I go out of town for a few days and the snap beans were ready for the harvesting when I came back. Believe me, the beans were calling out to me. There is but so much I can do with snap beans: I can't serve them with every meal, can I? Nah. I decided to pickle the beans.First thing was to wash the beans and snap the ends off. I wanted to put the beans longways into a 1 pint jar because it makes it most attractive. I also had beans that were snapped into smaller pieces. I had about two very large handfuls of snap beans altogether that I put into 2 jars, rinsed in hot water.
The brine: For 6 cups of brine, combine 5 cups vinegar (white or apple cider, doesn't matter) with 1 cup of water, add 1 tbs sea salt (not iodine). Bring to a boil, reduce, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Or use 4 parts of white vinegar, 2 parts of water, 1 tbs sea salt, and a pinch of sugar. Bring to boil, reduce, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Spice: I love dill and I picked a few sprigs from my garden. To spice it up, I added about 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, and I could not resist adding some coriander seeds into the jars. Use what you have and what you like.
Water bath: Cap the jars, but don't screw them on too tight. I added water to my huge pot, put a towel down at the bottom, and added the jars with the water reaching about an inch above the jars. I let it come to a boil, no hurry--I didn't want the jars to crack (my fear). I reduced the boil and let it simmer for 10 minutes and let the jars cool down in the pot.
Check point: When you press down on the caps and they don't budge, the jars are sealed, tighten the caps, store, and enjoy for later.
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