Let's Get Pickled!

I have had quite the bounty of cucumbers this year.  Perhaps I was a little overzealous in my planting after last year's early August cucumber death, but at least I've had plenty to work with for experimenting.  Refrigerator pickles are quick, easy, and pretty hard to mess up.  You can play around with the ingredients and proportions and the worst that will happen is an underwhelming pickle.  I've had more success than failure and have enjoyed every bite either way.  Here, from left to right, are Spicy Mustard, Cornichons, Dill, Habanero, and Basil pickles.

I grew an heirloom variety of cucumbers called Parisian Pickling.  These are great as they can be picked at any size, most notably when they are quite small to be made into Cornichons, those delicious little cocktail pickles.  However, I found that these cucumbers were also sublime when left to grow to full size.  They were crisp, light, mildly sweet, with tender skin and seeds.  And obviously plentiful.  Their only drawback was the burps.  I seemed to have two variations of burps, (perhaps some seed contamination?): fewer, larger burps that were easily pushed off with a thumb or cucumbers that were absolutely covered in tiny little spines that needed rubbing off with a cloth, (those in the upper right in the photo).  Either way, they were worth the additional effort and I plan on growing them again next year.

On to the recipes!  All of these recipes can be made with any shape of pickles.  The main variable is how long it will take the flavor to saturate the cucumber: round slices are the fastest, followed by spears, and whole pickles will take significantly longer.  Simmering the liquid (and dissolving any salt) will make the cucumbers pickle faster but putting everything in cold will result in slightly crisper, greener pickles.  All recipes can be increased or decreased for the desired size of jar.  Make sure the liquid covers the cucumbers: if you're a little short, go ahead and add a little water to the jar.

Spicy Mustard Pickles (for 1 pint):

- 3 tbsp whole grain mustard

- 2 tsp kosher or sea salt

- 2 tsp red pepper flakes

- 1/4 tsp fennel seed, crushed

- 1 c. water

- 1/2 c. white vinegar

- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and simmer just until the salt is dissolved.

- Pack your jar with clean pickled (I used sliced).

- Pour the hot mixture into the jar.

- Replace the lid and allow to come to room temperature.

- Refrigerate for 3-10 days.

Dill Pickles (for 1 quart):

- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- 1 tbsp salt

- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

- 1 tsp black pepper corns

- 1 tsp dill seed (optional)

- 2 garlic cloves, sliced

- 1 1/2 c. water

- 1 1/2 c. white vinegar

- a whole bunch of fresh dill

- Combine all ingredients except for the fresh dill into a small sauce pan and simmer until the salt is dissolved.

- Pack the bottom of the jar with a large handful of fresh dill.

- Pack the cucumbers (I used spears) into the jar.

- Top the cucumbers with even more(!) fresh dill.  You can't have enough dill.

- Pour the hot mixture (or allow it to cool to luke warm) into the jar.

- Cover the jar and allow it to come to room temperature before refrigerating for 3-10 days.

Basil Pickles (for 1 pint):

- about 1 dozen large basil leaves

- 1 clove garlic, sliced

- 1 tbsp kosher or sea salt

- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- water

- Put all ingredients except the water into the bottom of the jar.

- Add cucumbers (sliced highly recommended).

- Fill the rest of the jar with cold water.

- Put the lid on and shake the jar.

- Refrigerated for 5 days.  While they will last longer, I found the flavor of these to be at their peak between 5 and 25 days.

Cornichons (for 1 pint):

- 1 tsp fennel seed, crushed

- 1 tsp black peppercorns

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

- 1 clove garlic, sliced

- 2 tsp kosher or sea salt

- 1/2 c. white vinegar

- 1 c. water

- Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and simmer just until the salt is dissolved.

- Pack your jar with small cucumbers.

- Pour the hot mixture into the jar.

- Replace the lid and allow to come to room temperature.

- Refrigerate for 7 days.

Habanero Pickles (for 1 quart):

- 1 habanero (don't even think about putting in another)

- 1 tbsp salt

- 1 tsp ground black pepper

- 1 clove garlic, sliced

- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- 1 c. white vinegar

- 2 c. water

- Pack your jar with cucumbers, (I recommend sliced as they are quite spicy).

- Combine all ingredients and pour them on top of the cucumbers.

- Replace the lid and refrigerate for 3 days.

All pickles should last in the refrigerator for at least 2 months, though I doubt you'll be able to keep them around that long.  Feel free to play with different herbs and spices and adjust the saltiness to your own preference.  Pickling cucumbers can be found at most farmers markets and regular cucumbers can also be used.

Enjoy!

P.S.  It's my 100th post!  Yay!

Pickled Radishes

This is certainly not my prettiest photo ever, but these little guys sure are tasty!  Pickled radishes are a fun snack or great to toss on top of salads.  They add a wonderful pop of color and are full of flavor.

For one quart jar:
- 3 bunches radishes (I recommend the round varieties, like 'Easter Egg', over French Breakfast radishes)
- 1 c. white wine vinegar
- 2 c. water
- 4 tbsp sea salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 shallot

- Trim the tops off of the radishes.  You can leave a little nub of stem, but they can be a little tough.
- Wash and slice the radishes, quarters or halves depending on size.
- Add them to a jar with the shallot, quartered.
- Combine all other ingredients in a pot and simmer until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Add liquid to the jar and refrigerate one week (okay, you can taste them after two days but they really get better after a week).

Yep, that's it!  These keep several weeks in the refrigerator, but just try to keep them around that long.

Enjoy!

Staving Off the Hungries: Radish and Butter Sandwich

Sometimes when I'm on a cooking spree-- perhaps making ribs, potato salad, and rhubarb tarts-- I get a little too caught up in the task at hand and I forget to eat.  With all of those food smells wafting around the kitchen and the occasional taste to check for seasoning, it feels like I've had a meal when, in fact, I'm running on empty.  Then I might find myself starting to lean against the counter a bit.  Perhaps stirring a little more slowly?  Suddenly the pot feels heavier, the knife feels duller, and the cat is much more likely to get stepped on.  Yes, I've come down with a case of The Hungries.

The Hungries can be the downfall of many a cook.  Other symptoms include snappishness towards kitchen helpers, (cats included), careless measuring, forgetting to set timers, and loud crashes followed by louder cursing.

The only solution to The Hungries is a quick, light snack.  Yes, putting together another dish sounds like a terrible idea at the time, but making the small effort to create a quality snack instead of reaching for a bag of salty mc'crispins will pay off when you aren't filled up on junk food and you can enjoy the fruits of your day-long labor later on.

A delightful spring snack, radish and butter sandwiches can make an excellent cure for The Hungries.  For this open-faced version I topped a slice of good bread with a smear of butter, some arugula fresh from the balcony, sliced French breakfast radishes, and a sprinkle of sea salt.  The whole thing took maybe four minutes to put together.  Making myself take a pause and sit down to mindfully eat this snack was certainly worth the slight delay in my prep work.

Enjoy!

Homemade Wheat Crackers

I don't regularly buy crackers at the store.  I usually find them overpriced and looking at their labels often reveals less than ideal ingredients.  But every now and then I get a craving that nothing but a crisp cracker can fulfill.

So I googled, specifically looking to find a substitution for those savory but slightly sweet, square wheat crackers.  You know the ones.  Well, it turns out that they're pretty much just whole wheat pie dough.  I settled on this recipe as a starting point.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour  (I would definitely recommend using whole wheat for this recipe.  It gives the crackers a wonderful nuttiness.)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Steps:

1. Combine all dry ingredients.
2. Cut your butter into 1/2" pieces and add to the flour mixture.
3. Either use a pastry blender or a food processor to blend the butter into flour.  Generally when you make pie dough, you want the butter to be cut into 'pea-sized' pieces.  Go a little finer for these crackers, as large flecks of butter in the dough will just burn.  This makes this recipe ideal to make in a food processor, (even a mini one), even though usually I prefer to make pie dough by hand.
4. Combine the wet ingredients and incorporate them into the dry.  Mix just until the dough can be pressed together.
5. Let the dough rest and, unless you're working in a frigid kitchen in a New England winter (ahem), put it in the fridge for twenty minutes.
6. Cut the dough into four pieces.
7. Place one piece onto parchment paper sprinkled with flour.
8. Roll the dough out as thin as possible, incorporating flour as needed to prevent it from sticking.  Be sure to flip and turn the dough frequently in the beginning (it will be more difficult later).
9. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into the desired size of crackers and sprinkle with sea salt.
10. Slide the parchment paper onto a baking sheet and put into a 400 degree oven.  Watch the crackers closely.  Mine took right about 6 minutes.  Too little time and they will be slightly chewy.  Too long and they will burn.  There will inevitably some that are darker than other: any with a bit more butter, those closer to the edge.  They're still tasty.
11. Repeat for the remaining pieces of dough.
12. When crackers cool, gently separate them and pack them away for storage.

In a nice jar, these crackers can make a lovely hostess gift.

A few notes on this recipe:  I found the crackers to be quite buttery.  While this might be nice for a dinner party or more special occasion, I thought they were a bit too rich for day to day snacking.  Next time I will try reducing the butter (maybe 3 tablespoons?) or replacing perhaps half the butter with olive oil.  This recipe would also be ideal for incorporating some fresh herbs, like rosemary or thyme, for lovely flavor.

Enjoy!