sour dill pickles

Since my visit to Montreal, I've been left with a deep, deep hankering for pickles. Not just the commercial dills that you can buy at any supermarket, but the salty, pucker-inducing bite of a Jewish deli sour. While my husband preferred the half-sour to go with his smoked meat sandwich, I'm all about the full sour. Bring it on! So as I savored the last bite of the Schwartz's Deli pickle that had made it's way into my carry-on, I had an idea to try making my own.

So this weekend I made pickles. While you might picture me slaving over a hot canning bath, I didn't. With these pickles, fermentation rules instead of heat and vinegar. The best part? They only took me about 15 or 20 minutes to make. Talk about a quickle! I haven't tried them yet (I feel they haven't reached full sour capability), but the recipe I used is from David Lebovitz so I'm sure I won't be steered wrong. Though, I'm afraid I did lean a bit too heavy on the pickling spices - let's hope that won't ruin them!

UPDATE: So I finally tasted the pickles and while they taste good, the cut pickles were too soft. The pickles that I left whole were very crunchy and perfect. Perhaps the cut pickles should be eaten sooner and maybe only pickled for only 2-3 days instead of 5? If you've got any ideas, let me know!

And if pickles aren't to your liking, I'm a new contributor over at the popular design blog, Poppytalk and I've got a pretty tasty granola recipe up. Go take a peek and say hello!

sour dill pickles
(recipe adapted from David Lebovitz)
8 c water
3 T coarse kosher salt
8-10 Kirby pickling cukes, rinsed
4 cloves garlic, peeled & lightly crushed
1 T pickling spice
3 bay leaves
1 large bunch of dill (seed heads preferred)

1. In a large pot, heat the water with the salt until it dissolves.

2. Fill up your mason jars with boiling water and then dump the water into the sink. Alternatively, run them through the dishwasher if that's what you got.

3. Tightly pack the pickles into jars. I left some pickles whole and others I quartered. Do what you like, just make sure that they are tight as you don't want any pickles floating up above the brine line. Divide up the spices, garlic, bay leaves and dill amongst the jars.

4. Fill up the jars with the brine, making sure that all pickles are submerged. Cover with cheesecloth secured with rubber bands and leave them in a cool, dark place for 3 days. Taste (they'd be more like half-sours here, I would imagine) or let them go for a full 5 or 6 days for a full sour. Once they are to your liking, store them in the fridge. They should last for a month or so.

be a believer: pickled prunes with orange zest

Lately, I've been on a pickling kick and I currently have in my fridge batches of homemade pickled carrots, pickled red grapes and these lovely pickled prunes. I first discovered the joys of "quickles" years ago when I was unemployed and I discovered a book called "The Joy of Pickling" at the local library. That summer, I pickled cucumbers, green grapes, carrot sticks, green beans and red onions. The thing is that I never actually canned anything...all my pickles were either refrigerator or freezer pickles. It's easy and the results are almost instant. It's my kind of work!

Lately, there's been a lot of talk about pickling and almost everywhere I turn, someone is pickling red grapes (Thanks Molly for the inspiration!) So of course, I pickled some red grapes too (delicious) but I also tried my hand at the lowly prune. The prune doesn't get much respect. It's associated with the elderly and bodily functions most people don't mention in polite company, but really, prunes can be quite plump, sweet and tasty. And these prunes prove it. They go well with meats, tucked into a sandwich, or picked at on a buffet table.

These pretties were served at my birthday and they were popular. People went back for seconds and thirds and they immediately stopped dissing the prune. Become a believer, give the prune its due. Oh and on a completely unrelated topic, please stop by The Food Network Canada blog and check out my post on Bandidas Taqueria here in Vancouver.

More quick pickles? Try these cinnamon heart quick pickles or these summery refrigerator pickles.

pickled prunes with orange zest
(adapted from Molly Wizenberg)
250g pitted prunes
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
juice of 1 large orange & 1 lemon
3 T granulated sugar
Zest of 1 orange (zest should be matchstick size)
1 bay leaf
4 green cardamom pods
4 allspice berries
5 whole cloves
1 t black peppercorns
1 t whole mustard seeds
1/4 t red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes until the liquid has reduced to a heavy syrup. Set aside to cool and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Serve cold or at room temperature.

sunday freshness

After we finished dinner this evening, Cornelius turned to me and said, "We ate really well this weekend". So true. Everything we ate was fresh and didn't require extensive cooking or baking or heating. Our morning started off right with light and crispy waffles topped with fresh and juicy peaches. Since we had a relatively late breakfast, lunch wasn't necessary. Dinner was tomato and red onion and feta sandwiches (because everybody likes sandwiches, right?!) served with fresh refrigerator pickles and accompanied by some icy cold homemade lemonade. As for dessert, the previous night we worked up a sweat the old fashioned way as we whipped up a batch of homemade coffee ice cream with a touch of cinnamon, some roasted pecans and some dark chocolate shavings. Oh my!

I'm not sure if I'll post the ice cream recipe because I found it was a bit too sweet for my tastes, but the rest of my Sunday cooking adventure can be found below. Enjoy.

crispy waffles
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
3/4 c milk
1/4 c vanilla yogurt
2 T vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 envelope of vanilla sugar

1. In a batter bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

2. Measure yogurt, milk and vegetable oil in a 2-cup measuring cup.

3. Whip up egg whites into soft peaks.

4. Beat egg white in a small bowl with an electric hand mixer to almost soft peaks. Sprinkle in sugar and continue to beat until white and glossy.

5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed. Fold in egg white to batter in dollops. Fold in with a spatula until just incorporated.

6. Add batter to waffle irons and cook as usual. Serve with syrup or fresh peaches.

lemonade
1 c sugar
1 c water
1 1/4 c lemon juice (use fresh only! approximately 6-8 large lemons)

1. Create a sugar syrup by bringing water and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add in lemon juice.

2. Pour into pitcher along with 4-5-6 cups of cold water. Add enough water to suit your tastes. I like a lot of water, so I usually fill up my pitcher with about 6 cups of water. Serve over lots of ice. Decorate with fresh mint, if desired.

refrigerator pickles
I spotted these refreshing pickles over at Kitchen Parade and decided that I'd start making some right away. It seemed like the most perfect summertime snack. Tangy and sweet and crispy fresh. I made these in the morning and ate almost a whole jar by the afternoon! What can I say, I love pickles! I made one batch according to Alanna's recipe (subbing the mustard & celery seeds and tumeric with dill, garlic and hot peppers since its' what I had on hand), but then decided to make a second version with different vegetables and different spices altogether. Both versions tasted great and I'll post my version here.

1 c white vinegar
1 c water
1 c white sugar
2 t pickling salt
1 long stick of cinnamon, broken into 3 peices
1 t hot peppers
3 cloves garlic
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 small red onion, cut into quarters
baby carrots

1. In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, salt, water and sugar to the boiling point. Remove from heat. Add carrots to simmer in the hot liquid for 5 minutes.

2. Add green pepper, red onion and garlic and spices into a glass jar. Add carrots to the jar and pour in the hot liquid. Cap off jar and let cool before putting into the fridge.

Once you are finished the jar (and I've already polished off one), you can add more vegetables into the liquid. I've added in some radishes and yellow peppers for my next batch. This should keep for about 1 month in the fridge.

tomato sandwich with lemony-feta spread
I like my sandwiches with a bit of a bite. If you want a fresher taste, then you can skip marinating the tomatoes and onion in the vinegar and just add them fresh to the sandwich.

Please note Cornelius' lovely handmodeling duties!

2 red + ripe tomatoes
1/2 red onion
2 T red wine vinegar
handful of fresh basil, torn
1/2 avocado, sliced
romaine lettuce
1 small block of feta cheese
1 T olive oil
1/2 c parsley
1/2 lemon, juiced & zested
salt + pepper
good bread, toasted

1. Cut tomatoes and onions into slices. Place in a shallow bowl and drizzle with vinegar and add some salt & pepper over top. Tear some fresh basil over top and marinate for 30 minutes. You can skip this step if you don't like a tangy sandwich!

2. In a small bowl, mash together the feta, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and parsley together.

3. Toast the bread. Add feta mixture to one slice and mash avocado on the other slice. Add tomatoes and red onions and lettuce to the feta side and cover with the avocado side. Add salt & pepper if necessary.

Serve with fresh refrigerator pickles.