Famous Back Eddy House Pickles

I've been on a quest for pickle recipes lately.  Not so much the canned kind (which I'm always a little afraid to eat lest I've done something wrong), just 'fridge pickles--maybe with a little something in them besides just cukes.  To that end, I checked out the book "Quick Pickles: Easy Recipes with Big Flavor" from the library and have been thumbing through it for the last week or so.

It's a great book.  Just the right balance of recipes and pickle folklore.  And it has recipes for things you might not think of pickling, like cabbage and squash.  I think I may try some "Citrus Pickled Turnips" next.

But this afternoon, I went with something a little more tame.  I decided to try "Famous Back Eddy House Pickles".  The recipe is basically cucumber based, but also has carrots, peppers, and onions for a little variety.  There's a good bit of mustard (yum!) as well as all-spice and vinegar (which smell so incredible when they're cooking together!).  I halved the amount of vegetables, but left the amount of spices as written which made them extra spicy.  I think I polished off half a jar before they even made it to the fridge!  For the recipe, read on.

Famous Back Eddy House Pickles

From Quick Pickles: Easy Recipes with Big Flavor (my modifications are in the parenthesis)

• 2 pounds pickling cucumbers, less than 5 inches long (2 regular cukes, about 1 1/4 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt (1 1/2 tablespoons table salt)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (about 1 tablespoon olive oil)
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised (full amount)
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut on diagonal into 1/4-inch slices (1/2 a pound)
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used 1 red pepper and left out the green pepper entirely)
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced (1 onion)
• 4 cups cider vinegar (2 cups, or one 16 oz bottle)
• 2 1/4 cups brown sugar (1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed (full amount)
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves (full amount)
• 2 bay leaves (full amount)
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed (full amount)
• 2 tablespoons prepared Dijon mustard (full amount)
• 2 teaspoons whole allspice berries, cracked (full amount)
• 2 teaspoons coriander seed, toasted, cracked (full amount)

Trim and discard the blossom ends of the cucumbers, then cut the cucumbers into rounds about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick.

In a medium nonreactive bowl, combine cucumbers and salt; toss to coat. Cover with ice cubes and let stand in refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.

Drain the cucumbers, rinse well, then drain them again.

In a medium saute pan, combine the oil, garlic, carrots, bell peppers, and onions and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent browning, until the carrots "sweat" and soften a bit, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and combine with the cucumbers.

In a nonreactive pan, combine the vinegar, brown sugar, and all the spices. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil for 5 minutes to flavor the syrup with the spices.

Pour the boiling syrup over the vegetables, allow to cool to room temperature, and then cover and refrigerate.

This pickle will keep, covered and refrigerated, for 1 month.

Comments

[Kate]

I made this recipe with all your modifications except I didn't have red pepper or carrots, so I didn't bother sauteing the onions and garlic before adding it to the brine, I just let them simmer with the spices in the vinegar. How long do you let the cucumbers marinate? I made these 11 days ago and just cracked them out and they are WAY too sour for my taste. I also didn't have fennel seed so I left it out. Another taster said there was way too much clove, and that was all he could taste. Where did I go wrong? :-( Is there any way I can make the rest of my pickles less sour?

[Meryl]

I'm sorry these didn't work out for you! :(

We finished off our jar of pickles pretty quickly, I don't know that it lasted 11 days! Did you try any shortly after making them? Sometimes I think it's a matter of our taste buds being different.

I looked it up though, and the University of Wisconsin says if you want less sour pickles you can add more sugar. Also "Pick Your Own" says pickles can get bitter for the following reasons: Spices cooked too long in vinegar, vinegar too strong (more than 5-percent acidity), dry weather (which makes the peels bitter), using salt substitutes.