Sweet-and-sour pickled cucumbers

Name: Sweet-and-sour pickled cucumbers
Ingredients: 4 kg cucumbers; 1 l vinegar; 1 l water; 500 g sugar; 2 tablespoons coarse salt; 2 carrots; 2 onions; 8 dill flower heads; 4 pieces of horseradish (20 g); 4 teaspoons mustard seeds; 4 teaspoons peppercorns; 4 jars of 1.7 l

Conserve - Sweet-and-sour pickled cucumbers by Eugenia K. - Recipia

A quick blanch, just until they change color, keeps sweet-and-sour pickled cucumbers firm. I pack them into jars with carrot, onion, dill, mustard and pepper, then pour over the vinegar-and-sugar brine, which gives them their sweet-and-sour flavor and keeps them lightly salted. I like them cold, straight from the jar. Prep: 30 minutes. Cooking: 34 minutes. Rest: 80 minutes. Total time: 144 minutes. Servings: 40. About 67 kcal and 1 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

4 kg cucumbers
1 l vinegar
1 l water
500 g sugar
2 tablespoons coarse salt
2 carrots
2 onions
8 dill flower heads
4 pieces of horseradish (20 g)
4 teaspoons mustard seeds
4 teaspoons peppercorns
4 jars of 1.7 l

Preparation

1. Trim the stems and any blossom ends from the cucumbers. Wash them well and leave them to drain. 2. In a 5 l pot, mix 1 l of vinegar with 1 l of water, 500 g of sugar and 2 tablespoons of coarse salt. Boil for about 15 minutes, until it comes to a boil. 3. Blanch the cucumbers in two batches, 2 minutes each, until they change color. Remove them and leave to cool for 20 minutes. 4. While they cool, cut the onion into julienne strips and the carrots into rounds. Wash the jars and sterilize them for 15 minutes in an oven heated to 120°C. 5. Put 2 dill flower heads, half an onion, half a carrot and a piece of horseradish into each jar. Arrange the cucumbers inside, tucking carrot and onion rounds between them. 6. Put 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds and 1 teaspoon of peppercorns into each jar. Place a dill flower on top. 7. Pour the remaining brine into the jars, covering the cucumbers. Leave the jars to cool for 60 minutes, then screw on the lids and keep them in the refrigerator.

Notes

Alongside mashed beans or roast meat, they take the place of the pickles served with stew, with their sweeter brine. Choose firm cucumbers of similar thickness so they blanch at the same rate. Thinner ones often have fewer seeds, and their flesh stays more uniform after blanching. Wash the skin well, especially if it has prickles, and leave the cucumbers to drain so their water doesn't dilute the brine. If you want to change things up, you can leave out the horseradish or use red onion instead of regular onion; it will color the liquid. Pack the cucumbers tightly, but don't crush them, and check that no end is left above the brine. Keep the jars in the refrigerator once they have cooled, since they aren't sterilized in water after filling. After opening, take the cucumbers out with a clean fork and keep them covered with liquid.