For the last year I’ve been obsessed with finding the perfect pickle – the sour kind with a serious kick.  My search led me to some great pickles including Bubbies and McClure’s, but as good as they were, I still kept searching.  When I came across this recipe it was like a light-bulb going off – why didn’t I think of making pickles myself?!

These Spicy Dill Pickles are easy to make and taste amazing.  While I expected the search for pickling cucumbers to be daunting, my local Whole Foods carried a great selection – I just had to ask for them because they weren’t sitting out.  A few items to note about selecting cucumbers:

• select “pickling cucumbers” to ensure that your pickles are crisp
• good cucumbers are dark green, firm and have a lot of warts

Makes three 1 1/2-pint jars (I used one large 3 quart jar)

Ingredients

• 12 pickling cucumbers
• 2  1/2 cups water
• 2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 1  1/2 cups packed coarsely chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 8 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1  1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1  1/2 tablespoons pickling spice (my favorite is from The Spice House)
• 1  1/2 teaspoons dill seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Directions

Combine all ingredients except for the dill sprigs in large bowl.  Stir, let stand at room temperature for 2 hours – until the sugar and salt dissolve.

Transfer the cucumbers to the jar(s).  Pour the pickling mixture over to cover. Place a few dill sprigs in each jar. Cover the jar(s) with the lid(s) and close tightly. Refrigerate at least 10 days – I gently shake the jar(s) once a day to mix up the spices.  The pickles will stay fresh for up to 1 month.  Keep refrigerated.

adapted from a recipe found here