Pickles, Part Two: Bread and Butter Pickles

                                         “It was late last night the other day

                                             I thought I’d go up and see Ray

                                               So I went up and I saw Ray

                                    There was only one thing Ray could say, was:

                                                   I don’t want a pickle

                                       Just want to ride on my motorsickle,”*

Bread and Butter Pickles / Summer Corn Relish

There are those who favor dill pickles and others who like bread and butter pickles. Our friend, the transplanted Texan, loves bread and butter pickles so I put a quart jar together for her. The brine can be used for pickling mushrooms and other vegetables. The brine ratio (equal parts white vinegar/water/sugar) is similar to some “Asian-style” pickling brines (think carrot curls, small florets of cauliflower, zucchini etc. for pre-dinner grazing).

While the tumeric and mustard seeds are often included in a bread and butter pickle recipe, you will still get great results if you don’t use them.

Bread and Butter Pickles

For one quart

1 quart of Kirby cucumbers

½ cup white vinegar

½ cup water

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon powdered tumeric (optional)

1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

chili flakes, to your liking

1. Wash the cucumbers and dry them. Slice the cucumbers crosswise into ¼” thick slices. Pack the cucumber slices into a clean one quart jar. Sprinkle the mustard seeds and chili flakes over the cucumber slices, if using.

2. Prepare the brine by placing the vinegar, sugar, water, salt, and tumeric into a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt and bring the brine to a boil. Ladle the hot brine into the jar until the brine reaches about 1” from the top of the jar, covering all of the cucumber slices. Cover and seal the jar with the lid and let stand until cool. Refrigerate the pickles for a week before enjoying.

Summer Corn Relish

This corn relish is my variation on a Pennsylvania Dutch-style corn relish. I omit the cabbage often found in such relishes and keep it simpler. The PA Dutch are accomplished picklers. This summer corn relish is great as a simple, pull-it-from-the-refrigerator accompaniment for grilled meats and fish.

Summer Corn Relish:                                                                        

For 1 quart

 

6 ears corn

½ cup diced onion

½ cup diced red bell pepper

1 jalapeno pepper, diced (or to taste)

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup white vinegar

½ cup water

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1. Husk the corn. Slice the corn off the cobs into a bowl. Add the onion, red bell pepper, and jalapeno to the bowl; season the vegetables with the ground black pepper. Mix the vegetables together and spoon them into a clean one quart jar.

2. Prepare the brine by placing the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt into a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt and bring the brine to a boil. Ladle the hot brine into the jar until it reaches about 1” from the top, covering the vegetables. Cover and seal the jar with the lid and let stand until cool. Refrigerate the relish for a week before using.

So why exactly are they called bread and butter pickles? To better research the question, I stopped at the local library; a library is like the Internet only you have to do more looking for yourself. I found a dusty old tome, “The History of the Bread and Butter Pickle in These Here United States (unabridged and annotated)” The story goes that while “dill pickles sold well” for one intrepid canner, it was the “sweet and sour pickles I make that are my real bread and butter.”

Hey, you read it here on the Internet so it must be true.

*from  The Motorcycle Song, words and music by Arlo Guthrie

And you can’t discuss bread and butter without mentioning the Newbeat’s song of the same name. It has nothing to do with pickles. It’s one of the many songs warning of the consequences of not cooking for a loved one. Hey, is that a young Bill Clinton?

                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idlnba_0iPM&feature=fvwrel