Cucumber Pickle

I usually make a scuttle full of this every year as it is a good pickle to put into sarnies etc.  OH eats a lot of it put it that way. 

Very simply the ingredients are:

Ingredients:
Cucumbers
Salt
Water
Vinegar

Before starting boil up vinegar of your choice or whatever you have available, you can use a cider vinegar; a wine vinegar a malt vinegar whatever takes your fancy. Sometimes if I haven't got enough cider vinegar I top up with wine vinegar and visa versa.

Boil up this vinegar in a small pan and then leave to go cold covered with some cling film. You can add spices of your choice or you can buy it already spiced.  Yet again the choice is yours.  I am using a spiced Sarsons  Malt vinegar; or a clear malt spirit vinegar (white vinegar to show the cucumber off to best effect and to amplify the prettiness of the colour.

First of all wash your cucumbers and then chop in nice sized slices not too thin and not too thick.

Place into a bowl a few slices at a time and sprinkle with salt layering up in this way with cucumber and salt until all your cucumber is used up.

Leave overnight in a cool place such as a fridge covered in cling film.

The next day you will have a bowl of cucumber with a liquid in the bottom, This is the excess moisture from the cucumber which the salt has drawn out.

Drain off this liquid and discard.

Rinse the excess salt off the cucumber with cold water. I use at least three lots of water to get rid of the salt (if you don't do this it is rank and spoils the preserve) If you are not sure you have got rid of the salt taste a piece of the cucumber - if you can still taste the salt rinse it again.  Leave to drain after the final rinse for about half an hour.  I then using a clean dry tea towel decant the cucumber into the tea towel and remove any excess moisture.

I then decant the cucumber slices into sterilsed jars and then add the cold spiced vinegar.  Add vinegar proof lids. Seal and store on the pantry shelf.  Allow two to three weeks before using.

Can be served with fish, as part of a home made ploughmans chutney, with salads, burgers etc.etc.

A good way of using up cucumber or making use of cheap cucumbers at your local veg shop/supermarket.