Back then, my wife found a recipe for brine pickles in the New York Times, and I still use it. I just made my best batch ever. The key, in my opinion, is to use fairly small cucumbers, and have all the cukes in the batch be of a similar size. They should be close to cylinder shape and not teardrop shaped. I think this batch is so good because I found some really small cukes at the farmer's market.
My pickles with a couple of Nathan's FamousKosher Dill Pickles
24-30 small/medium pickling cukes (more if they're really small)
4 cloves garlic, slightly crushed
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 dried hot peppers (I use Szechuan peppers!)
3 bay leaves
12 sprigs fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried dill plus 1 teaspoon dill seeds
2 quarts water
1/3 cup kosher salt
Dissolve salt in water (you can heat the water first to help the salt dissolve, but then let it cool).
Put spices in bottom of a crock (I use an earthen crock, but I assume some other kind of ceramic container would do. Not sure if it matters, but I would avoid metal; I'd use plastic before that.
Cover spices with cukes.
Pour salted water over.
Try to keep air out by. I have a plate whose circumference is just smaller than the crock's, so fits nicely on top of the mixture. I then seal the top with plastic wrap.
Keep in a cool, dark place.
Pickles are generally done to a hearty half-sour in 7 days. The smaller they are, the sourer they'll be. I have not found with this recipe that leaving them longer gets them full sour -- they just start to disintegrate.
When you retrieve the crock, you may see some mold. As carefully as you can, remove it with a spoon or however you can. It should not affect the taste of the pickles. If any mold has touched the pickles you can rinse them off, but be sure to remove all mold that may be in the liquid.
Put the pickles in containers or jars.
Strain the liquid as well as you can and pour over the pickles so they are covered.
Store in the refrigerator. Pickles are usually good for a couple of weeks.
2 comments:
Right you are, the secret is the cuke. This year I used several pounds that Gina gave to me, and even though the brine was a tested favorite,(Elton Brown's) the pickles were not worth eating. The garden invading bunnies got my burpie picklers before they even got a foot tall. I think it's because my dog Sherlock went to heaven this winter that the critters were brazen enough to sneak undreer my garden fense.
So maybe the secret to good pickles, like most things in life, is a good dog.-Steve
the secret is NYC. They just don't have that specific Terroir that NYC gives pickles.
I've had em in LA, Scottsdale, Chicago, Miami Beach and Newark, NJ. All were delicious, but a real pickle, one made with a pickle barrel that our grandparents may have touched or maybe was it their grandparents like mine? no matter. The best pickles may well come from where ever love and food is found.
That makes for a great story!
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