Pickles 1 – Half Sours

This past Christmas, my girlfriend, Hannah, gave me The Joy of Pickling. As an avid pickle eater and appreciator, I couldn’t wait to begin micro-pickling. Of course, life being what it is, it took me more than six months to make my first batch. I chose an easy kind, the first recipe in the book, half sours. The results? Definitely not the best pickles I’ve ever had, but not bad for a first attempt. It was quite easy as well. These are brine pickles, so I combined sea salt and water with dill seeds, dill sprigs, coriander seeds, garlic, and a serrano pepper in a mason jar, and left it out for a week. After popping it in the fridge for three days, the pickles were ready to eat. The serrano peppper definitely gave them a zing, but they were crunchy, dill-infused, and pleasantly tart. Here are some pics: