Sweet Spicy Cucumber Pickles
Sweet Spicy Cucumber Pickles
I make these yummy cucumber pickles every year for my family, more specifically my hubby. They are sweet, spicy and tasty. Cucumber pickles are a family favorite and perfect to bring to tail-gating parties and picnics. Keep a big bowl of these sweet and spicy pickles in your refrigerator to enjoy anytime. The longer the pickles sit in the pickling mixture, the better they are.
Pickle
To pickle means to preserve foods in a vinegar mixture or brine. Among the most popular foods to pickle are: cucumbers, pearl onions, cauliflower, baby corn, watermelon Rind, pig’s feet and an assortment of foods. Pickles can be sour, sweet, hot or variously flavored, such as with dill, for the popular dill pickle. Pickling spice is often used in a bouquet garni. For this recipe we used McCormick Pickling Spice
Cucumbers
Believed to have originated in either India or Thailand. The cucumber has been cultivated for thousands of years. This long, green-skinned fruit of the gourd family has edible seeds surrounded by a mild, crisp flesh. The skin doesn’t require peeling unless it’s waxed. Cucumbers are usually eaten raw, as in salads. The smaller cucumber varieties are used to make pickles. As a cucumber matures, the seeds grow larger and more bitter. Therefore, the seeds of an older cucumber should be removed before using.
Sweet and Spicy
The sweet and spicy in this recipe comes from a few different ingredients. The sweet part is easy, almost 3 cups of sugar. The spice comes from garlic, pickled sliced jalapenos, red pepper flakes, hot sauce and cayenne pepper. If you’d like to take these already spicy pickles up another notch, add more jalapeno peppers, and or cayenne pepper. Keep in mind though, that the longer the pickles sit in the pickling liquid, the hotter they’ll become.
Sweet Spicy Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
- 8 medium cucumbers
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup pickled sliced jalapenos, from jar
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 3 cups white vinegar
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons pickling spice
Equipment
- large glass jar
Instructions
- Thinly slice cucumbers.
- In a large glass container with a tight fitting lid, layer cucumber slices, minced garlic, jalapeno slices, red pepper flakes, salt, cayenne pepper and pickling spice.
- Stir together vinegar, sugar, water and hot sauce. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over cucumber mixture in glass container. Cover with lid.
- Store in refrigerator for 48 hours.