Thursday, May 17, 2012

Exceptionally Easy Pickles




I fixed our first fresh cucumber of the season last night.  It was, about eight or nine inches long and just right for preparing in the simple easy way I learned from son, Brownlee, the master chef in our family.

This method for cucumber pickles is one of my favorites since it involves very little work or time, but really enhances the flavor of a nice fresh cucumber without overwhelming the natural flavor of the vegetable.  Brownlee says you can apply this technique to other fresh vegetables, such as sliced carrots and sweet Japanese turnips, too.

Peel and slice the cucumber and then mix the slices with a mixture of one-teaspoon kosher salt and one-tablespoon of sugar.  Let it sit and after five or ten minutes taste to see if it is too salty or too sweet.  If it is, rinse some or all of the slices and let sit for five minutes, taste again and adjust the salt and sugar as appropriate.  Refrigerate.  They are ready to eat in twenty minutes.

How much easier can it get? It is my kind of cooking:  Simple, quick, not too many ingredients and the fresh flavor shines.  You will be pleasantly surprised at the results.  Maybe we shouldn’t tell too many others just how easy this is . . .

Suzy

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