dilly beans

One of the husband's favorite things I've canned is dilly beans.  He generally loves pickles, so these are right up his alley.  Some people snack on potato chips, but Wes snacks on dilly beans.



Kim taught Jodie and I how to make these and we used beans from her very impressive garden.  It was fun and very easy to do!  Can't wait to do it again:

1.  Prepare your water bath, jars and lids.  Get your brine going on the stove.

2.  Wash and trim your beans to fit in your jars.

3.  Place a whole clove of garlic (peeled), a few slices of carrots (for color) and one sprig of fresh dill into each of your hot jars.

4.  Stuff as many green beans as you can into each jar.  Really pack them in there.

5.  Pour brine into jars, making sure to leave the proper head space.

6.  Process for 10 minutes.

7.  Let the jars cool and seal.  Refrigerate before serving.

 

We used the water/vinegar proportions from the recipe linked at the top.  Instead of cayenne, we used red pepper flakes.  Since Wes likes spicy things, I'll be more generous with that next time.  We also used fresh dill rather than dill seed.  I'm thinking this really changes the flavor, but since I don't have dill seed in my spice drawer anyway, it's just as easy to grab some fresh dill from the grocery store.

If the hubby doesn't eat them all, I think these would be nice as part of an appetizer tray.  Meats, cheeses, olives, dilly beans, etc.  Sounds good, right?