Segura Pickles Recipes

Steps:

• Grow or buy Kirbies that are small enough to fit neatly into quart canning jars. Make sure the skins are not wrinkled. Boil your jars to sterilize. Pack the cucumbers into the jars.
• Boil all the seeds and spices together with the vinegar, sugar, salt and water. (You can put a spoon in and taste it now to see if you want to change the salt to sugar to vinegar to water ratio.).
• Pour the brine over the cucumbers. If there isn't enough liquid to completely cover all the cukes, add some boiled water. Cover loosely with the lids and let sit for 1 hour to 24 hours or more, taste, then refrigerate. If you intend to keep the pickles more than a couple of weeks then go through the canning process and boil the jars immediately after pouring the brine.
• From Phyllis: A tip: I cut one pickle into quarters and put it near the top of the jar so if I want to see how they taste I can pick it out with a fork, rinse it off gently, and taste to see if I want to continue the pickling process longer.
• If you don't like that slightly yellowish color that is imparted to the pickles then eliminate the turmeric.

Steps:

• Gently scrub the cucumbers under running water to remove dirt and any particularly prominent spines on the nubs. Drain. Trim a thin slice from the blossom end and pack the cukes into a one-quart non-reactive container, such as glass or food-grade plastic. You may cut then into halves, slices, or spears if desired.
• Stir the salt and water until the salt dissolves. Add the aromatic/seasoning ingredients to the container with the cucumbers. Put the container on a plate to contain any possible dripping once fermentation begins.
• Pour in enough brine to cover the cucumbers. Push a sandwich-sized Ziploc bag into the container's aperture, fill it with the remaining brine, and seal the bag. The brine-filled bag serves to weigh down the pickles so they remain submerged and seals off the top of the jar while still allowing bubbles to escape. It is filled with brine instead of water, so any possible leakage will not dilute your solution. Cover with cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band to keep out fruit flies or other flying little beasties you may discover are drawn to this stuff.
• After a few days, the brine may begin giving off tiny bubbles. Keep an eye on it and skim off any white foam that rises to the surface, giving the bag a rinse if necessary. The cucumbers will begin turning darker and to taste, well, brined after just two days. Let them go for a week and they should turn olive green throughout. Remove the bag, skim any new foam, close container fast, and put in the fridge.