar before adding the veggies.
• You can pickle all kinds of veggies. I chose Persian cucumbers, carrots and red onion.