Bloody Mary Dill Pickles and Sour Herb Dill Pickles

We've posted a couple of pickle recipes on here already: Refrigerated Dill Pickles and  Refrigerated Rye Pickles.  When we were at the farmer's market, we grabbed a bunch of pickling cucumbers and I decided to take our base recipe and twist it into a Bloody Mary pickle recipe.  Man... these pickles... awesome!  A little spicy, but not super hot.  Lots of flavour.  We had so many cucumbers that Justin decided to do his own twist on our base recipe and his sour pickles came out delicious.  He added nasturtium leaves because he did some research and found that nasturtium leaves can help keep the pickles crispy longer.  We have a big plant right off our front porch. 

So here are two more refrigerated dill pickle recipes that are quick and easy.  I don't know who this band is, but I stumbled on them because I saw their name pop up on some search and I had to check it out.  Like... Tom Waits' rockabilly brother.  The Hillbilly Moon Explosion doing "My Love Forevermore".  -jen

JEN'S BLOODY MARY DILL PICKLES
Time:  less than 10 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes: 1 quart

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic 
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons dried dill
• 2 teaspoons dried chives
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon pickling spice
• 1/2 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon whole celery seeds
•  3-6 pickling cucumbers (depending on size) or 1 large English cucumber
• 1/4 teaspoon horseradish
• 3 teaspoons Demitri's Bloody Mary Seasoning (or your favourite)
• 1 shot (3oz) vodka
• 3/4 cup V-8 (or tomato juice)
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar

In a quart-sized jar,  combine garlic and all of the dry ingredients and shake jar to mix well.  Arrange cucumbers in jar.  (For pickling cucumbers, put in whole, halved or quartered.  For English cucumber, cut into long spears.)  Add horseradish and remaining liquid ingredients.  Fill to the top with water.  Refrigerate for 3-5 days. 

JUSTIN'S SOUR HERB DILL PICKLES
Time:  Less than 10 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes: 1 quart

Nasturtium

• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh nasturtium leaves, chopped (optional)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon dried dill
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon pickling spice
• 1/2 teaspoon whole yellow mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 bay leaf, whole
• 3-6 pickling cucumbers (depending on size) or 1 large English cucumber 
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup white vinegar

In a quart-sized jar,  combine basil, garlic and all of the dry ingredients and shake jar to mix well.  Arrange cucumbers in jar.  (For pickling cucumbers, put in whole, halved or quartered.  For English cucumber, cut into long spears.)  Add vinegars.  Fill to the top with water.  Refrigerate for 3-5 days.

Refrigerated Rye Pickles

A while ago, we posted a recipe for Refrigerated Dill Pickles, which came out great.  But a few weeks ago, we saw something on TV where a deli made it's own rye pickles.  They sounded awesome, so I set out to make some and decided to go with caraway seeds (which are often used in rye bread).

I'm a dill pickle junkie and tonight makes 48 hours of pickling for my rye pickles.  I took a bite to give 'em a try and clapped a few times like a dork in my kitchen.  These might be the best pickles I've ever had.  These suckers are potent with just a little spicy kick to 'em.  It took me about 10 minutes to prepare the pickle juice and cut up the cucumber.  Might cost you a little to get the initial ingredients unless you have a massive horde like us.  But once you've got 'em, you can make a lot of jars of pickles for not much money at all.  Beats paying $4 for a jar of Claussen!

This recipe was serious and heavy.  And I truly felt, in my heart of hearts, it needed some serious and heavy music.  So... you know... Me First And The Gimme Gimmes doing the best Ghost Rider In The Sky since John Belushi.  Actually... this is a really great live video.  So check it out.  -jen

REFRIGERATED RYE PICKLES
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Refrigerate Time:  2 days
Makes:  1 quart

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

  

  Caraway seeds

• 1/2 teaspoon Accent (optional)
• 2 teaspoons whole caraway seeds
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorn
• 1 teaspoon pickling spice 
• 1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon dried shallots
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 3 fresh sprigs of dill
• 1/4 cup malt vinegar
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 cucumber, sliced into spears (seedless is better, but regular works too)

In a 1-quart jar, add salt, Accent, caraway seeds, peppercorn, pickling spice, mustard seed, pepper flakes, dried shallots and garlic.  Twist the dill sprigs into a wreath shape and lay atop the spices.  Add both vinegars.  Pack the jar with the cucumber spears and add water until cucumber is covered.  Place the lid on and shake it all up.  Refrigerate for at least 2 days.  (I like to rotate the jar a few times, flipping it onto it's top for a while.)

Refrigerated Dill Pickles

Jen and I love pickles.  Jen a little more than me, I think, but we both like the Claussen brand refrigerated dills.

We set about trying to find a good homemade substitute and came up with one that's pretty close to the same taste and equally as good.  It's simple to make, costs less than store bought and requires no cooking or canning at all.  All the ingredients are cheap and if you don't have them you can find them all at your grocery store for cheap and have enough left over to make tons of pickles.

We've tried this pickling liquid with carrots, onions, English (or hothouse) cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, garlic cloves and a variety of other stuff.  Get crazy and add fresh herbs or different spices or add some sweetener if you prefer sweet pickles (we do not happen to prefer sweet pickles).  You can also use this for any style of cut cucumber you like; spears, chips, whole, sandwich slices, etc.

The brine tends to last for 3-4 weeks in the fridge and can be reused several times if you happen to go through your pickles quickly, like we do.

I was in a rockin' mood when I made these and thought it was a little odd, and a tad remiss, that we hadn't had a Bad Brains song on here yet in the past 2 years so for your listening pleasure, Bad Brains and Hank Rollins covering "Kick Out the Jams", which happens to be on the Pump Up the Volume soundtrack.  An awesome 80's movie, incidentally.  Anyway, here's Bad Brains:

PICKLING LIQUID
Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Simple
Serves: 6-8

• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/2 tsp brown mustard seed
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorn
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 tsp dried dill
• 1 tsp pickling spice
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar.

Add all ingredients to a 1qt mason jar.  Stuff full of cucumbers, or whatever you like, and fill the remaining space with water.  Seal tightly with a lid and shake to dissolve and infusilate all the spices and seasonings.  Place in fridge and let it pickle.  For cut veggies, it only takes a day or two to pickle.  For whole cucumbers and such, 3-4 days are required and the bigger the veggie, the longer the time.

I like to slice some ribbons of onion, some carrot sticks, and toss some whole garlic in with the cucumbers and then you've got all the fixins for a good salad or a relish.

Pickle Wheels

In my family, there are two "appetizers" (and I use that term loosely) that we must have at every major holiday.  One is a salsa-tortilla roll-up thing that I may or may not post later... and the other high-class hors d'oeuvres are Pickle Wheels.  They're something that came into our family about twenty-five years ago, when my Aunt Yvonne showed up to a family holiday dinner with these scrumptious little morsels instead of deviled eggs or green bean casserole!  Pickle wheels - dill pickles smothered in cream cheese and then wrapped with the cheapest lunch meat you can find, Buddig's.  Everyone I've ever made these for has whole heartedly balked at the ludicrous idea... until they try them.  Once tried, it's very likely that it will become your favourite little snacky thingie EVER!  My mother would make gorgeous, delicious, decadent holiday dinners... lobster stuffed filet mignon, creamy holiday mashed potatoes with chives and cream and cheese, spinach-stuffed mushrooms... and she'd tell us that Pickle Wheels didn't go with her meal.  We'd whine and beg and plead until she allowed us to make them!  They are a must have at all our holidays... or, like tonight, just when my bro and I and our spouses get together for a game night.  -jen

I know this is ska and not punk, but what else could I use for this recipe except some Skankin' Pickle?!

PICKLE WHEELS

• one jar Claussen whole dill pickles
• 2 packs (8oz each) Philadelphia cream cheese, room temp
• 4 packs Buddig's beef lunch meat slices

First, you need to dry your pickles by patting with a paper towel.  Then slice a few of the pieces of Buddig's beef evenly in half and set aside.

Using a butter knife, place a dollop of cream cheese on the end of a pickle.

Pat the cream cheese with the flat side of the knife to spread it evenly over the end of the pickle.  I find it easier to just pat it to spread it out than to try spreading it like you would butter on toast.  You want to cover it about an 1/8" thick.  Enough that pickle isn't showing through, but not too thick!

   (Insert dirty comment here)

Then place one half of the beef slice on the end, pressing it gently into the cream cheese.  This will give you a little of a less-messy hand hold on the pickle.  Repeat with the opposite end of the pickle.

Then smear the cream cheese on the exposed middle of the pickle, wrapping a slice of beef around as you go. I usually end up using two slices of beef to go around the middle of the pickle, in addition to the two halves at the ends.

Store pickles, whole, in the fridge for an hour or more to allow the cream cheese to firm back up.  You can make these a day ahead of time.

Then slice up into wheels and serve!