Twenty-Minute Pickles by Darra Goldstein

The recipe comes from Katya Bruyaka, whose small kitchen in Murmansk is a wonderland of homemade distillations and preserves that allow her to throw together fabulous meals on the spur of the moment.

caption...Stefan Wettainen

MAKES 1⁄2 POUND

Малосольные огурцы за 20 минут

These pickles couldn’t be simpler. The recipe comes from Katya Bruyaka, whose small kitchen in Murmansk is a wonderland of homemade distillations and preserves that allow her to throw together fabulous meals on the spur of the moment. When Katya served me these pickles, I worried that she might be using up the last of her precious summer preserves before winter had come to an end. But she just laughed and happily confessed that these pickles can be made quickly any time of the year. Now I make them whenever I crave a quick Russian fix.