Eastern Europeans love the combination of sweet and sour flavors just about as much as they love to preserve foods. Here is a wonderful recipe for sweet-and-sour pickles. In Polish, this is known as słodko-kwaśnym ogórkiem (SWOHD-koh KVASH-nim oh-GOORR-kyem). Recipes for sweet pickles abound. This is just one and it doesn't require a hot-water bath, so the jarred pickles must be refrigerated (up to two weeks) until eaten.
Yield: About 8 quart jars Sweet Pickles
Ingredients:
- 25 medium pickling cucumbers, washed and sliced 1/4-inch thick with a crinkle vegetable cutter, if desired
- 6 medium onions, cut into thin rings
- 2 washed and diced green peppers
- 3 minced cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup pickling salt or kosher salt
- 3 cups cider or white vinegar
- 5 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
Preparation:
- In a large bowl, combine cucumbers with onions, green peppers, garlic and salt. Let marinate 3 hours.
- In a large saucepan, mix vinegar with sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, cloves and turmeric. Bring to a boil.
- Add the marinating liquid to the saucepan and again bring to a boil. Meanwhile, fill up to 8 sterilized quart jars with sliced cucumbers, vegetables and spices, packing tightly. When vinegar mixture returns to the boil, immediately pour it into the jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Cover with sterilized lids and rings, screwing them on. Turn upside down on a clean cloth and cool. Refrigerate cooled pickles until ready to serve.
