Pickles

So after the sauerkraut turned out so great I decided to do some pickling. Most of the recipes I found online aren't for real pickles. They involve addition of vinegar to create the acidic environment, rather than having it produced by fermentation with naturally occurring anaerobic bacteria. I finally just decided to come up with my own recipe.

My brine consisted of:
6 cups of water
4 tablespoons of non-iodized salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
5 strands of dill
4 cloves of garlic, halved
2 crushed red peppers (about 1 teaspoon)

I packed some carrots, cauliflower, and mini sweet peppers in a glass jar, poured the brine over them, and since they floated, weighted them down with a glass bowl placed over a plastic lid that just fit in the jar. It's been one week, so I thought I'd give them a taste, and they taste great. The garlic and dill are balanced well and the pepper gives them just a hint if heat. The pickling is pretty mild at this point, and since I like a more acidic taste I'm going to go ahead and leave them out to continue fermenting for at least a few more days. They already taste far better than typical supermarket fare.