It’s been 3 years since I got my greenhouse. The first couple of seasons had their ups and downs, but by and large I was quite pleased with the crop of tomatoes I got. I was able to use the tomatoes for daily cooking, as well as making plenty of preserves like chutney for the off season. Sadly this year the tomatoes simply have not thrived. Whereas previous years I had a glut of tomatoes, this year’s crop has been awful. While I was able to get a few meals out of the few tomatoes that did grow, I simply did not have enough fruit to make any chutneys or pickles. Thankfully I have a decent stock from previous years, but I’m hoping that next year things go a LOT better!
But the cucumbers have been doing reasonably well. They have produced a reasonable amount of fruit from a single plant, so I can’t really complain.
One of the things I’ve always loved is sweet cucumber pickle. And when you’ve got a reasonable supply of your own cucumbers making it yourself is a no brainer!
One of the Ballymaloe cookbooks has a very simple recipe for a sweet cucumber pickle. All you need is:
- cucumber (obviously!)
- onion
- salt
- sugar
- vinegar
The original recipe uses quite a lot of sugar – too much for my liking, so each time I’ve made the pickle I’ve put in slightly less. It’ll still be sweet enough, but not sickly sweet.
The methodology isn’t complicated.
You make a mix of sugar, salt and vinegar and pour that over the vegetables. It’s best to use a resealable jar like a kilner and make it in the jar you’ll be using (see picture above)
I use a mandoline to slice both the cucumber and the onion as it gives you a uniform cut. Whether you go down the “slice” route or some other kind of shape, the idea is that you end up with small pieces of vegetable.
You just leave the pickle for a few hours and then it’s ready. It’ll keep for 7 to 10 days in the fridge, though with smaller batches that’s never really a problem – it’ll vanish long before it gets a chance to go off!
I’ve been experimenting with the recipe and would love to replace the sugar with honey, but I’m not sure how well that would work. Or would it be a total disaster? The “pickle” comes from the vinegar not the sugar.
While the season is pretty much “done” now for my own cucumbers there’s no reason why I can’t keep making the pickle at home using shop bought cucumber, though I suspect it wont’ be as nice, though that could just be my bias!
