Garlic-Dill Green Beans

Toad Garlic-Dill Green Beans (Asparagus Spears, too)

Makes 6 pint jars.

Ingredients:

2 ½ lbs (~1 Kg) fresh green beans

3 1/2 cup water

3 1/2 cup white vinegar

1/3 cup salt (use a heaping measurement - you actually want .35 cup)

½ teaspoon dill (per jar)

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (per jar)

12 peeled garlic cloves, about 2 per jar

Optional:

½ teaspoon mustard seeds (per jar)

1/2 tsp pepper corns (per jar)

Slices of fresh jalapeño pepper

Preparation:

Cut the stem and ends off the green beans.

Cut beans to the proper length for the jars. The cut-off chunks may be added to the jars, or served in a stir-fry for dinner.

Mix water, vinegar and salt, bring to boil. (The given measurements make a little extra brine.)

Sterilize jars in a different pot of boiling water, set them aside to keep clean

Boil lids and the jar-screw to sterilize and set these aside, too. We use the canning pot to sterilize the jars, and then reuse the hot water for processing the canned beans.

Packing the Jars:

Drop garlic cloves into the bottom of the jars. Jalapeño peppers, if desired.

Carefully insert beans into clean jars. Avoid touching/contaminating the edge of the jars.

Add dry ingredients on top of beans (dill, red pepper flakes, mustard seeds, pepper corns)

Pour the hot water/vinegar/salt mixture onto beans and spices. Leave about ½” of space at the top of the jar.

Wipe the edge if any contamination (spices) might prevent a good seal before processing. Screw the jar lids onto the filled jars. Not super tight, but not loose.

Processing:

Gently set jars into boiling hot water bath. (We use a canning jar holder – a big clamp) The hot water bath should just cover the lids of the jars

Process (boil) jars with green beans for 10 minutes.

Carefully remove jars from boiling water bath and let them cool slowly. The lids should seal. The middle of the lid will become concave (dips down) in a few hours as the jars cool.

Give them a few weeks, then enjoy

Toads