Rainy Day...It's A Good Day to Pickle

Heavy rains last evening and rain off and on today. Managed to get out into the garden and pick but that's as far as it went. Green beans, wax beans, jalapenos, zucchini, yellow squash, small eggplant and a handful of cherry tomatoes along with some herbs.

It is nice to have a day when you don't feel the need to be in the garden. Took this day inside to make a batch of "Dilled Green Beans" or "Dilly Beans" as my mother called them. I wound up with enough beans to make six pints but the recipe below is for 4 pints. I also used to the extra brine to make 2 pints of pickled sliced jalapenos.

Dilly Beans

2 pounds of green or wax beans trimmed and stringed if nececessary
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper (though I used a sliced jalapeno instead of the 1/4 tsp per jar)
4 heads of dill
1/2 cup pickling or Kosher salt
2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups cider vinegar

Prepare 4 pint jars and lids and rings and get them in the hot bath to sterilize.
Mix the salt, vinegar and water in a non reactive pot and bring it to a boil.

Put a clove of garlic, a head of dill and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper(or a sliced jalapeno) into each jar. put the beans on end in the jars packing them as tight as you can. Make sure you leave 1/4 head space. You may have to trim a bean or three to get the lids to go on. Fill each jar with hot brine(don't forget the 1/4 inch head-space), seal and process the jars in the boiling water batch for 10 minutes.

Let the jars cool at room temperature and you are good to go. It's a good idea to let these stand for a couple of weeks before you eat them. They are best chilled.

Stuffed zucchini tonight for dinner...Italian sausage, Vidalia onion,tomato, mozzarella fresh oregano, basil and parsley and Parmesan. Gotta stay ahead of the squash!