Sweet Salty Crunchy Yummy Summertime Treats - Easy To Make, Easy To Munch
Several years ago, on a hot summer day hike in the beautiful Boulder mountains, I suddenly longed for the thirst quenching relief of a New York Jewish Deli Half Sour Pickle. What can I say, it happens. If you've ever been to Katz's or the Second Avenue Deli in New York, you know what I'm talking about - bright green, crunchy, salty, sweet, savory, cold, gushy pickles.
So I set off to find one at the many food outlets in town.
Only I didn't.
It seems that beautiful Boulder lacked the pickle I wanted. So, naturally, what's a cook to do? Yup - make them myself. So I began...and four years later, after four summers of experimenting, I think I've got it more or less right.
I started with searching out the pickles themselves at our local farmers market. The first year there were few - only a handful a couple of times, but in my conversations with the farm stand purveyors I somehow must have left an impression, because the next year there were more. And by the time the third year rolled around I had to make sure I got there right when they opened at 8am, because the pickles were the first to go, highly sought after, and picked through to the point of only rejects an hour later. Had I started something? Maybe. I would carry the pickle loot home, and experiment with the spices and the brine, as often as I could procure the pickles.
This year (year four) my pickle ambitions were almost thwarted by the Coronavirus - so I resorted to extreme measures. Since we couldn't attend the Farmer's Market to supply the pickle product resource, I decided to grow my own pickles (for the first time). I planted twenty pickle plants, got an A-Frame trellis set up, and waited for the vines to grow, climb the trellis, and produce their mini-cucumbers. And they did. Wow, did they ever.
Just Planted Four Weeks Eight Weeks
Who knew I'd be swamped by pickles - who knew they grew in such profusely abundant quantities? I am literally drowning in pickles, and making a one gallon batch of pickles every other day. The other day I pickled a two gallon batch, and learned what a "peck" of pickles actually is - it's a dry goods measurement unit for about 8 quarts of produce. A "peck" is basically two gallons of pickles. So, yeah, I pickled a peck of pickles. There's that.
So, let's make some Half-Sour Pickles.
The Pickling Container
When I started I had a couple of One-Gallon, Widemouth Glass Jars with a rubber seal and a wire lock...true canning style pickling equipment, like this one available from Amazon.
But now I just use commercially available brining containers with lids, made with polycarbonate, such as these. In terms of size, I would choose the 6 quart version brining container with lid to pickle a gallon of pickles. It's good for the pickles to be able to float around a bit and be completely submerged. Ever been crammed into a crowded subway car? Yeah, elbow room is appreciated. Turns out even pickles like elbow room.
You can use either type of canning container, they both deliver great results, but I prefer the brining containers, now. The point is, this recipe is for a gallon of pickles in brine - or, as I recently found out, half a peck of pickles.
The Pickles
There are two kinds of pickles that are suitable for pickling Half-Sour pickles. The first is a strain called Kirby Pickles - these are the most common, and most commercially available. You'll see them available during the summer in most stores in the produce section. You'll also find them at Farmer's Markets and specialty stores. You could also try Boston Pickling Pickles, which I chose to grow this year. My impression (and this is being a bit perfectionist and nit-picky) is that the Boston Pickling pickles are a bit more fleshy and robust and hold up better under the pickling process - they don't get quite as soggy as quickly as the Kirby's....but both are fine pickles to pickle. Honestly, I would feel fine about choosing either...whatever's available will do just fine.
You'll need about 18-24 small to medium sized pickles to fill a gallon-size container.
Definitely EXCLUDE any pickles that have a yellowish color to them, they will be bitter. Also, EXCLUDE large pickles which will have more seed development inside and less substantive flesh to absorb the brine and spice.
You're looking for bright deep green pickles about the 4" in length, preferably straight and not curved. Wash them well, rinse them in cold water, and cut off any stems or flower ends, then pat dry, and put them in your pickling container.
The Spices
Next, we add the spices. There are many spice combinations that can impart a special flavor to your Half-Sour pickles; I've researched quite a few recipes, from spicy to bland, and I really like that New York Jewish Deli flavor I grew up with, so that's where I lean, and that's what I'll share. Keep in mind there's no law that says you can't experiment, maybe by adding whole chili peppers for spiciness, for example - so feel free to experiment.
Grind up the following with a mortar and pestle, then add to the Pickling container with the pickles already in it:
1 Teaspoon Whole Coriander Seeds
1 Teaspoon Whole Yellow Mustard Seeds
1 Teaspoon Whole Black Peppercorns
Then add to your Pickling Container, in addition to the ground-up spices:
1 Teaspoon Whole Coriander Seeds
1 Teaspoon Whole Yellow Mustard Seeds
1 Teaspoon Whole Black Peppercorns
4 Whole Bay Leaves
3 Peeled and Thinly Sliced Garlic Cloves
6 Sprigs of Fresh Dill
3 Teaspoons Ball's Pickle Crunch
You'll notice at the end there I've included something called "Pickle Crunch" - these are white dissolving granules that help keep your pickles crunchy during the pickling process. DEFINITELY remember to include the Ball Pickle Crunch granules in your spice recipe mix - these go a VERY LONG WAY to keeping your pickles crunchy and delivering that satisfying bite. I've pickled with the Pickle Crunch and without - take my word for it, that satisfying crunch you want is no accident....it requires these granules to make that crunch happen.
The Brine
Half-Sour pickles are cured in a salt brine - it's not vinegar based like so many vegetables you pickle - and get their flavor from a modest assortment of spices. In fact, I'd say the challenge is not to "over-pickle" them, which is easy to do with the universe of spices available. The key to the brine is three-fold.
First, ALWAYS use Distilled Water - if you use tap water, or spring water, your brine will get cloudy quickly, and impart all the minerals that come in tap and spring water to your pickle product. You don't want those minerals, trust me. They can make the pickle taste metallic, or chlorinated, or calcified, or just downright funky and "not right". So, ALWAYS use Distilled Water.
Second, ALWAYS use Canning & Pickling Salt (I use Morton's) - other salts will not give you that flavor you want, and they are unpredictable in their stability or salinity to actually end up with a consistent brine....and consistency is key when you're making small batches and you crave that taste every couple of days. Did I mention Half-Sour Pickles are addictive? No, well, I probably should have. They are. Trust me on that, too.
Third, the RATIO of Distilled Water to Canning Salt is the most important and defining element of making these pickles. Just being off by a little can ruin the whole batch....so get this right. The golden ratio for Half-Sour Pickle Brine is:
12 cups of Distilled Water + 6 Tablespoons of Canning & Pickling Salt
You have to dissolve the salt in the water by heating it...stir the mixture with a whisk over medium heat until the salt is completely dissolved, and then take it off the heat immediately. You do not want the brine to boil, you just want it to be really warm, borderline hot, but certainly not boiling or steaming. While it's still warm, pour the brine into the pickling container with the spices and pickles already in it - enough to cover the pickles by about an inch and make them float. The warm water will "shock" the pickles into softening and relaxing, expanding their outer skin and their pores to absorb the brine and the spices. You WANT this to happen. People who do not use warm brine to shock their pickles do not get the full flavor profile inside the pickle - they get it from the remaining brine on the outside....but the point is that you want the flavors to get inside.
Next, if your pickles are floating around (which is good), put an upside down bowl or plate into the container to weigh the pickles down and submerge them in the brine. Ideally, all pickles should be fully submerged, with no pickles having any exposed surface area.
Lastly comes the easy part - or maybe, if you're like me, the hard part. Put them in the Refrigerator for four days...and wait. That's all there is to it.
Four days later you have amazing Half-Sour Pickles.
The Big Finale - The Pickle Munch
It turns out Half-Sour Pickles have a half-life. Huh? What? Yeah, they actually "peak" for consumptions between day four and day eight. After four days in the brine and spice mix they reach optimum crunchiness and flavor and hold there for about four days. After eight days they become soggy (losing their crunch) and salty (having absorbed more salt brine deeply into the cucumber flesh). So, if you're going to make your own Half-Sour pickles, small batch production is what you're after, with a limited consumption window. Eat them quickly. Eat them fast. Eat them soon.
The proper way to eat them is...well, again, if you're like me, you just can't wait and start biting into the first pickle you fish our of the container. But if you're serving them with burgers or on hot dogs, or however you choose at the table, the proper thing to do is to slice off the stem end (usually the darkest green end with the thickest skin) because that's actually "the bitter end," and then slice the pickle lengthwise into spear "quarters". That gives you the optimum amount of pickled skin-to-flesh ratio in each bite. Not sure why that works out that way, but it does. And always...ALWAYS...serve them icy-cold....because there's nothing worse than a warm pickle. Keep them refrigerated at all times!
Why?
Because...in Food as in Life....Flavor Is Free!
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