Oh Pickles!

My time of being a stay at home dad is really going to hit me come next week. My daughter graduates from pre school on Thursday, and after that it is Daddy-daughter day, every day. The title of this post actually comes from one of the shows she watches, Higglytown heroes, or something like that, and it is what she tells me I should say when I say words that she can't repeat in public.  Hey! This is a new role for me, I'm learning.

Onto the point of the blog today, the deliciousness that is a pickle. It truly makes me sad that people think simply of the flaccid thing found in the condiment aisle when they think of pickles. There is so much more to the pickle then that. Not to sound too much like Bubba from Forest Gump, but there is the sour pickle, the half-sour, the new, the bread and butter, the sweet, the spicy, the horseradish, not to mention all the infusions that can be done with different herbs and spices.

When I was a kid I fell in love with the pickle thanks to one of the greatest things about New Jersey, the local diner. I really think that before a town is chartered there must also be a business application for a diner in this state. When you order a burger or any lunch sandwich for that matter at one of these fine greasy establishments, you receive a pickle spear, but this isn't the same pickle that mom has been serving you at home. No this is usually a half sour or a new pickle. The freshness of the cucumber comes out and you can taste each of the flavors that were put onto it. It isn't the muddled mess of a vlassic.

Fast forward 20 years and my wife and I were at a farmers market in Morristown. There is a vendor that frequents this market named Picklicous. Their both is a maze of pickle barrels with all sorts of the fantastic vegetables and not just cucumbers either. I would stand there and sample all of the varieties, always with a thought in the back of my head... I can do this at home. 

Making pickles is a simple endeavor, and the only hard step is patience. All you need is some pickling spices, Kirby or gherkin cucumbers, a jar, and your imagination.

Here is the ones I made today:

I like to slice my cucumbers before brining because I think that gives me the best flavor, but you can leave them whole or halve them too. The key is to jam them into the jar so that when the brine is added they do not float to the top. Here is what you need

1 quart sized jar

4 Kirby cucumbers

1 tbs pickling spice

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of kosher salt

3 cups of water

After that, you can add whatever you want. In the ones that I made today I used two sprigs of fresh dill from my herb garden and some red pepper flakes.

Jam the cucumbers into the jar tight. Next add the smashed garlic cloves, pickling spices, and whatever flavors you are adding. In a separate bowl mix the water and salt until the salt is completely dissolved. Pour the salt water over the cucumbers until just about to the top. If you see any of your cucumbers not submerged, squash them back down. If any are not in the brine, they can rot and ruin your batch. After this you place them on your counter at room temperature for 24 hours. At that point you have New Pickles. Place the jar in the fridge and in three days they will be half sour. After about a week they are full sour. I don't know what happens after that because they never last even to the full sour phase in my house.

What type of pickles do you like? Have you tried any other varieties then the ones in the super market?

A healthy dinner option

Despite the fact that my body looks like it was built on grease, trans fat, and sugar, every now and then a healthy meal does make it inside my belly. Tonight was one of those nights. 

 The picture did not come out very well, but that is stir fried chicken breast with fresh asparagus, red onion, and baby portobello. 

I've tried to do these stir fries vegetarian before, but I truly do miss the meat component, and don't give me that tofu garbage. I like tofu as a part of a dish, such as in hot and sour soup, but it is not a meat substitute. 

This dish was amazing. I made a garlic sauce that I coated and sautéed the dish in for a minute prior to serving. This sauce didn't overwhelm the great taste if the asparagus, but just left a subtle hint of garlic.  The one thing I wish I did was have a bed of rice for the meal. The left over sauce would have perfectly flavored the rice.

For dessert I had a wonderful peanut butter cream pie from... You guessed it, Wegmans. A wonderfully dense pie of a peanut butter cream and Oreo crust topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  Unfortunately for you I forgot to picture it prior to devouring it. Still some left so look for it in a future post. 

What type of Chinese food do you like to make? Or are you simply a take out type of person? What do you normally order?