Start by mincing your garlic and chopping your dill, if needed, and then move on to your eggplant. You can dice the eggplant into cubes or slices – it’s up to you.
Next, put your vinegar, salt and water into a stockpot. Bring them to a boil. While you are doing this, you should also be washing seven pint canning jars.
While you are preparing your brine, you can also sterilize your jars and bands. You do not need to sterilize the lids, although you can, if you like, by dropping them in a pot of boiling water. The jars and bands can be sterilized by running them through the sanitize cycle on the dishwasher, or by boiling them, too, in pots of hot water.
Once the brine reaches a boil, start filling your jars. Put one clove of garlic or its chopped equivalent, a head of dill, and a bay leaf in each jar.
Once the jars are filled with herbs, you can go ahead and add your sliced eggplant. You can then add the pickling solution of water and vinegar to each jar, bringing it to about 1/4” of the top of the jar.
Before you tighten the bands, make sure there are no air bubbles. Remove them and adjust for headspace if needed.
Once the jars are filled and the air bubbles are removed, put the lids and bands on your jars. Tighten them until they are finger-tight.
Wipe the rims of your jars so that there isn’t any food around the edges to contaminate your canner.
In a water bath canner, bring your water to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling, add your jars. Process them for fifteen minutes, adjusting for altitude as needed.
When the time has finished up, you can go ahead and remove the jars from the canner with a set of tongs. Place them on a clean rag to cool – don’t place them directly on a countertop, as this can lead to breakage.
As your jars sit and cool, you may hear popping noises. This isn’t anything to worry about, but is instead a sign that your jars are sealing. Allow the jars to cool for about 12 to 24 hours before you open them.
