Thursday, May 04, 2006

Recipe: Half Sour Pickles

So I became an addict sometime around 1970. In Miami, on Collins Avenue, at the coffee shop lunch counter of the Eden Roc. It was a glorious day.

You see, in those days, all the class hotels along Millionaire’s Row served up all the half sour pickles you could eat, for free, 24 hours a day. Bowl after bowl after bowl, the entire length of the counter, on every table, at every booth. These wondrous, pale green inside, brilliant green outside, incredibly crunchy, manna from heaven, half sour pickles.

I’d grown up with dill pickles, and had met many a sour pickle, and even some sweet pickles were actually pretty good under some circumstances. But I had never before met a half sour. And when I did, I knew I had found pickle perfection.

Unfortunately, since Goldi’s Deli closed about 10 years ago, there has been no source of half sour pickles in this part of the world. Occasionally, a jar of BaTampte half sours would show up at the grocery store, but then months would pass without another. I suffered as long as I could. Now I make my own.

These are not yet pickle perfection; I’m still ‘in search of,’ on that journey. But they are certainly Pretty Good Pickles . . .

Here’s what you’ll need:

1/3 tsp. whole coriander seeds
1/3 tsp. brown mustard seeds
1 or 2 whole allspice
1/3 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 tsp. black pepper corns
¼ tsp. dill seeds
1 – 2 Tbsp. dill weed
2 or 3 pieces broken dried bay leaf
4 – 6 cloves garlic
¼ cup pickling salt
4 cups water
8 or 9 pickling cukes

Here’s how you do it.

First, buy some pickling salt. Look for salt that specifically says “pickling salt.” That’s because pickling salt is simply plain, pure salt. No iodine, no additives to ‘ensure free flow,’ no nothing. Just salt, sodium chloride, NaCl, that’s all. Even Kosher salt, these days, usually has additives (presumably Kosher additives, but still . . .) For a pickling brine of any kind, just plain salt is best.

Second, a word about the Pickle Police (with thanks, or apologies, to Emeril). This is a cold, fresh-pack approach to pickles. No heat, no boiling, no sterilization in the autoclave, or canning in a boiling water bath, no antisepsis of any kind other than normal kitchen cleanliness. In other words, against all the rules promulgated by the FDA and every other official food agency. So if you want to stay out of the hospital, be scrupulous in your cleaning.

The process itself is pretty simple. Dissolve the salt in the water. Grind up all the dry ingredients except the dill weed and the bay leaf in a mortar. Chop the garlic. Wash the cukes and pack them in the jar. Dump in all the dry stuff, all the garlic, and pour in the salt water to cover everything. Wait. Chill. Pickles.

Too quick? Ok. One more time . . .

While you’re gathering and measuring and grinding and chopping, let your cukes soak in a sinkful of ice cold water. And be sure to snip off any little stem parts that are still attached. The stems are very bitter and can ruin an otherwise great batch of pickles.

Go soak a pickle

The amount of salt, and the other ingredients, will, of course, depend on the size of your pickle jar. Mine holds about 8 or 9 cucumbers and takes nearly 4 cups of salt water to cover the pickles. So all my measurements are based on my jar. You’ll need to adjust based on your jar. Also, remember that even though I’ve offered specific amounts for the ingredients, I measure them all in the palm of my hand – well, except for the water and the salt . . .

Half Sour Pickle ingredients

When you grind up the dry ingredients, don’t turn it to dust. You just want to release some of the flavors and let them blend for a minute or two. I usually watch the brown mustard seeds, and as soon as I see them becoming a yellow powder, I’ll stop. The allspice are usually still whole at that point, as are the peppercorns. (In fact, I’ll often just add the peppercorns at the end, without even putting them in the mortar.)

Grind up the dry ingredients

The salt and garlic will be providing most of the noticeable flavor for your pickles, so getting the garlic quantity right is a critical step. Since I didn’t understand that at first, I erred on the side of caution. I urge you to err on the other side. And keep in mind that smaller cloves are often more strongly flavored than large ones. If your garlic cloves are the size of your thumb, use 6 (or 8 or . . .)

Whack up some garlic

When you pack your cukes into your jar, try to leave an inch or two of headroom above the pickles. If the pickles are not completely covered in the brine, they’ll just rot, and you’ll be calling those Pickle Police. So push and shove a little to get them in with some room to spare.

When the pickles are packed, pour in the contents of the mortar, the chopped garlic, the dill weed, the bay leaf, and anything else you decided not to grind earlier. Then fill the jar with the salt water, right up to the top.

Assemble your pickles

Now they get to sit for a few days, somewhere cool and dry (and clean!) Do not tighten the lid while the pickles are sitting. You want the natural airborne beasties to get into the jar and help the pickles start to ferment. Leave them at room temperature for at least 48 hours – I usually wait 72 hours – and then screw that cap on tight and put them in the refrigerator. Oh, and that little ‘diaper dish’ under the jar is a really good idea. Some of the brine is guaranteed to spill out as the fermentation gets going; catching it in the bucket is better than wiping it off the table!

Pickling underway

(And, no, that line around the upper part of the jar is not the fluid level – it’s just some gum from the original label on the jar. My pickles are most definitely completely submerged!)

As I said, these are not yet Pickle Perfection, so if, in your experiments, you stumble across the path to perfection (or already know it), please share. Half sour pickle lovers across the globe will thank you for it . . . In the meantime, enjoy these . .

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Ingredient: Miso

Sadly, I did not discover miso until I was in my 40s. Don’t wait! Run right out and buy a tub!

Miso is a fermented soybean paste that is a staple in Japanese kitchens, and ought to be one in yours as well. It is delicious, reputedly healthful and nutritious, lasts forever (well, a long time – keep it in the freezer), and can be used in soups, sauces, salad dressings, dips, as a flavoring, a condiment, and probably thousands of ways I’ve never dreamed of! Miso is, however, very salty, so if you are sodium restricted, be careful.

You can find miso in any Asian market, and maybe even in your local supermarket. I like the red (aka) miso best, but you’ll also see white and yellow misos. The white is sweeter and more delicately flavored, the yellow ones are richer but still mild, and the red are the strongest.

Miso Aka, red miso

As we speak, I’m brewing up a cup of miso soup to cure my cold – you know, feed a cold . . . I boiled about 3 cups of water, tossed in about ½ - ¾ tsp. of miso, crumbled up a few pieces of dried seaweed and the cap of a dried shitake mushroom. I turned down the heat and will let it simmer slowly until about 1 cup of water evaporates. By that time (about 30 minutes) the seaweed and mushroom will have reconstituted and become tender, and I can call it soup!

(OK, soup’s on . . .)
Miso Soup

If I’d had some vegetable stock kicking around, I could have used that instead of plain water, or some dashi (a soup stock made with dried bonita flakes), but water works just fine. Toss in other stuff as you see fit – a cube of tofu, a couple of shrimp, other vegetables, hey, make it up as you go along. It will be delicious.

Later when I feed my cold again (well . . .), I may mix up some miso vinaigrette for my salad dressing.

miso ingredients

Fork a little miso into a bowl

mash miso

add a dribble or three of oil (sesame, olive, whatever you have handy) and mash it all up.

add oil

Then stir in a tablespoon of three of vinegar and whisk it all up with your fork.

add vinegar

I like to use a mild rice wine vinegar for this dressing because the miso is such a strong flavor. But I’ve done it with cider vinegar, plain white vinegar, tarragon vinegar, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and various mixtures of all of the above. Play around, have fun with your food!

And experiment with miso . . .

The Missing Photos Return . . .

Ahhh, the power of the squeaky wheel.

The Missing Photos

Sorry for the lack of photos. My friendly ISP has mucked up the server address, and I can't get them to tell me whether or when they might 'fix' it. Please bear with me for a bit longer before I have to resort to 'Plan B.'

Thanks . . .