Bread and Butter Pickles

Sometimes in the course of everyday living, I really wonder about Husband. Most of the time he seems like your normal All-American boy, but then I hear him talking in a Russian accent and catch him eating copious amounts of pickled items. (And then there was this.) Sometimes I think he was Russian in another life.

The other day, for example, we were buying some sweet corn at the farm stand by my parents' house. As he was wandering around looking like a kid in a candy shop, he came across some pickling cucumbers and almost did a backflip. In his cute thisisthebestdayofmylife voice he looked at me and said, "Let's make pickles!", as if it was only the best idea he'd ever had. Aww, what a dork...



So pickles it was! Thanks to Deb, these pickles turned out really tasty. We were envisioning making dill pickles, but after coming across this recipe and realizing how much faster it would be to go the sweet route, it only made sense to try these little bread and butter guys. They were deliciously crunchy and vinegary, with just the right amount of sweetness. I loved them with the sliced onion too, adding that nice acidic bite. The difference between these and the ones we usually buy at the store? These are crazy fresh. You can tell these were made yesterday, and that's my favorite part.

If I made these again, I would probably half the coriander. I also didn't have celery seed this time around (they turned out just fine without it), but I'd definitely add it in next time. I'd also make about three times as much and bring them to a barbeque party!

(By the way, these pickles are already gone.)



Bread and Butter Pickles
From Smitten Kitchen

1 pound pickling or kirby cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Diamond Kosher Salt (let's talk about this below)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon celery seed



Place cucumbers and onion slices in a medium bowl. Sprinkle salt over the top and mix until all veggies are coated. Cover everything with ice and let it sit at room temperature for two hours.



Next, combine sugar, vinegar, and spices in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Take ice out of the cucumber bowl, drain veggies, and add to saucepan. Bring almost back to a boil, then remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Put pickles into a canning jar and store in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.



Why Diamond Kosher Salt?
Husband and I learned something this week, thanks to The Cooking Goddess: apparently not all kosher salts are created equal! Let me explain. Morton salt is manufactured by pressing square salt granules into coarse, flakey pieces (like thin snowflakes), whereas Diamond salt uses an evaporating method that creates hollow pyramids with thin and crushable walls. The difference: Morton salt weighs almost twice as much as the same volume of Diamond salt. Yikes, that's salty! Better be careful the next time you use kosher salt--remember, you can always add more salt (good luck taking it away)!

If you are looking for exact measurements/ratios for how to use Morton salt or substitute one for the other, see here or here. Apparently a lot of people are talking about this problem...


Have you liked our facebook page yet? Go check us out and be a follower!