Fridge Pickles: Zucchini and Yellow Squash!
With our abundance of zucchini and squash, well... we've been been eating it. LOTS OF IT. Stir-fried with other veggies, in pasta sauce, breaded and fried, stuffed and baked- the list goes on. I've been seeing several recipes going around on social media about Fridge Pickles, and figured I'd give them a shot!
I admit I'm a little intimidated by canning. I'm fascinated by the process, and the potential to both save money in the food budget and preserve the harvest to continue feeding the family throughout the year. The downside for me is mainly that I've never tried most canning and canned pickled vegetables recipes- so, if it comes out terrible... all that work would be wasted, not to mention the materials used! I just don't have that much confidence with the canning process just yet.
The idea of Fridge Pickles is perfect, for me right now. You can't leave these jars in the pantry, of course- they must be refrigerated, since they don't go through the preserving process of canning. They also won't keep as long- a few months, at most. It IS, however, a great way to try a recipe without much waste if you end up not liking it!
I looked at several recipes online, but ended up winging it, more or less. I didn't have all the ingredients to make any one specific recipe to the letter. That's another great thing about this non-canned method: it gives you much more freedom to play with a recipe, adding and subtracting ingredients wherever you want since there's no processing time in the canner that may be affected by these changes!
I'd never had any kind of pickled squash at all before, and neither had anyone else in the house... but man, I'm glad I decided to give it a try!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I decided to try both zucchini and yellow squash, since they were both on hand. I used one of each, but since sizes of these veggies can vary so greatly, it's best to overestimate how much brine and spices to use. What follows is what I threw together, but don't be afraid to experiment!
Ingredients:
*4 pint sized canning jars with new lids and rings; wide-mouthed are easiest to fill
1 yellow squash, 1 zucchini
4 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
8 smashed garlic cloves
4 tbsp pink Himalayan salt
6 or 7 fresh dill flowerheads from the garden
2 tsp jalapeno flakes
2 tsp cayenne flakes
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp mustard seed
1 Tbs Spicy Oregano
1 flowerhead of Lime Basil
Process:
Even though I wasn't canning these pickles, I decided to sterilize the jars anyway (who knows what dust and dander might get on them, right?). Cover all 4 jars with water in a soup pot, and drop the lids and rings down the sides into the water. Bring them to a boil and let them go for 10 minutes, leaving them in the hot water until you're ready to fill them with squash and ladle the hot brine into them.
While the jars are boiling, cut up the squashes! I cut off the necks first, and sliced them into rounds 1/8" thick. For the bottoms (the fat majority of the squash), I quartered them lengthwise and scooped out all the seeds and pith for the compost pail. I peeled all the skin off the yellow squash, but with the zucchini, I peeled some and left some on- it's up to you. I then sliced each quarter into long slices about 1/4" thick, and trimmed the length to fit my jars. Rinse these and set them aside.
For the brine, all you have to do is combine the rest of the the ingredients in a medium sauce pot, and bring it to a boil. Seriously. How easy is that? I stirred several times as it came to a boil, to ensure it was all mixed together well.
Your jars may be hot, so use tongs to remove them from the hot water. Lift one, tilt it so the water runs back into the pot, and fill it with squash. I did them all one at a time this way. You can pack the squash in there as tightly as you want! Make sure you have at least 1/2" head space at the top, and you're ready for the brine!
Carefully ladle the hot brine over your squash, leaving 1/4" from the top lip. Try and make sure each jar gets plenty of those yummy herbs in there, too! Then just put your lids on and let them cool. Once they've cooled down, put them in the fridge! Ridiculously easy, right?
I ended up with 3 jars worth of spears, and one jar of pretty round slices. The handful of trimmings and a few spare spears went into our dinner (mixed veggies), so there was no waste there!
I did see a few differing opinions online about how long to let these pickles marinate in the fridge before eating- anywhere from a few hours to two weeks! I made it just over 24 hours before I had to try them.
*crunch, crunch*... Oh my god. THEY ARE AWESOME. I got everyone else to try them, and the general consensus is: Damn, that's GOOD! They'll probably mellow out a bit over a few weeks, but the fresh vinegar taste doesn't bother me one bit. The hot peppers also give a pleasant kick at the end, but I wouldn't say they're "Hot and Spicy"- just delicious!! I can't wait to bring a jar to the grandparents' house for them to try!!
