Castellon's Kitchen: Pickled Shrunken Heads

This idea was just way to clever to not make myself. Of course I found it on Pinterest, but it was just a photo from Kim Hellemans, no link to a blog or anything. Here is the link to her photo however. I absolutely had to make these cute little shrunken heads. Imagine them along side my Amputated Appetizer cheese platter or to turn your plain old hamburgers into a Halloween themed meal by topping them with a skeleton pickle. They are just too much fun. :)

These shrunken heads are made from two kinds of pickle recipes so you can choose which one you like. The cucumbers are the classic dill pickle from my Dill pickle blog from last year. I did revise the recipe just a little, so see the recipe below for the changes. The radishes are pickled with a sweet but spicy pickling brine with an added Serrano pepper for added spice. Feel free to omit the peppers if you just want them sweet. Both are delicious! Enjoy!

Pickled Shrunken Heads

Radish Heads
12 Radishes (makes 1 pint sized jar)
1 Serrano pepper
sweet and spicy pickling recipe

Cut radishes lengthwise or crosswise. Use BBQ skewers to poke faces into the radishes. Now slice the radishes thinly into pickles that have fun faces on them. Place sliced radishes into sterilized jars. Slice Serrano pepper and add to each jar of radishes. Prepare quick pickling recipe and pour liquid into radishes/peppers and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Place lids and rings and let cool on the counter top. Once cooled store in the refrigerator. These pickles are not canned and will not keep without refrigeration so make sure to store them in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Cucumber Heads
(makes 2 pint sized jars)

1 large English cucumber
4 Tbsp dried minced onion
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tsp pickling spice
3 heads of fresh dill
3 cups water
1 cups vinegar
3 Tbsp canning salt (do not use regular salt, used canning salt)

In a large pot, add onion, garlic, pickling spice, dill heads, water, vinegar and canning salt. Bring to a boil to dissolve salt and let cool.

As pickling brine is cooling prep cucumbers.

Cut cucumber into 4 3-inch long sections and stand up the 3-inch sections on the cutting board so that the seeds are facing you. Use chopsticks and BBQ skewers to poke faces into the cucumbers. Then slice down the sides of the cucumber to narrow out to create the hollowed out cheeks. Now you are ready to slice them into pickle slices. Cut about 1/4" slices and place into sterilized jars along with some fresh dill springs. Once pickling brine is cooled, add mixture to the cucumbers and place lids and rings. Place in the refrigerator and the pickles will be ready to eat in three days. Turn the jars upside down to mix each day and return to the fridge. Like the radish recipe above these pickles are not canned and must be stored in the refrigerator. Enjoy!