Coronavirus home cooking is now a part of American life. Sometimes you just need a project that will keep you busy and might just put you into a peaceful, more relaxed state of mind. After conquering sourdough bread, I turned my attention to something I've always wanted to make _ pickles.
Not the kind that requires equipment and time, but quick or refrigerator pickles that offer instant gratification. Vegetables or fruits pickled in a vinegar, water, and salt (sometimes sugar) solution and stored in the refrigerator make colorful, crunchy and tart condiments, side dishes, or toppings for salads.
This type of pickling is becoming an important part of the globalized way we cook today _ from Moroccan pickled vegetables, southeast Asian carrot and daikon pickles to Indian ginger pickled green mango.
As the name suggests, they're fast _ some are ready in as little as 10 or 15 minutes, while others might take a day or two. Use the freshest blemish-free vegetable or fruit you can find, like firm cucumbers, radishes and carrots.
Asparagus, string beans, rhubarb, cauliflower, bell peppers, or fruits like peaches, mangoes, or watermelon rind make more unusual pickles. The vegetables can be cut into coins or matchsticks or pickled whole.
A basic brine is equal parts vinegar (white wine, apple cider, rice) salt, and water, with additions like herbs (dill, thyme, rosemary, oregano), spices (coriander, ginger, mustard seeds, peppercorns), garlic and chiles.
The enticing recipe that follows showcases two pickling methods.
