The Humble Dill Pickle...The summer gift that keeps giving all winter.

I love dill pickles. I could sit and eat an entire jar by myself for dinner. But I noticed the ones I bought in the store, while certainly serviceable, didn't really taste that much like the pickles my grandma used to make. I remember watching her make them. She didn't need a recipe card. It was all in her head. She had made so many dill pickles, over so many summers, that it was as natural to her as getting dressed in the morning.

I tried many times to duplicate her recipe, from my fragmented childhood memories, but never quite stuck the landing. I recall they were a Kosher-style pickle, although she used fine pickling salt, rather than Kosher salt. She said the main thing was to never use iodized salt. I started googling for recipes that seemed similar, and trying them out. One day I happened upon one, tweaked it with a few tricks I remember she shared with me, and, "Voila!" The taste of the Thanksgiving dinner's relish tray came flooding back.

Grandma's "Kosher-style" Dill Pickles:

You can do them whole, spears, slices, or whatever you want. I use a mandolin, most of the time. Just cut them right before you put them into jars. I will even put them back into the ice-water bath after I cut them. You want them as cool as...well, as cool as possible before they get hit with the brine. This is the secret to crunchy versus mushy pickles. 

For an extra kick, toss in a split hot pepper into each jar.  

• 7 pounds 3 to 4 inch long pickling cucumbers (always trim off the ends - enzymes in the flower-end can make your pickles funky - I like my George Clinton funky, but not my pickles.)
  
• 4 cups white vinegar
• 12 cups water (filtered or bottled is much better than tap - but don't use distilled)
  
• 2/3 cup pickling salt (or Kosher salt would work, too)
  
• 14 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
• 35 black peppercorns (5 per jar)
  
• 7 sprigs fresh dill weed
• 7 heads fresh dill weed

1. Wash cucumbers, and place in the sink (I use a giant metal roasting pan) with cold water and lots of ice cubes. Soak in ice water for at least 2 hours - 4 is better. (DO NOT OMIT THIS STEP, or even try to short-cut it!) Refresh ice as required. 
2. Sterilize 7 (1 quart ) canning jars and lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. (My canning sterilizer only holds 7, so that's why the odd number.)
   
3. In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt. Bring the brine to a rapid boil, then reduce heat.
4. In each jar, place 2 half-cloves of garlic, one head of dill, 5 peppercorns, then enough cucumbers to fill the jar (about 1 pound). Then add 2 more garlic halves, and 1 sprig of dill. Fill jars with hot brine. Seal jars, making sure you have cleaned the jar's rims of any residue with a paper towel.
5. Process sealed jars in a boiling water bath. Make sure the water covers the lids completely. Process quart jars for 10 - 15 minutes.
6. Store pickles for a minimum of 2 weeks before eating. They are best after 8 weeks. Refrigerate after opening. Sealed jars of pickles will keep for up to 2 years if stored in a cool dry place, out of direct sunlight.

Simpler is better.

This is a truism that came to me from my beloved grandmother, Geneva Wright Thomas. I credit much of what I love and believe in to her. She taught me to garden. She taught me to cook. She taught me the joy of food, and the passion she learned from her parents for the land, and God's bounty.  My personal environmentalism is an out-growth of that. She didn't use the term "green". But she was green. She composted and recycled. She used local and seasonal ingredients, and preserved for the winter months. To her, it was done out of the necessities of a humble farm upbringing.  She was just demonstrating good stewardship of her limited resources and proper respect for the Earth's divine balance.

Her cooking was simple. Her recipes were simple, and for the most part, mine follow suit.  Here is one of my favorite summer harvest recipes that was inspired by her motto. 

Sweet & Sour Cole Slaw: 

This recipe is perfect for hot summer barbecues, tailgating and picnics, because it won't spoil in the heat. It is probably my most requested recipe. Even my farm-wife mother-in-law now uses it as her "go-to" salad for pot-luck meals at her church in rural Kansas. Nobody 'pot-lucks' like a Kansas Methodist. 


Salad:
1 small head of green cabbage, cored and shredded
1 small red, orange or yellow ripe bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 medium carrots, pealed & shredded
1 small sweet onion (Vidalia, Walla-Walla, etc.), diced

Mix together, cover with 3/4 cup sugar and refrigerate while you make the dressing.

Dressing:
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup salad oil (canola, etc.)
2 tsp non-iodized salt
1 Tbsp celery seeds

Mix together in pan, stirring until salt dissolves. Bring just to a boil. Pour over salad, stir and refrigerate at least an hour - preferably overnight.  I usually like to drain off some of the liquid after it sits overnight, so it doesn't get soggy.

Feel free to post your favorite simple recipe or simple food memory....

Welcome Food Eaters!

The purpose of this blog is simple. Three or more times every day, we are compelled to eat. More than we perform any other biological act other than breathing. And more enjoyable than any of them, save one or two.

This is about the joy of food. I believe that you do not have go to a good restaurant to eat a great meal, nor do you have to go to grandma's house. You can and should make them yourself. That said, I still love to eat the cooking of our wise elders, and our great chefs. I want to know your favorites -- your favorite grandma recipes, and your favorite restaurant meals.

In other words, I want to know where you love to eat out. I want to see decscribed in pornographic detail what you love to eat. Sure, I live in Kansas City, but I travel, and so do others. Your bests, from your towns, no matter where they are.

But more importantly, share your great recipes. And those of your parents and grandparents, and other friends and family members.

My best memories in my youth were at the family farm, in St. Clair County, MO, when the rain was drumming the tin roof, and grandma and I were cooking pork hocks and greens with peppers and onions. And spending our Augusts making dill pickles and spiced peaches. Or watching the snow pile up with a roaring fire in the hearth as we made made fresh bread in the wood-fired oven. She taught me to garden, to pickle, to smoke meat, to bake. Tell us the stories of those who inspired you to cook.

It is about eating, sure. But it is about family. About history. About culture. About America, in all her wonderful diversity.

I love food. From pot roast to sushi, from cioppino to pulled pork, from rare prime rib to salad nicoise.

I don't care if you are vegan or carnivore. Give us your best. I love it all, and love great meals of all kinds.

Food is life.