I remember when pickles were either something that you bought from a barrel on the street or — if you were crafty — canned in your kitchen. But somehow they’ve become the emblem of all things hipster-artisanal-twee, as much a joke (we can pickle that!) as they are a food.
The reason so many of us have outsourced our pickle making to the waxed-mustache set is that canning is sufficiently daunting; the thought of boiling jars, with its mysterious science and prospect of imminent disaster, is enough to send most home cooks running to the store. Fortunately, canning is not a prerequisite for pickling. In fact, as long as you can commit to eating them within a week or two, there are countless pickles that you can make quickly and store in your fridge.
All the recipes here fall into that category. Some — relishes and marinated vegetables — use heat to soften the pickles and impart the flavor of the brine, while others — miso-smothered and saltwater-soaked — rely on time to do the work. The various brines pull double duty, preserving whatever you’re pickling while at the same time introducing new flavors and coaxing out inherent ones. Think of the recipes as templates: Swap in different vegetables as you like.
My favorite pickles are a bit more subtle than the vinegar-smacked versions that taste more like acid than like vegetables. Of the four categories here, the two that use vinegar do so mostly for balance, cutting through the sugar in the relishes and the oil in the marinated vegetables. The others are less tangy and more salty, using saltwater brine, which is classic, and miso, which is both surprising and delicious.
All these methods require minimal effort and limited active time, making it easy enough to finally reclaim pickles as the humble, homespun food that they are. The trendiness is incidental.
Daikon With White Miso
Peel 1 pound daikon; slice crosswise ¼-inch thick. Spread 2 cups white miso into a bowl, top with the daikon and press down; add enough miso to bury. Cover, and rest at room temperature for 24 hours, or longer for more intense flavor. Rinse, and refrigerate before serving (save the miso for another batch).
Eggplant With Miso and Mirin
Trim 1 pound eggplant, and cut half-moons about ¾-inch thick. Stir 1 tablespoon mirin into the miso, submerging the pieces as with the daikon. Let stand for 12 hours, then rinse; serve immediately, or refrigerate.
Corn Coins With Yellow Miso
Husk 3 ears corn, and cut them crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices. Use yellow miso instead of white, submerging the pieces as with the daikon.
Giardiniera
In a pot, boil ½ cup red-wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 bay leaf, 1 smashed garlic clove, ⅓ cup olive oil and 2 cups water. Add 1½ cups broccoli florets; cook for 1 minute. Add 1 cup each chopped carrot, celery and bell pepper, and ¼ cup chopped green olives; turn off the heat. Cover, let cool, refrigerate.
Bagna Cauda in a Jar
Use balsamic vinegar. Substitute 6 mashed anchovy fillets for the salt and ½ teaspoon crushed red chiles for the oregano and bay leaf; up the garlic. Cook 2 pounds mixed sturdy vegetables — thin asparagus, green beans, fennel, radishes, parsnips, celery — in the brine for 1 minute.
Curried Cauliflower
Use sherry vinegar, and decrease salt to ¼ teaspoon. Use 2 tablespoons curry powder in place of oregano and bay leaf. Cut 1 cauliflower head into florets; chop 1 small red onion, then cook in the brine until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, cool and chill.
ChowChow
Trim and finely chop 1½ pounds zucchini, 1 small onion, 1 red bell pepper and 1 (or more) small hot chile. Combine 1 cup white balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and ½ teaspoon salt, and bring to a boil. Add the vegetables, and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, 5 to 10 minutes. Cool, and chill before serving.
Watermelon Rinds
Peel the green skin off a small watermelon, and chop the rind. Substitute apple-cider vinegar for the balsamic, and increase the brown sugar to ¼ cup; boil with ½ cup lime juice and 2 tablespoons minced ginger. Cook until the rind is tender, 10 to 20 minutes, then cool.
Peach Chutney
Peel, pit and chop 2 pounds peaches. Use ½ cup apple-cider vinegar; substitute ¼ cup honey for the sugar. Use ¼ teaspoon salt; add 4 smashed cardamom pods and ½ a vanilla bean. Bring to a boil, add peaches and cook, stirring occasionally until they soften. Cool, remove seasonings and refrigerate.
Kosher Cukes
Scrub 2 pounds Kirby cucumbers, and halve or quarter lengthwise. Stir ⅓ cup kosher salt into 1 cup boiling water until dissolved; add ice cubes to cool, followed by the cucumbers, 5 crushed garlic cloves and 1 bunch fresh dill. Cover with cold water; use a weighted plate to keep cukes submerged. Let sit at room temperature for 12 to 48 hours; the longer they sit, the saltier they will be. Refrigerate when they taste right.
Carrots With Cumin and Coriander
Trim and peel 2 pounds carrots; cut them into ½-inch-thick sticks. Omit the garlic. Instead of the dill, toast 2 tablespoons each coriander and cumin seeds, and add them to the brine.
Sorta Sauerkraut
Trim, core and thickly shred 2 pounds green cabbage. Keep the garlic, but swap 2 tablespoons caraway seeds for the dill.
Yield for each: 8 servings. (Miso pickles are intense, so serving sizes are much smaller.)
