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Cornichons

Source of Recipe


Adapted from "The Art of Accompaniment" by Jeffree S. Brooks






List of Ingredients



• 3 lbs. tiny pickling cucumbers (1- to 1-1/2 inches in length)
  
• 6 small sprigs fresh tarragon
  
• 6 small sprigs fresh marjoram or oregano
  
• 5 tsp juniper berries (or, if unavailable, mustard seeds)
  
• 3 tsp whole green peppercorns
  
• 4-1/2 cups red or white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar (5% acidity)
  
• 1-3/4 cups water
  
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1-1/2 tsp sugar
  






Instructions



1. Using a stiff vegetable brush under running water, scrub off the tiny thorns on the cucumbers. Set cucumbers aside to drain.
   
   
2. If you're going to refrigerate the pickles instead of storing them at room temperature, then select clean containers large enough to hold 3 quarts of pickling cucumbers and the brine. In the bottom of the containers, lay the following ingredients: six tarragon sprigs, six marjoram or oregano sprigs, five teaspoons juniper berries (or mustard seed), and three teaspoons green peppercorns. Now tightly pack in the tiny cucumbers, vertically. When you think you can't get in even one extra cucumber, keep pushing in more.
   
   
3. Combine the vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a non-aluminum pot. Bring mixture to a boil. Pour the hot brine into the container(s), leaving 1/2-inch head space. Attach lid and refrigerate.
   
   -- OR --
   
   For storage at room temperature, you will need to pack the cucumbers into clean canning jars (with two-piece metal canning lids that have been heated in boiling water according to manufacturer's directions) and process in a canner using low-temperature pasteurization treatment: Wash 3 quart-size (or 6 pint-size) canning jars. Divide the above ingredients evenly among the jars and proceed as directed. When filling with pickling cucumbers (leaving 1/2-inch head space) and the hot brine (leaving 1/2-inch head space), attach the lids and place the jars in canner filled halfway with warm (120º to 140º F) water. Then add hot water to a level 1 inch above jars. Heat the water enough to maintain 180º to 185º F water temperature for 30 minutes (for altitudes from 1,001 to 3,000 feet, add 5 minutes to the processing time; from 3,001 to 6,000 feet, add 10 minutes; above 6,001 feet, add 15 minutes). Check with a candy or jelly thermometer to be certain that the water is at least 180º during the entire 30 minutes. Temperatures higher than 185º may cause unnecessary softening of pickles.
   
   Makes about 3 quarts.