Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / July 2008

I cheat.  I prefer Kosher dills for flavor.
I go to the store, buy my favorite brand (either Clausen's or Vlasic),
eat the pickles and save the brine.

I then place whatever I want to pickle in that brine in the 'frige and
let it go for a couple of weeks.  When mom was on her last legs and
unable to do much for herself, I used to pickle fresh okra pods that way
for her. She loved them. :-)  I have pickled eggs and fresh cucumbers
this same way and it works very, very well.  I can generally get 3 uses
out of the brine for veggies and 2 uses when I do eggs.  I also add some
beet juice to the egg brine to dye them that wonderful pink color...

Do a google search for refrigerator bread & butter pickles. I can't put my
hands on the recipe just now, but I've made them for the last 4 years. It's
the easiest & best recipe ever.
Steve

Sorry, I grow lemon cucumbers, mostly, and eat them fresh. You asked for
favorites but I'm just gonna dump a load of recipes. Hope you take them
in the spirit intended.

Garlic Dill Pickles
Refrigerator Pickles
Texas Sweet Pickles
Candied Pickles
Bread and Butter Pickles
Easy Pickles
Hot Sweet Dill Pickles
Garlic Dill Pickles
Pickles by the Bushel
Garlic and Dill Pickles
Pickles

* Exported from MasterCook *

                          Garlic Dill Pickles

Recipe By     :Ruth Adams Bronz - Miss Ruby's American Cooking
Serving Size  : 10    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

 Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
 20            4 inch  Kirby cucumbers -- unpeeled
 6             stalks  fresh dill
 8             cloves  garlic
 1           teaspoon  alum
 1                cup  salt
 12              cups  water
 4               cups  white vinegar

Wash cucumbers and let stand in the refrigerator overnight.
Put cucumbers in a 1 gallon crock and add the dill, garlic and alum.
In a large saucepan, over medium high heat, add water, salt and
vinegar. Bring to a boil and pour over cucumbers. Let cool then place in
refrigerator to chill.
Will keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks. Wait at least 3 days
before serving.

                     
* Exported from MasterCook *

                          Refrigerator Pickles

Recipe By     :rec.food.cooking
Serving Size  : 20    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

 Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
 1             gallon  cucumbers -- sliced
 1              large  onion -- halved and sliced
 4               cups  sugar
 4               cups  white vinegar
    1/4           cup  pickling salt
 1 1/3      teaspoons  celery seeds
 1 1/3      teaspoons  turmeric
 1 1/3      teaspoons  prepared mustard

In a medium saucepan combine sugar, vinegar, salt, celery seed,
turmeric and mustard. Heat to just below a boil. Do not boil.
Place sliced cucumber and onion into a crock and pour hot liquid over.
Let cool, cover then refrigerate 5 days before serving.

                     
* Exported from MasterCook *

                          Texas Sweet Pickles

Recipe By     :Carrie Pecher
Serving Size  : 10    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

 Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
 1             gallon  medium cucumbers -- sliced
 5        tablespoons  salt
 2        tablespoons  powdered alum
 4        tablespoons  pickling spice
 8               cups  white vinegar

In a large saucepan, over medium high heat, combine vinegar, salt, alum
and pickling spice. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
In a large non-reactive container add cucumbers and cover completely
with pickling brine. Push cucumbers completely in solution with a plate
or
plastic lid and weight down.( Do not use a metal container. Use plastic,
stoneware or glass). Let stand 3 weeks.
Rinse cucumbers well in cold running water and drain. Return to
container and add 5 cups sugar over top. (Sugar will make it's own
juice.)
Cover and let stand for 1 week.
Pack in smaller jars and cover with liquid and cap. No need to can.
Store in a cool dark place.

                     
* Exported from MasterCook *

                            Candied Pickles

Recipe By     :Jo Anne Merrill
Serving Size  : 0     Preparation Time :0:20
Categories    : Canning Recipes

 Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
 3             1-pint  canning jars
 2             quarts  cucumbers -- sliced
 1 1/2           cups  sugar
 1                cup  cider vinegar
 2        tablespoons  salt
 1         tablespoon  mustard seed
 1 1/2      teaspoons  celery seed
    1/8      teaspoon  red pepper flakes

Wash and drain the cucumbers; cut into 1/4-inch slices.
Use a large heavy kettle or sauce pan. Combine the sugar, vinegar, salt,
mustard, celery seed and red pepper flakes.
Place over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase
heat and bring to a boil. Add the cucumbers and simmer for 5 minutes.
Immediately pack the pickles into sterilized and drained jars; seal
tightly.
Yield: about 3 pints

                     
* Exported from MasterCook *

                        Bread and Butter Pickles

Recipe By     :Marcia Adams
Serving Size  : 20    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

 Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
 25                    slender cucumbers
 3                     onions -- as big around as
                       the cucumbers
 2                     red bell peppers
    1/2           cup  coarse salt -- (not iodized)
 2               cups  cider vinegar
 2               cups  sugar
 1                cup  water
 2          teaspoons  mustard seed
 3          teaspoons  celery seed
 1           teaspoon  fresh ground black pepper
 1           teaspoon  ground ginger
 1           teaspoon  ground cinnamon
    1/2      teaspoon  turmeric

Scrub cucumbers and slice them into 1/8" - 1/4" rounds. Peel
and slice onions. Core peppers and cut into strips. Place
vegetables in deep pans in layers, sprinkling each layer with
salt. Allow to stand for 3 hours, then drain.
Combine the vinegar, sugar, water, mustard seed, celery seed,
pepper, ginger, cinnamon and turmeric in a deep kettle and bring
to a boil over high heat. Add the cucumbers, onions, bell pepper
and bring back to a boil. Lower heat to medium and simmer 5
minutes.  Using tongs, pack pickles tightly into 10 sterilized pint
jars. Ladle in the hot brine, leaving 1/2" headspace. Wipe rims
of the jars, cover with the lids, screw tight and process in a
hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars from water cool and
store in a dark place.


--
Easy Pickles
Hot Sweet Dill Pickles
Garlic Dill Pickles
Pickles by the Bushel
Garlic and Dill Pickles

Easy Pickles

32-oz. jar Kosher dill pickles, drained and cut into chunks
1 cup water
1 cup sugar or Splenda substitute
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
 1 fresh clove garlic, crushed, peeled (optional)
     
Drain solution from jar of pickles and set pickles aside after cutting
into chunks.  In a medium sauce pan add water, sugar and vinegar; bring
to
a boil. Boil 2 minutes. Add garlic clove. Let solution cool to room
temperature and add to pickles. Keep refrigerated.

Hot Sweet Dill Pickles
 
1 quart (bought) dill pickles, drained and sliced
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 Tbsp crushed red pepper
1 or 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed, peeled and minced
 
Drain and slice pickles. Layer sliced pickles, sugar, red pepper, and
garlic in clean jar. Turn jar once each day until sugar dissolves.  Let
stand about a week before eating.
 

Garlic Dill Pickles
7 Pints

4 pounds 3- to 4-inch pickling cucumbers
2 cups water
2 cups distilled white vinegar (5%)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup pickling salt
2 tablespoons McCormick (or other) pickling spice

Prepare 7 (1 pint) jars according to manufacturer's directions. Slice
cucumbers into quarters lengthwise. Combine water, vinegar, sugar and
salt
in a large pan. Toss pickling spice into the liquid. Bring to a boil,
reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.

For Each Jar

1 fresh dill "head" with seeds
1 bay leaf
2 to 3 crushed and peeled garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/8 tsp powdered alum

With clean hands, pack the cucumber spears snugly in the jars. Add dill,
bay leaf, garlic and mustard seeds to each jar. Pour the hot liquid over
the cucumbers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Process the jars in a water
bath for 10 minutes. For best flavor, let the pickles sit for at least
one
week before serving them.

Pickles by the Bushel

1 Bushel pickling cucumbers (yields 40 to 45 Quarts)
1 Gallon Heinz Distilled 5% acidity Vinegar
3 Gallons tap water
2 Cups Mortons canning & pickling salt
6 large bunches of ripe dill (just starting to seed at the top)
Dried hot red peppers (OUCH! Optional)
cloves fresh crushed and peeled garlic
1 grape leaf for each quart
Or,
1/4 tsp powdered alum per quart

Fill kitchen sink with half water and one pint of grapefruit juice. Scrub
cucumbers in the sink, cut out blemishes and abnormalities with a paring
knife.  The grapefruit juice helps to clean chemicals and human diseases
that may have attached from the people picking the pickles. ??? - That is
news to me, Nita.

In the bottom of sterilized quart jars place a pepper (optional -- Use
only if you want HOT pickles), 1 to 3 cloves of crushed and peeled fresh
garlic, and half of the grape leaf Or, 1/4 tsp powdered alum, then pack
the cucumbers as tightly as possible without breaking them. Leave about
an
inch at the top of the jar, put the other half of the grape leaf (omit if
using powdered alum) and 1 or 2 more cloves of crushed and peeled garlic
(make sure you stuff it in so it doesn't come to the top and break the
seal). At this point you can also add the stalks of dill to further pack
your jar.

Mix vinegar, water, and salt to make a brine and bring the brine to a
boil.  In a smaller sauce pan boil your lids in water (the rubber on the
lids will swell and help to insure a good seal). Pour the brine into the
packed pickle quarts and wipe the rim of the jar. Pull the lids out of
the
boiling water with a fork, place on top and secure the lid with the ring.
Place the jars at least 2 inches apart for them to pop down (when they
pop
down you will hear it, that means your jar has sealed). Let the jars sit
undisturbed for 24 hours. Wait 6 weeks to open and enjoy. I have adjusted
this for use without grape leaves. Also I increased the amount of and
changed garlic cloves to crushed and peeled.

The original of this recipe is said to have won the Adams County fair in
Colorado 1999.

Garlic and Dill Pickles

Brine:

1 qt. cider vinegar (5% acidity)
3 qts. water
1 cup Kosher salt (non-iodized)

Bring to a boil. Clean quart jars, lids and scrub 1/2 bushel small
cucumbers.  Pack jars with 3 crushed and peeled garlic cloves and a sprig
of fresh dill on the bottom.  Add cucumbers til jars are full. Top with 3
more crushed and peeled garlic cloves and another sprig of dill.  Fill
jars one at a time with boiling brine leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Seal
at
once and process in a boiling water bath.  Age pickles for 2 months
before
opening. Note: If a lid doesn't vacuum seal you can refrigerate and use
as
is.

------

Pickles

submitted by rcoen

Basic Pickle Brine

2 quarts water
1 1/2 quarts vinegar (cider, red wine or rice vinegar)
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt

Optional

2 Tbsp mustard seeds
2 tsp whole cloves
2 Tbsp whole allspice berries
1 Tbsp celery seed
6 bay leaves
1 bunch of fresh thyme

To make the pickles, simply mix all the ingredients together in a medium
saucepan
and bring to a boil. Place your prepared vegetables in a clean container
with a
tight fitting lid. Allow the brine to boil for a couple of minutes to
release the
flavor of the spices. Carefully pour the boiling brine over the
vegetables and
allow it to cool with the lid off in the refrigerator. When the
container is cool
(about 3 - 4 hours), fit the lid tightly. If you are going to be canning
the
pickles, follow the instructions that come with the canning jars to avoid
potentially dangerous foodborne illness.
--
~~

We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with
growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want
what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly
destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what
we have used, but for what we have wasted...So any nation which in its
youth lives only for the day, reaps without sowing, and consumes without
husbanding, must expect the penalty of the prodigal whose labor could
with difficulty find him the bare means of life."

-Theodore Roosevelt
"Arbor Day - A Message to the School-Children of the United States"
April 15, 1907

I _love_ cucumber soup. Mmmm. Yum!

That's not pickles, but it does take care of a *load of cukes.

Henriette

"rachael simpson" <raeannsimpson@intrstar.net> wrote in message:

This is recipe file compiled from rec.food.cooking:
*************************************

"Cucumber Salad" - 2nd Ave. Deli cook book - Pg 12. (needs to marinate over
night, so plan ahead)

2 1/2 straight, long, cucumbers.
4 paper thin slices cut from the center of a lage onion (separate into
rings, cut into thin strips).
1/2 cup white vinegar.
1/4 cup sugar.
2 Tbls finely chopped fresh dill.
1/2 tsp salt.
1/8 tsp white pepper.

Peel cukes by removing alternating strips.  Slice cukes 1/16" thk. In a bowl
incorporate all other ingredients.  In large bowl pour over cukes and toss
well.  Cover and let marinate in fridge over night.
---
I took liberties by shortening the procedure but ingredients are transcribed
exact. There is nothing new about this recipe, I've been making this longer
than the 2nd Ave. Deli has existed (1954)... I learned this from my
grandmother who learned from her grandmother... it works better if all the
cuke skin is removed and the cukes are striated with the tines of a fork
before slicing... any kind of cukes will work so long as they're young,
before seeds develop.  Serve well drained, topped with a big dollop of sour
cream.
----------------
Cucumber salad is a much better accompaniment to smoked fish than to typical
deli meats... I've no idea why it's sold at the 2nd Ave Deli, other than it
being a good profit maker.  It goes very well with smoked whitefish and
smoked sable, goes naturally with lox and pickeled herring of all sorts.

This cucumber salad is typically served at kosher dairy restaurants, usually
as a complimentary condiment the same as meat delis serve free sour pickles.
At home it was the standard side for tuna/salmon salad.

When my garden has a glut of cukes I make a very similar concoction only I
make a small part of the vinegar with fresh squeezed lemon juice... the
diced cukes and beans lends itself better to eating with a spoon, so I can
shovel it in.  Another favorite is to add diced beets... I call it Barb's
Bliss... superb with a sardine on buttered pumpernickle sandwich --- a five
pickle hat winner!
----------------

-----------------
Grind your own!  You'll know what/who's in it... preground spices are
guaranteed to contain ground mouse turds, cockroaches, and other assorted
nasties... in fact you should pick over your peppercorns carefully before
just dumping them into your pepper mill.  White pepper is actually more
flavorful than black pepper but in a different way, white is more pungent.
White pepper is used exclusively in Chinese restaurant food, they don't use
black pepper at all.   Black pepper in cucumber salad would look like dirt.
-------------------
Cucumber salad (Austrian serves 4)

Marinade:
2 tbl spoons wine vinegar
1 tbl spoon water
2 tbl spoons oil
1/2 tea spoon sugar
salt

2nd Part:
2 cucumbers, peeled and finely sliced
salt
1/2 a clove of garlic, pressed
powdered paprika

Mix cucumber slices with salt and garlic. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Drain water.
Mix with marinade, sprinkle with powdered paprika and serve.
---------------
Cucumber salad with cream (serves 4)
2 cucumbers, peeled and finely sliced
salt
1/2 a clove of garlic, pressed
1/8 litre sour cream
white pepper
dill, finely chopped

Mix sour cream with pepper and dill. Mix cucumber slices with salt and
garlic. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Drain water. Add the sour cream
mix. Serve. Cheers,
--------------
i most often use rice vinegar with cukes.  this is the one i make most
frequently:
Japanese cucumber salad  (adapted from 'japanese cooking,' by peter and joan
martin)

1 cucumber
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tbl sugar
1 tbl soy sauce
1/4 tsp monosodium glutamate (msg)
* * * * *
Mix together all but cucumber. wash cucumber but do not peel.  slice as
thinly as possible.  on a plate, arrange the slices in layers, not
overlapping, and salt each layer lightly.  let stand for 30 minutes.
squeeze cucumbers pretty hard to remove the accumulated moisture.  place
cukes in bowl, pour dressing over and refrigerate. these taste better the
next day.  i don't see why they wouldn't last at least a week.

the recipe as given included 1/2 white sesame seeds, but the didn't do much
for me.  recipe can be doubled or (maybe) tripled.  they're tasty little
suckers.