Technically these aren't really pickles....but they taste like pickles and they really are quick and easy to make. I usually mix up a batch when I do a spread with a Mexican theme - chilli sin carne, guacamole, re-fried beans and all that kind of stuff. I don't think traditional Mexican cuisine includes dill pickles, but then most traditional Mexican dishes probably aren't vegetarian either.
Whatever... I do my Mexican tables with home-made-in-ten-minutes dill pickles. We have tequilla with lemon and salt too and everyone gets blasted and it's great. If it's not tradition, it should be.
As I said, these pickles aren't really pickles and they don't really taste like most dill pickles either. I don't usually like the kind of pickled cucumbers that come in jars. I find them a bit sweet and that's often not just from added sugar, but from some kind of artificial sweetener, too. With that and the sodium benzoate or whatever else they add to make the pickles last longer, the final product is a bit too much of a chemical concoction for my tastes.
So what's with the name then, Macbean? Well... there's dill in there.. and cucumbers. And the dish is indeed extremely quick to made. In fact, 'pickles' is the only word in the title that I am prepared to admit is contentious. But I'm going to keep it in. Because I like it and it's my cookbook.
Enough of the blethering. Here's the recipe:
A couple of small cucumbers
1 lemon
A few sprigs of fresh dill
A pinch of dried mint
Salt
Peel and slice the cucumbers. Put them in a bowl, squeeze in some lemon juice and add a large pinch of salt or two. Chop the dill and add it with the dried mint. Give everything a stir and there you are. Instant dill pickles.