In the pantheon of pickledom, must they ALL be sours? Is there any room for a bread and butter, sweet pickle, at least a respectable old-fashioned (read: fermented) version?
The internet and cookbooks abound with quick pickles that are sweet. They are made with a brine of vinegar and sugar. Since sugar tends to naturally attract yeasts, which ferment to alcohol (they consume the sugar, burping out carbon dioxide and ethanol), I didn’t want to simply replicate that brine formula and make boozy pickles. I took it upon myself to come up with a naturally fermented and sweetened cucumber pickle.
I had been making beet kvass lately, and noticed that it tasted naturally sweet. Eureka! The beet ‘n’ sour (or bread and “beet”er?) was born.
Beet 'n' Sour Pickles
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. (1-1½) kg. cucumbers slicing or pickling varieties
- 4 ounces (225 g) beet root (about 1/2 of a medium sized beet)
- 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) yellow mustard seeds
- 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) black mustard seeds
- 2 tsp. (10 ml) celery seeds
- 2 Tbsp. (30 ml) liquid whey Optional or pickle brine
- 1 grape leaf or other fruit tree leaf
- 3 Tbsp. (45 ml) fine sea salt
- 1 quart /liter filtered water
Instructions
Prepare
- Rinse off any dirt from cucumbers and scrape off the flower end of the cucumbers to ensure there are no flowering parts (enzymes & molds can make pickles mushy). If using slicing cukes, slice into ¾″ thick pieces. Leave whole if using pickling (Kirby) variety.
- Slice beets into matchstick sizes (julienne).
- To a clean half-gallon or larger glass jar or ceramic crock, add mustard seeds, celery seeds, and beet slices.
- Add a fruit tree leaf to jar.
- Add the cucumbers. Pack them as tightly as you can.
- Mix Brine: Add sea salt into filtered water. Stir until salt dissolves.
- Add liquid whey or pickle brine from a previous batch to container.
- Place a lid or plate that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the container on top of cukes. Add a weight like a jar or wine bottle filled with water. OR, If using a small batch fermentation kit, add the weight(s) to the jar.
- Slowly pour brine into jar until there’s enough to cover the contents.
- Cover container with a tea towel or clean dishcloth to keep dust and flies out, and secure with twist ties or a rubber band.
Ferment
- Place in a cool, dark spot in your house. Taste after 5 days. If still too crunchy (like a raw cuke), let ferment a few more days.
- White yeasts and mold may form on the surface that is exposed to air. THIS IS NORMAL. Remove weight and plastic lid, wipe or spoon out as much of the mold as you can, clean lid and weight with warm soapy water, dry thoroughly and add back to the jar.
- Brine (and cukes) will take on a deep beet-red color.
- When you like the taste and texture, transfer to refrigerator and place a tight lid on container. Pickles will last up to 6 months in the fridge.
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