Bread and Butter Pickles

Adapted from The Dispatch Kitchen

Big important note, especially if you are unfamiliar with bread and butter pickles: these babies are sweet! So very sweet! So sweet that I thought that the sugar level was a typo but sure enough, every other recipe I found listed sugar amounts in cups. Ayee. This one only called for one but I reduced my batch to 3/4 of a cup for a bread-and-butter pickle we find on par with the level of sweetness you expect from them. As in, it is probably “correct”. But, I will still reduce it to a 1/2 cup next time, to accommodate my taste preference, as you should adjust it to yours.

I also reduced the turmeric, which seemed like way too much, and added celery seed, because I like it with pickles.

Makes 4 cups of pickles, filling a 1-quart jar

Ingredients:

• 1 pound cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick — “pickling” or kirby cucumbers work best here
• 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup Kosher salt
• 1/2 to 3/4 cups sugar (see note above)
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed

In a medium bowl, combine the cucumbers, onion and salt. Mix well. Cover the mixture with ice. Let stand at room temperature for two hours. In a pot, bring sugar, vinegar and spices to a boil. Drain cucumbers and onions. Add to vinegar mixture and bring almost back to a boil. Remove from heat and cool. You can store the pickles in an airtight container for up to three weeks in the fridge. They will begin tasting pickled in just a couple hours.

But how about something a little crunchy, a little sweet to accompany that burger. It’s the kind of thing you might only know about from a jar, which means that you probably pass them over at picnics without a second thought. It’s the kind of thing you might not have thought to make at home. 

I had a bag of kirby cucumbers I’d picked up at the market this week for my husband who loves to snack on them.

And they’re so good! They taste like the kind you can buy but that much better — crunchier and wonderfully spiced.