recipe: homemade bread & butter pickles

Cricket loves him some homemade pickles. If they're on the menu somewhere, we order them. No questions asked.

I'd never tried making them before, but figured it'd be fun to try them to complement our smoked pulled pork this weekend. To be honest, the canning process intimidates me. As much as I love mason jars, the boiling, sterilizing, sealing, etc seems like a LOT of work. But this recipe isn't for canning. It's so good, these suckers won't last the week, much less until winter.

I found two versions of Hugh Acheson's bread and butter pickles, so this is an amended attempt at what I resolved to be the best combo of the two. For the most part, I followed this one found in Esquire magazine. I consulted Hugh's cookbook A New Turn in the South, which had a very similar recipe with slightly different ingredients & quantities.

Ingredients:
2 cucumbers (regular sized, or 10-12 pickling cukes)
1/2 vidalia onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup kosher salt
celery bunch (you just need the leaves, use the stalks for something else yummy)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
3/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 & 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
8 allspice berries
1 & 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup amber maple syrup
1/2 cup water

Instructions:
Wash the cukes well, scrubbing to remove any dirt. Slice into 1/3-inch rounds.
Combine cucumber slices with sliced onion in bowl with 1/4 cup kosher salt in a medium non-reactive bowl. Don't use table salt--is has different additives in it. Cover the bowl with a thin tea towel (not terrycloth), and cover towel with about an inch of ice. Place in fridge for 4 hours.

Rinse cucumber-onion mixture with cold water in a colander to remove any salt. Tear celery leaves into 1/4-inch pieces and toss with cucumber mixture. Set aside in medium non-reactive bowl.

In a medium non-reactive pot, combine remaining salt and remaining ingredients. Stir. Bring to a rapid boil. Pack cucumber mixture tightly into jars and pour boiling liquid to cover. Leave on counter, uncovered, for 2 hours, then refrigerate.

[homemade bread and butter pickles]

Once at refrigerator temperature, done.

These will be at their best in a day or so and should keep up to 10 days...if you wait that long.


(if you prefer to can them for longer keeping, refer to your canning manufacturer's instructions.)

white sangria recipe

a few weeks ago, i was tasked with concocting a delicious cocktail to complement the fajitas & handmade guacamole station at a recent cinco de mayo fete. i had to make enough to serve 40+ folks, so this is a bulk recipe for approximately 5 gallons.

the yummy white sangria with fresh strawberries from jaemor farm. served in mason jars with paper straws.

in order to keep the beverage chilled on a hot Southern day, i froze the fruit overnight so that it would act as ice cubes without diluting the cocktail.

here's the recipe i made up...and it was quite yummy. perfect for hot summer nights on the new porch swing.

First, it was critical to stop at a local farm stand to pick up their fresh strawberries. i cannot tell you how delicious my car smelled the entire ride!


fruit:
2 gallons of fresh strawberries, de-stemmed and quartered (smaller ones halved)
3 large grapefruits, cut to 1" slices
2 pounds of lemons, cut to 1.5" slices
2 pounds of key limes, whole
1 cup sugar
additional fruit for garnish



alcoholic version:
3x 64oz bottles of White Grape & Peach juice
3x 2-liter bottles of Ginger Ale
1x 96-oz bottle of Apple juice
5 bottles of chardonnay
(for smaller batches, use 1 bottle grape & peach juice, 1 bottle ginger ale, 24-30 oz apple juice, & 1-2 bottles of wine)

non-alcoholic version:
3x 64oz bottles of White Grape & Peach juice
3x 2-liter bottles of Ginger Ale
2x 96-oz bottle of Apple juice
1x 2-liter bottle of lemonade


instructions:
1. clean and cut all fruit as indicated. mix strawberries, grapefruit, and lemons in large bowl. add sugar and stir. freeze overnight. freeze whole limes separately overnight.
2. in 5-gallon bucket, mix all ingredients for either alcoholic or non-alcoholic version. stir. refrigerate in large bucket (if your fridge is large enough).
3. when ready to serve, pour cocktail into large beverage dispenser and add frozen fruit. stir for even fruit distribution & you're ready to go.
4. since the fruit won't fit through the dispenser spout, it's great to have skewered fruit available for garnish.
5. of course, serve it in a mason jar!



cost per 5-gallon batch:
White Grape & Peach juice: 3 x $2.98
Ginger Ale: 3 x $1.00
Apple Juice: 1 x $3.52
Fruit: $10-12
Wine: $25-30

juicy juice

i decided to give the new fancy juicer a try. i mean, it does look good on the pantry shelves, but this ain't no museum.

since we're pretty keen on the soda stream, i thought i'd prolong the life of some diminishing limes + lemons so we could flavor our own sparkling water in a natural way. have you seen what they charge for the flavored mixes? it's crazy. and full of sugar. no thanks.

i was proud of my little guy. and ya know what, a little mason jar fits PERFECTLY. go figure. thanks for this one, reid!

first up...limes.

then...lemons.

then...i rescued half an orange from the fridge for some fresh-squeezed juice for the chef. it was sooooo good.

i froze the juice in large ice cube trays. i didn't fill them up, just about 1/3 of the way since these are BIG cubes.

[there they sit, next to the basil butter i made this summer]

can't wait to try them in our next batch of sparkling water!

cinnamon honey butter gifts

my mom has long given her friends + neighbors homemade roasted garlic butter as holiday gifts. it's delicious on every.thing. and fills the house with a wonderful garlicky aroma when she's roasting like 20 cloves at a time.

since i'm not much of a baker (and when i do bake, the treats don't last very long), i thought i'd follow in my mom's footsteps + whip up some flavored butter as gifts this year. whip up, get it?

i found this recipe from ina, and figured i couldn't go wrong. the cinnamon + honey flavors just scream holiday time to me. i knew this would be perfect for family gatherings around the holidays: french toast on Christmas morning, smeared on warm rolls, used to ice cinnamon rolls, or even used to make cinnamon toast.

as usual, i altered the recipe a tad. here's the recipe to fill 1-dozen 8-oz mason jars. i actually had enough to fill 2 additional 4-oz jars.

ingredients:
3.5 pounds of unsalted butter, room temperature (each stick of butter is 1/4 pound, so 14 sticks)
2.5 cups + 2 tablespoons of clover honey
3.5 teaspoons of cinnamon - i used roasted saigon cinnamon for a richer flavor
1.75 teaspoons of kosher salt
heavy whipping cream, about .5-1 cup
12 8-oz jelly jars, with lids


instructions:

blend butter using mixer's paddle attachment until no longer in large chunks.

add honey, cinnamon and salt into mixer's bowl until well blended. blend on medium speed until smooth.

add cream until desired consistency. the more you add, the creamier it will be. the less you add, the firmer it will be. it's really a matter of preference.

once it's creamy enough for your liking, spoon into jars, approximately 3/4 full. place lids on the jars, affix label, tie on your ribbon, and refrigerate. it's a very yummy + very inexpensive gift for the holidays!

i created little labels for my jars and printed them on 1 1/2" round labels from Avery (item #8293). i had the labels available for download, until i realized i'd misspelled the word "biscuit." shame, shame, shame. i've actually already gifted a few, so i'm just gonna go with it. please don't tell Teacher Sis.

[i misspelled BISCUITS. that makes it more personal, right? geez. i'm ashamed.]

would love to know what you try the butter on this holiday season!! and check out the other holly bloggy christmas parties across blogland:

m3: ice cream in a jar

it's hot. brutally hot. the heat index last wednesday was forecasted at 104 degrees. brutal. lucky for me, i'm in oregon where the high is 75.

for those of you not as lucky, here's some magical mason monday inspiration sure to cool you off.

mason jar ice cream!

here's an easy-peasy tutorial from theyummylife, so i won't be redundant.

[via theyummylife]

not only do they look divine, but i'm infatuated with the umpteen ways that you could package the cuteness out of these suckers.

like the wedding favors they did on stylemepretty here:

[via smp]

 or make a festive ice cream sundae:

[via firststreeticecream]

or brownie a la mode like here

[via just a taste]

happy monday!!

cool kitchen: quick & easy squash salad

our garden produced a single squash so far, and well, we wanted to use it. i found martha's recipe for a marinated squash salad + thought it would pair well with our 4th of july bbq spread.

since i only had 1 squash and needed 4 for enough servings, i followed the recipe's advice for selecting squash: choose yellow squash that is glossy, firm, heavy for its size, and small. i selected the brightest, glossiest, firmest squash from the farmer's market. can you guess which of these came from our garden?

[one of these things is not like the other...the value of growing your own]

ingredients:

fresh lemon juice from 2 lemons
6 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

4 medium yellow squashes (8 ounces each)

2 shallots, thinly sliced crosswise

2 to 3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (also from the garden) 

 

directions:

1. halve squash lengthwise + slice thinly crosswise
2. in a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice and oil. 
3. season with salt and pepper. 
4. add squash, shallot, and thyme. 
5. toss to combine. 
6. let stand 5 minutes before serving.

easy-peasy + very refreshing.

cool kitchen: basil butter

our raised garden has spoiled us with a plethora of basil. and, i love basil. but i'm struggling for new ways to use it. i'm a planner, so i've been trying to find ways to carry the summer crop into the fall + winter months for continued enjoyment.

stumbling across this recipe for basil butter was just the inspiration i needed for the recent harvest. it is super easy + super yummy. it freezes easily for use later in the year + could also make nice gifts to have on-hand. besides, with no requirement for heat, this wouldn't require me to work up a sweat in the kitchen to prepare!

ingredients:
1/2 pound of unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of loosely packed fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 fresh lemon
ground pepper
sea salt

In a food processor, chop the basil. Add the softened butter (in small chunks), garlic salt, minced garlic, and juice from 1/2 lemon. Combine until smooth. Add ground pepper + sea salt to taste; combine until smooth.

Drop rounded spoonfuls onto a lined cookie sheet (or pie plate if your freezer space/shape dictates like mine). Let dollops freeze for several hours, until hardened.

Once frozen, remove the dollops of butter from the cookie sheet/pie plate + store in freezer bags.

The butter is divine on toasted bread + is an easy instant seasoning for chicken, fish, veggies, + steaks.

cool kitchen: open faced prosciutto + plum sammiches

during the hot summer nights, it's nice not to have to heat up the stove. we try to grill a lot during the summer, but summer storms sometimes get in then way. tonight I'm starting a collection of "cool kitchen" recipes perfect for the summer months!


tonight's dinner was inspired by a recipe in Cooking Light this month and only required the heat of a toaster.

as I tend to do, I made this one my own with what we had on-hand, plus what I remembered to pick up at the store.

ingredients:
4 slices of whole grain bread
6 slices of thinly sliced prosciutto
2 ripe plums
3/4 cup apricot preserves
2-3 tablespoons soft cheese
1/2 cup of arugula, torn into small pieces

directions:

llightly toast the bread on each side. while bread is toasting, slice the plums into thin wedges.

once bread is toasted, evenly spread apricot preserves over each slice of toast. then spread goat cheese over preserves (if you prefer crumbled goat cheese, slightly pressing it into the bread will make it easier to eat). top the spreads with the plum slices.

after the plums are in place, tear a slice of prosciutto into smaller pieces (about 4-5 per slice) and place on sandwich. repeat for each sandwich. i used 1 slice per sandwich, which gave me 2 extras. one is a chef's treat (enjoy!!!) and the other is split between the 4 sandwiches.


after the prosciutto, top with torn arugula. voila!

serving suggestion:
we served with a side salad of mixed greens, red onion, alfalfa sprouts, fresh pecorino cheese, black pepper, olive oil & balsamic.

prep time: 20 minutes
servings: makes 4 open sandwiches, so 2 servings in my house

enjoy!

what are some of your fave summer recipes to keep the kitchen cool??