Spicy Cauliflower, Carrot and Onion Refrigerator Pickles
Description
If I don't have a jar of these pickles in the fridge at all times, I start to get anxious. When you have a jar of these babies in your fridge, you have an instant salad--just add some lettuce. I use the brine to make a killer dressing for coleslaw and I put the pickles on sandwiches, on a charcuterie board and I just stand at the counter and house them right out of the jar. They're totally addictive and once you make them, you'll understand why you want them in your life from now on.
Ingredients
Instructions
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In a medium sauce pan, add the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, cloves, oregano, bay leaves, garlic cloves and peppercorns. Stir well and heat the liquid over medium-high heat until it starts to boil. Lower the temperature and let it simmer for a few minutes. Turn the heat off, and let stand while you assemble the vegetables.
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Chop all of your vegetables and assemble them on a large cutting board.
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Using a quart-sized resealable jar, begin layering the vegetables. I always start with a base of onions and carrots, I guess because they are flat, so they lay nicely on the bottom of the jar. Follow with a layer of cauliflower and toss the jalapeño slices in at regular intervals.
*And a note here: feel free to add in more jalapeño peppers if you like. This recipe will produce a very mildly spicy pickle that is perfect for salads, sandwiches and the like.*
Continue to layer the vegetables until you have reached about the halfway mark up your quart jar.
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Now add in about half the liquid brine mixture, making sure t add in one of the garlics and one of the bay leaves, as well as about half the whole cloves, peppercorns, oregano, etc.
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Add the rest of the vegetables until you fill the jar. Press down slightly to pack the vegetables in as much as possible.
Carefully laden the rest of the hot brine mixture into the jar, placing the other bay leaf and garlic clove somewhere toward the top.
Press down on the vegetables to let out air bubbles and make sure all the vegetables are covered in the brine.
Let the mixture sit uncovered for 20-30 minutes until it is cooled off. I use flip-top resealable jars from La Parfait and for this step, I lower the flip-top lid, but don't seal it to let it cool, which works just great. After that, seal them up and put them in the fridge.
They will keep for several weeks, but I usually toss whatever is left (which is usually nothing) after about 3 weeks and make another batch.
