When I think of pickles I think of, well… pickles. You know, pickled cucumbers?
But they aren’t the only pickle out there! Pickling is a process, and you can pickle quite a number of things: asparagus, peppers, preserved lemons (technically a pickle).
I love pickles. My baba makes awesome dill pickles, and Mr’s mum makes 9 day pickles that will hopefully feature next summer once my garden becomes a reality.
So what did I pickle that wasn’t a cucumber? Green beans! Spicy pickled green beans are delicious; they have awesome crunch and get hotter the longer you leave them in the jar. And they make an awesome addition to a certain cocktail that will be appearing in a few days!
Spicy Pickled Green Beans
1 1/2 Cups water
1 1/2 Cups white vinegar
2 Tbsp salt
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 cup dill
2 garlic cloves
2 spicy peppers (mine were Thai chiles)
1/2 lb green beans, washed with ends removed
Directions
- Put a saucepan over high heat and bring the water and vinegar to a boil.
- Decrease the temperature so that the brine comes to a simmer. Add the mustard seeds and peppercorns; simmer for three minutes.
- Pack the dill into the bottom of a sterile jar.
- Cut the tops off of the peppers, and then slice them in half lengthwise. Deseed if you don’t want the pickles to get too spicy, but the spicy is kind of the point, so I would suggest leaving the seeds in.
- Add two pepper halves and a garlic clove to the jar, on top of the dill.
- Pack the prepared green beans into the jar so that they are standing upright.
- Add the remaining pepper halves and garlic clove to the jar.
- Pour over the brine, leaving a 1/2 inch air space at the top.
- Seal the jar and allow the beans to pickle at least a week.
We opened up the jar to give the pickles a taste, and they were super good! I am not generally the hugest fan of green beans, but I will definitely be making these again. The cocktail hour post will be in a couple of days, and the spicy pickled green beans will be making another appearance there.
Mr. didn’t give me something to quote about, but my pickles are slowly disappearing from their jar, so I’m thinking that either he likes them too, or we have a ghost.
This time last year: Tortellini Soup
I love pickling stuff! It adds a great flavor to so many things and the acid in the vinegar pairs with meat so well! Great recipe.
these look super good and would be very interesting for cocktails. these are also very visually apealing in the jar!
Thanks Joe!
we make dilly beans every single summer to can and save and munch throughout the year, but they’re always devoured before the end of winter.
i like the idea of some heat in there–nice touch!
[...] A Caesar is a spicy, savory sipper best served in a tall glass with plenty of ice. The classic garnish is a celery stalk (how can you say no to a drink that comes with a snack?), but the glass can be additionally dressed up with a dill pickle, a wedge of lime or a spicy pickled green bean. [...]