Just you wait
Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 9:09PM 
I know that I am more than late for our usual Thursday chat, but please forgive my tardiness. Due to an oversight on my part, our guest of honour was not ready for their debut. But finally, the wait is over.
The pickles have arrived. And what pickles they are. But before I tell you about their end, let me tell you of how they came to be.
At the market last weekend, I overheard a farmer describing the progress of his crop. Speaking in glowing tones that were more than tinged with pride, he detailed the specific traits of each of his vegetables; how they grew, their likes and dislikes, their particular qualities. He had a quiet intensity about the way he spoke, an enthusiasm that shone through his words. It was evident that the subject matter was of the utmost importance - more than a livelihood, but a passion as well.
There's just one of the many reasons why he's our Regular Vegetable Man.
On that same weekend his summer squash was especially fine, slender and small, with delicate, taut skin that was perfectly blemish-free. I do not know what it was that sparked my idea of pickling these little darlings, but a pickle was my particular plan. It was a surprising choice, as my usual tendency is to grill, griddle, or roast. But a pickle seemed the order of the day, the promise of crisp, cold slices of squash, puckery and astringent had me salivating. As a good pickle should.
Five days after salting, boiling and sealing the jars tight, I opened the fridge with fork in hand and anticipation in my heart.
That's the thing about pickles, they require faith. Commitment. They take their own sweet time. You do what you can to set things in motion, but that is where your influence ends.
What you put in the jar is as acrid and overblown, eye-twitchingly sour. But wait, just you wait, this is only the beginning. From there, the pickle really takes care of itself. The wait is transformative, and what happens inside that glass coccoon is entirely out of your hands. But your patience will be duly rewarded.
And rewarded I was. After those days, the vinegars had mellowed and muted, now balanced with a sweetness that is first to the tongue. The heat follows, with the indisputable zing of acid to finish.
I wonder if our Vegetable Man might like a jar.
Bread and Butter Pickled Summer Squash
Inspired by a recipe from Simply Recipes. As these are meant as a refrigerator (chilled) pickle, they are not processed after being canned. Please see the link above for valuable tips on sterilizing and, if you so choose, how to process pickles so that they are shelf-stable.
Ingredients
2 pounds mixed summer squash, cut into 1/8-inch slices (I used yellow summer squash and zucchini)
1 medium white onion (about 8 ounces), halved and thinly sliced
2 heaping tablespoons kosher or pickling salt
2 cups ice cubes
2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup white vinegar
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons whole mustard seeds
3/4 teaspoon celery seed
3/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon or a good pinch of ground cloves
Toss squash and onion with salt in a large colander set over a bowl. Add ice, toss again. Refrigerate, tossing occasionally for 3 hours. This process will increase the crunch of the pickles by drawing out excess water. Once the 3 hours have passed, drain the squash, picking out any ice cubes that might remain. Rinse well and drain again.
Bring vinegars, sugar, mustard and celery seeds, peppercorns, turmeric, red pepper flakes and ground clove to a boil in a saucepan. Add the drained squash and onion. Ladle into 4 hot sterilized pint jars, leaving about 1/2 inch below each jar's neck. Carefully wipe rims of jars with a clean, damp cloth. Cover tightly with new, sterilized lids and screw tops. Cool to room temperature, then store in the fridge for 3-5 days before opening.
Makes 4 1-pint jars, to be eaten within weeks of making.
pickle, pickles, recipe, summer squash, vegetarian, vinegar, zucchini 
Reader Comments (14)
I love bread & butter pickles and these look oh-so-good! I don't know if I have the patience to do any canning (truth is I'm scared!), but one day I'll try my hand. For now, I just might try a refrigerated version.
What a brilliant idea! I've stopped growing squash in the garden because I can never come up with enough to do with them, but this recipe has inspired me to try again next year!
I have SO much squash right now! This is a genius idea! Ill be throwing some of this together...and patiently..waiting ;)
oh my....never thought of pickled squash! How fantastic.......You make the yummiest things and inspire me to try harder in this area......:)
Just lovely. I came across pickled squash the other day and thought it would be incredible. Your post has convinced me over. Thank you!
I love making my own pickles, but yours are WAY prettier than mine! And squash? Love it!
I'm a pickle fiend and my courgette plants are just coming into their own so I'll have plenty of squash on my hands soon. I usually make courgette & onion pickles that sound kind of similar to these but I may just have to give this version a try.
I grew up on pickles. They were on the table every weekend for our lazy fresh bread and cheese lunch. I only have "pickled" once. Horrible. Horrible. But maybe I need to try again. I'm inspired!
Thank you so, so much. I am drowning in summer squash and running out of ideas and I love pickles. This will be perfect.
kickpleat, bread and butter pickles are such the fave around here. Benjamin, who eyed these suspiciously as they were (gasp!) a different colour than the usual cucumber variety, gobbled them up with glee. They are a bit denser than cukes, but really not much different. And I too am petrified of canning. Fridge, thus far, is all I've tackled.
Andrea [bella eats], with your lovely garden, I am sure that you'd have the tastiest squash around.
Jennifer, you CAN eat the pickles as soon as they're good and cold, but it's sort of a quick-pickle at that stage, almost like a cold squash salad. And yes, I totally had a little jar set aside so I could taste as we waited. I'm eager.
knack, aw you're too sweet! And you, m'dear, inspire me to pick up a paintbrush. How about I just move down there and we open up a café alongside your shop? I can cook for you, you find me lovely furniture. It'll be a great setup.
Anh, thank you for the kindness!
Allyson, I find the squash retains much more colour than cucumbers, and reducing the amount of turmeric in the brine helps even more. I'd love to hear if you have any pickling tips!
Daily Spud, do share your method - it'd be great to see variations.
Julia @ Mélanger, what happened with your pickles? I love having a jar in the house to snack on. I'm still trying to track down the recipe for these pickled red peppers from my childhood.
Rachel, this was my first time pickling squash and I honestly do not know if I'll go back to cucumbers anytime soon. Elise's recipe was a fantastic jumping off point.
I was just informed about your site and I think I'm hooked!
I made a batch of these pickles tonight! I'm very excited as my single yellow squash plant is a veritable yellow squash FACTORY and I was running out of ideas and fridge space. Can't wait to try them...
This gave me another idea too... pickling the squash the same way that they make Italian pickled eggplant... was just looking up recipes for that, because I still have a large backlog of the things in my fridge, and on the plant. :)
Great idea! I've got an abundance of both summer squash and cucumbers. I must pickle!
I've been at a loss lately for what to do with all the summer squash I seem to keep compulsively buying at the farmers market. This is such a great trick! I would have never thought to pick them. Will definitely try once I am done making my third round of these chips this week:
http://www.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/2009/07/big-girls-test-kitchen-summer-squash.html
How long will these pickles last? I plan on making them, but with all the squash we have, I don't know how quickly we'll be able to eat them.