1 Cakes & Louie: And Some Picklesssss

Monday, August 12, 2013

And Some Picklesssss

In the last couple of years, I have developed a strange obsession with pickles. Specifically, the half-sours from Ted's Montana Grill, which has a location right by FIL's house. A couple months ago, I learned (by asking, duh) that I can buy little to-go containers of the pickles for a whopping 50 cents each, and needless to say I've stopped in plenty of times since to buy a bunch. I've always liked pickles, but I promise you these things are on a completely different level. And every time I mention Ted's pickles, Dan quotes the Dane Cook Burger King skit, hence the title of this post.

Fast forward to this past Saturday when I suckered the hubs into going to the Farmer's Market in search of sugar snap peas. I didn't find what I went for, but I did come home with a huge bunch of basil, a GIANT zucchini, green peppers for my dad, cherry tomatoes, peaches, an assortment of baby potato varieties that we love to throw on the grill in a foil packet with my favorite Stephanie Izard rub, aaaaaand... a bunch of dill and a bag full of pickling cucumbers! It was DIY time in the kitchen, people. And it was fantastic.

The pickling cucumbers were only 50 cents each. I originally bought 3, but ran back up to the Farmer's Market for 4 more in a fit of excitement.


My helpful hubby cut all the cukes into spears for me, knowing I would likely slice my finger open trying to do so.


Meanwhile, I was prepping my mason jars with one finely chopped clove of garlic and a few sprigs of dill each.


After chopping an extra half inch or so off of each spear so they fit, I packed them into the jars.


Then poured over a brine of kosher salt, water and vinegar, and added a few more sprigs of dill to the top.


YUM. Six jars of pickles that I couldn't believe I had to wait 2 days to eat.


Ok, so I totally didn't wait 2 days to eat them. Who's surprised? I taste tested one that evening and it was good, but not outstanding yet. But I brought a full jar over to FIL's yesterday (about 24 hours after making them) and polished the entire thing off with the help of him and all 3 nieces. SO GOOD. I ate another (abundant) helping with dinner tonight and they honestly just keep getting better. I'm planning to take some to the parentals tomorrow to share, and I definitely need to see the bestie in the next couple of days because she happens to appreciate pickles as much as I do. Thankfully, even with lots of sharing I should have a few full jars all to myself, and I assure you that makes me a very happy camper.

The actual recipe I followed was from my favorite - Annie's Eats - and it was a perfect coincidence that she just posted this recipe a few days ago. The measurements for the brine in Annie's post was enough for 4 jars, but it took less than a minute to make another batch for my last 2 jars. If you're a fan of pickles I would 110% recommend making some yourself as soon as possible! Happy pickling :)

3 comments:

  1. So excited for pickles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YUM!

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  2. Made some last night from your/Annie's recipe. Had a glut of cukes in the garden and everything else on hand (except Dill)....just waiting till Saturday to try them. Did add some extra garlic as my jars (which were old pickle jars I saved for just this purpose) were kinda big. My grand daughter loves Dill Pickles...so were are going to have some yummy fun. Thanks for the idea

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