Favorite Pickle Recipes?

Calicolady

New member
Here's one of my favorites. I consider pickles a food group. Yum!

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3/4 Sour Dill Pickles
WEST PORT RIVER BARREL CUKES (Massachusetts)
3/4 Sour Dill Pickles
from book: "Quick Pickles" - Chris Schlesinger

Makes 4 quarts

1 large jar with lid, or, large crock, and very large bowl/w/plate and a clean heavy weight (brick)

2 doz., or 4 1/2 lbs pickling cucumbers (kirby cucs) 3-5" long
with blossom ends removed
1 or 2 handfuls small red chilis of choice, or 2 jalapenos, 2 thai
chilis and 2 cayenne chilis,
stabbed or slit twice
1 large head of garlic, peeled and minced/chopped
1 large onion, sliced crosswise, about 1/2" thick
1 cup julienned fresh horseradish
1 handful of fresh dill fronds (optional)
2 tbsps. yellow mustard seeds
2 tbsps. coriander seeds, cracked
1 tbsp. black peppercorns
4 dried bay leaves, crumbled
*1 handful grape, sour-cherry, or oak leaves, well washed
optional - see below
12 cups of water
3/4 cup white wine vinegar
7 1/2 tbsps course salt

In a very large bowl, combine cucs, chilis, garlic, horseradish, onion, dill, mustard seeds, peppercorns, bay leaves and grape leaves. Pack this mixture into your wide mouth glass jar, or crock.​

In a seperate large, non-reative bowl or pitcher, combine water, vinegar and salt to make the brine, stirring until salt is dissolved.​

Cover the cucumber mixture with liquid mixture plus 2" or more, then cover with lid, or plate, with weight on top. The object is to keep the cucumbers submerged so they pickle.​

Cover with a clean cloth, and store at room tempurature for 4 -7
days, taking care to keep contents submerged at all times, skimming any foam that may form on the brine surface every
1 -2 days.​

The pickles are done when their pale green color is mostly the same inside and out. They will keep, covered and refridgerated for 1 month, but they will start to soften unless you've included
* plenty of grape, sour-cherry, or oak leaves.​

To freshen the flavor of the brine, you can strain the solids out of the liquid brine, bring the brine to a boil, cool it at room temperature, and reimmerse the cucumbers and new flavorings, discarding the old flavorings.​

If fermenting is done correctly, pickles will be crisp.​
 

Johnny West

Well-known member
It's about time for me to get set up to make a new batch of refer dills for the year.

Adapted from a recipe by Greg Higgins, a Portland, Oregon chef and restauranteur.

Quick and easy.

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4 quarts of pickling cucumbers rinsed well
16 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
4 heads of fresh pickling dill, halved
about 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 quart cider vinegar
1 quart water
1/4 cup pickling spices
1/2 cup pickling salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 cup chopped fresh pickling dill

Wash two half-gallon, 4 quart or 8 pint jars. Keep hot untill needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs.

Pack the cucumbers into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Divide the sliced pieces of garlic and halved heads of fresh pickling dill among the jars. Add a pinch (about 1/8 of a teaspoon) of the dried red pepper flakes to each jar.

Prepare the brine by combining the vinegar, water, pickling spices, salt, sugar, turmeric and 1 cup of chopped fresh dill in a non-aluminum pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain off the seasonings from the brine and ladle the hot brine into a jar at a time, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe jar rim with a clean, damp cloth. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. Let cool to room temp, then store in the refrigerator. The pickles are ready to use after three or four days of aging, but they will continue to improve further for several weeks. They will keep, refrigerated, for about a year.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Wow, that's great, John! Couldn't be easier, and you can make as many or as few jars as you want!

Thanks!

Lee
 

Johnny West

Well-known member
A few years ago I made 2 gallons and it was a bit much. I was able to give some away but that much takes up a lot of refrigerator space until the garage gets cold enough to move them out there. Last year I did a gallon and it was plenty. I'll do the same this year.
 

Johnny West

Well-known member
I got 20 cucumbers and some fresh dill today and will make a batch tonight. The dill is pathetic, though.

This is the cuke bin from which I picked out the best looking ones.
 

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lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
I never saw this thread till today.

DD wanted to make homemade pickles so I looked at a bunch of recipes online.
I put up my first batch of pickles on Monday. I have 2 wide mouth 1/2 gallon mason jars sitting on my counter. None of the recipes had the same extras so I decided to try two different mixtures. One jar is just 4 kirbys, fresh dill fronds, fresh garlic and vinegar brine. The other jar is 4 kirbys, fresh dill fronds, fresh garlic, my house blend of pickling/corning spices (sans the red pepper flakes and bay leaves) and vinegar brine. We want full sour so most recipes say 7 - 10 days on the counter then 2 - 3 weeks in fridge.

BTW one recipe didn't use vinegar at all. I chose to use white distilled vinegar.

I hope they turn out good. They smell great.
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
DD and I decided to sneak a taste. WOW after 5 days they are full sour. In the fridge they went.
 

Johnny West

Well-known member
Here is my effort. The mrs said she read where if you put a grape leaf in the bottle the pickles will be more crisp. Mine are fairly crip anyway but thought I'd try. There is grapes by our garden and got some nice leaves to add.
 

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Johnny West

Well-known member
I just ate a spear and they were quite crispy and tasted great.

I took the last bottle of last year's hamburger slices to church today and they ate half the bottle. A friend took the rest home and requested my recipe to make some for himself this week.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Pickles look fantastic, John! You keep them refrigerated, right?

Nothing worse than soggy pickles!

Lee
 

Johnny West

Well-known member
Pickles look fantastic, John! You keep them refrigerated, right?

Nothing worse than soggy pickles!

Lee

Yes, they are kept in the refrigerator. When it gets cold enough I move them to a shelf by the garage door where it stays darn cold in the Fall thru Spring.
 

Johnny West

Well-known member
These were a large cucumber and not quite big enough to fill a jar so added chances to top off. I forgot to put the water in the mix, tasted them, and they are good. I'd love to do one more batch but don't have the room.
 

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