I first made these for Randy’s
birthday in 2008, then again for Thanksgiving that year. For the first batch I used all apple cider vinegar, the second time half cider, half white wine vinegar. I used dill weed for lack of dill seed. They were a hit both times
– a lite snack before the heavy Thanksgiving dinner. Since then they have shown up regularly on Sunday Nights, and I usually make the original dill seed version.
They have to be close to the perfect appetizer. You make them ahead, don't have to think about them until you need them, they work for your friends who don't eat meat or cheese, and even though they are addictive, they don't fill everyone up before the meal.
Today's batch is travelling tomorrow to a combined birthday celebration for all our November birthday boys (Randy, Andy and Andy). I didn't have any sort of dill today, so I upped the garlic cloves to three and doctored up the brine with a bay leaf, 3 whole allspice berries, 4 whole cloves and some black pepper (along with the other ingredients in the recipe).
This brine is not nearly as sweet as, say, bread and butter pickles (for those of you who only like sweet pickles). But the carrots have a natural sweetness that make a great sweet/salt combination. Try the recipe as written first, then you can play with the amount of sugar if you like.
For the original recipe you will need:
- 1 lb carrots,peeled and cut into sticks
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 cup cider, white wine or other white vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dill seeds1 1/2 tablespoons salt
Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer
2 minutes. Pour pickling liquid over carrots and cool, uncovered. Chill carrots, covered, at least 1 day for flavors to develop.
Carrots will keep, chilled in an airtight
container, for up to 1 month. Remove batches with a clean spoon to serve. (I don't return carrots to the brine after serving.)
