Senf Gerken or Thunder and Lightning Pickles

This is a recipe to uses those cucumbers that are "missed" and get big and yellow.

The cucumbers are pared slightly, halved lengthwise, the seeds are scooped out and each half is sliced lenghtwise into thirds.  These slices are cut into 1" to 2" pieces.  The cucumbers are placed in salted ice water (1/3 cup salt per bowl) and refrigerated overnight.  The next day they taste pretty good right from the bowl.  Drain and rinse the cukes.  The liquid for the pickles is made as follows:

2-4 sprigs of dill
1 tsp white mustard seed
2-1/2 cups 5% white vinegar
2/3 cups sugar

Heat to boiling and simmer 5 minutes.

The jars have a heaping tablespoon of grated horseradish and chopped hot peppers (or dried if need be) added to each jar.

Add cucumbers, pack tightly and fill with pickling liquid up to 1/2" from the top.

 

Poke a plastic knife (or in this case a fork end) around in the jar to release air bubbles.  Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.  Remove and wait for the popping noises that tell you the jars have sealed.

Chill before eating.  They are especially good served with tuna or egg salad sandwiches.