Pickled Cukes and Zukes

Easy Cucumber Pickles | Sweet and Hot Curried Zucchini Pickles

John Willoughby's Easy Cucumber Pickles

Yield: About 2 quarts

Be sure you remove the blossom ends of the cucumbers. This is necessary not because that section wouldn't taste good, but because it will sometimes soften a pickle; only a very thin slice need be removed. For a quick pickle that's closer to the familiar bread and butter pickles, add one large onion, peeled and sliced into rounds, to the cucumbers from the beginning of the process.

• 3 pounds pickling cucumbers, under 5 inches long
• 3 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted and slightly crushed
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed
• 3 cups cider vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups brown sugar

Trim and discard the blossom end of the cucumbers, then peel the cucumbers and cut them into rounds about 1/4-inch thick. In a nonreactive bowl, toss them with the salt, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 or up to 24 hours (I like them after 12). Drain well, rinse, and drain again. Repeat the rinsing and draining process, then set the cucumbers aside.

In a nonreactive pot, combine all of the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring once or twice to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to low, simmer for 3 minutes, then pour the liquid over the cucumbers. The cucumbers should be amply covered or slightly afloat.

Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate. These pickles have good flavor as soon as they are cooled, but the flavor will deepen if you let them sit for 24 hours. They will keep, covered and refrigerated, for a month or more.

Sweet and Hot Curried Zucchini Pickles

Adapted from Quick Pickles: Easy Recipes for Bold Flavors, by John Willoughby, Chris Schlesinger, and Dan George, (Chronicle Books, spring 2001).

Yield: 2 quarts

Summer squash is also excellent in this recipe, although the coloring of the final product is not quite as distinctive. If you're one of those ambitious gardeners who plants both types of squash, try using both in this pickle at the same time.

• 3 pounds zucchini, ends trimmed, cut into very thin rounds, about 1/8-inch thick
• 2 red onions about the size of baseballs, peeled and cut into thin slices
• 3 to 4 colorful chile peppers of your choice, cut into thin rounds
• 1/4 cup kosher or other coarse salt
• 1 cup seedless golden raisins (optional)
• 2 3/4 cups distilled white vinegar
• 3/4 cup sherry
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared curry powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon whole allspice berries
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 piece of ginger the size of your thumb, peeled and sliced into very thin coins

In a large nonreactive bowl, combine the zucchini, onions, chilies, and salt, and let them stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse twice to remove the salt, then add the grapes and set aside.

In a medium nonreactive saucepan, bring all the remaining ingredients except the ginger to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring once or twice to dissolve the sugar. Pour the hot liquid over the squash mixture; the squash should be amply covered or slightly afloat. Add the ginger to the squash mixture, allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate.

These pickles develop great flavor within a couple hour of refrigeration and will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for 3 to 4 weeks.

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