Sweet and Spicy Pickles

Sweet and Spicy Pickles
 
Ingrediants:

• 1 pound pickling cucumbers
• 1/2 cup mild onion, thinly sliced
• 2/3 cup maple syrup (light amber)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 5 whole cloves
• pinch (1/16 tsp.) dill seed
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons unrefined sea salt (finely ground)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 Tablespoons whey
• plain yogurt
• 1 small bay leaf, organic is preferred
• filtered water, if needed

Other Items Needed:

• 1-quart sized wide-mouth jar
• bowl
• strainer
• double-lined cheesecloth

 The Process:

1.  Create the whey needed for pickle fermentation.
•  Line the strainer with cheesecloth. 
•  Place strainer over the bowl. It should be sized so that the strainer sits on the lip of the bowl and does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
• Pour the yogurt into the lined strainer and allow to drain overnight in the refrigerator. 
•  The liquid remaining in the bowl is the whey. Pour this whey into a jar, cover with lid, and keep in fridge for up to 6 months. 
2. If cucumbers are not freshly picked, soak in very icy water for a couple of hours. Keep in ice water until ready to slice.
3. Bring maple syrup and all of the spices (including salt, but not bay leaf) to a boil over medium heat. Immediately remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
4. Cut cucumbers into 1/4-inch slices.  Carefully arrange and alternate pickle slices with onion slices inside a 1-quart sized wide-mouth jar, laying them as flat as possible. Place the bay leaf some where in the middle of the jar, between the slices.
5. When maple syrup-spice mixture is cooled, stir in the lemon juice and whey. Pour this mixture over the cucumber slices in the jar, add additional filtered water to cover pickles as needed. Be sure to leave 1-inch of space from the top of the jar to allow for expansion.
6. Place lid on jar tightly. Give the jar a very gentle shake, from side-to-side, to mix any water you added with the syrup and spices. Open jar back up, push any cucumber slices back down into the brine if needed.
7. Place lid on the jar tightly. Allow to ferment at room temperature for 3 - 4 days.
8. Transfer to cold storage.

Makes 1-quart