Take a clean jar, from a quart size to a gallon size. Wash 6 to 13 small Kirby cucumbers, depending on the size of the jar. Put 1 heavy teaspoonful of commercial pickling spices into the jar. Add 6 to 8 garlic cloves, unpeeled, which you’ve sliced in a few places, without cutting all the way through the clove. Pack the cucumbers into the jar whole. If you like, put in a bit of fresh dill weed. If you like a “perked up” flavor, add 4 to 6 dried red chili peppers. Add 3 to 4 ounces of white vinegar. Fill a measuring cup with tap water hot enough to dissolve salt. To each cup of water add 1 teaspoon of salt and stir to thoroughly dissolve. Pour the water into the jar, cupful by cupful, until the jar is full. Cover and leave on the kitchen counter for two days. They are now ready to eat. Keep refrigerated. The pickles will stay good for months.
Notes: The pickles were not analyzed since the amount of sodium absorbed during preparation cannot be determined.
HARRY KRAMER’S PICKLED GREEN TOMATOES
Take any size jar, 32 ounces or larger, and line the bottom with celery cuttings — leaves or stalks or both. Add 6 to 8 peeled and pierced garlic cloves. Pack cleaned and sectioned green tomatoes into the jar (you’ll need about 3 small to medium green tomatoes with no red showing on the skin). Add 3 to 4 ounces of white vinegar. Now fill the jar with 1 cup of hot tap water mixed with 1 teaspoon of salt. Keep adding the salted water until the tomatoes are completely covered. Cover the jar and let sit out for 2 days. Refrigerate. Keeps months in refrigerator. Makes about 12 servings of 1⁄4 tomato each.
Notes: The pickles were not analyzed since the amount of sodium absorbed during preparation cannot be determined.
OLD MIAMI BEACH DELI-STYLE COLESLAW
1 medium (about 1 pound) cabbage
1 green bell pepper
1 medium onion
1⁄4 cup vegetable oil
1⁄4 cup vinegar
1⁄4 cup sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Shred the cabbage very fine; you should have about 4 cups. Slice onion and bell pepper into very thin slices. Combine oil, vinegar and sugar in a lidded jar; shake well to mix. Pour over the slaw mixture and toss to blend. Makes 8 (1⁄2 cup) servings.
Source: Linda Cicero's Cook's Corner column in the Miami Herald, retrieved here
