Sugar Free Bread and Butter Pickles

I never thought I would ever make PICKLES. Maybe its quarantine, maybe its me, but I recently determined I don't like the mushy ones in the jars in my fridge, so I thought I would give it a go.

Pickles add that punch of acid to a dish... yes, I watch Chopped and Top Chef. Think about the vinegar flavor that those lovely red pickled onion rings add to achiote roasted Yucantecan pork. I may make those next! I like the play of sweet and savory, which is why I made Bread and Butter pickles and not Dill.

To begin my project, I bought a few Italian glass jars from Amazon, added a bag of organic salad cucumbers, vinegar and pickling spices to my Walmart Grocery Pick Up order and I was suddenly in the Pickle Business.

I am not into making 37 quart jars to store in a shed, I made two jars of bread and butter sweet pickle slices for the fridge to eat as we go. This recipe makes two 16 ounce 'pint' jars or I imagine you could make one 'quart' jar if so inclined. ( Do people know what pints and quarts are these days? Do they know how many ounces are in a cup? Two cups? Anyhow, figure it out... or not. )

I promise you will love them as much as I do and it is actually FUN. A few slices on a burger brighten up your world more than you would ever imagine!

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds thinly sliced Kirby, English or Persian cucumbers - fresh, no wax on the skin (not see thru and not thick)
• 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
• 4 thin slices of sweet onion
• 1/4 cup Truvia or 1/2 cup Splenda
• 1 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 4 teaspoons pickling spices
• 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

Instructions

• Toss the sliced cucumbers with the salt in a large bowl, cover and chill for 1 hour. Place the cucumbers in a colander, rinse then drain well, pat dry with paper towels and set aside.
• Place the onion slices in the bottom of two 16 ounce Mason jars and fill with the cucumber slices.
• Combine the Truvia, white vinegar, pickling spices and turmeric in a small pot over medium heat - stir until sweetener dissolves, then bring to a boil, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Slowly and carefully pour the hot vinegar mixture over the cucumbers in the jars leaving about half an inch of space. Spoon spices left at pot bottom into the jars.
• Place the lids on, screw down tightly and gently rotate each jar 2 or 3 times to mix the ingredients leaving them upside down on a heat proof surface, such as a cutting board.
• When completely cool to the touch, refrigerate for 3 days to pickle before opening. No tasting before they’re done!
• Refrigerate for up to 6 weeks.