I remember these as a child at Christmas with both my mom's and dads family, but they disappeared from the table once families got so big and extended we were no longer getting together outside my family. That leads me to know that these delicious refrigerator pickles were made b my mom's sister and at least one of my dads, but not by my mom. They came back in late summer through fall when I met my husband. His mom is a refrigerator pickle maker and if my memory serves, pretty much the same as my aunts. Every year I think I would say,I need to learn to make these. I don't think it was a great secret, just something she never got around to writing down until this year. A week ago Thursday's DH stopped by to help her with some paper work and came back with both a small jar and the recipe. It didn't sit long before I picked up cucumbers, celery seed, and mustard sed and made a btc on Saturday. I won't wait 34 years to share the recipe.
I can't really say these are from my pantry as I don't ever recall buying mustard or celery seed before, but even though small containers, I can get many more batches should I come across low cost or gifted cucumbers. I had onions, celery, sugar, and vinegar already though. Without further ado, here is her recipe.
Refrigerator Pickles
6 Cups thin sliced cucumbers
1 cup chopped onion
1 Cup chopped celery
1 Cup chopped green bell pepper (though she left it out as my FIL didn't like them in there, so I did as well)
Pour 1 tsp salt over the vegetables and leave sit for at least 1 hour. Drain fully, even overnight. ( I did for about three hours but pushed down to get excess water out a couple times as I wanted to finish on Saturday)
Meanwhile, heat 2 cups sugar *though she said she uses less so I used about 1 1/2, 1 cup white vinegar, 1 tsp celery seeds, and 1 tsp mustard seeds just until the sugar fully dissolves. Let cool. After the cucumber mix is fully drained, put back in large bowl and pour sugar mixture over the vegetables and stir to fully coat. Store in glass jars and refrigerate.
I am saving my smaller jars for when I get around to jam and jelly but I had these large mason jars in the garage. For me, it is easier to just keep in the large jars anyway, ad I can take some out an put other kinds of containers to give to others until I come across and keep a few plain jars. I posted on a Simple Living Facebook page and it sounds like these are quite popular, with a wide variety of viewpoints about peppers or no peppers. I figure I won't mess with what I know to be good. I'm a piggy about these pickles and will just eat on the side with meals, or out f the jar! They are so goo on hamburgers or turkey burgers, crispy chicken sandwiches, hummus and cheese sandwiches, or any place you might use either dill or sweet bread and butter pickles. They are sweet, but not as much as I would think with all the sugar. If you make these let me know your impression.
I’m saving your recipe! My daughter’s boyfriend’s mom gave me a huge bag of pickling cukes from his sister’s garden and I made refrigerator pickles with them. I did half dill and half sweet. The sweet ones were very sweet and really good but the dill was underwhelming. I like them well enough but I’m looking for a wow factor. It did feel really nice to have all those canning jars sitting on the counter. JoAnn
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, I've never had a good homemade dill pickle. Still on the hunt!
DeleteTry garlic in your underwhelming half dills JoAnn. That should perk those babies up. lolz
DeleteThanks so much for that recipe. My ex used to love them but I don't. That being said, I'll have a bash and make some for my kids as I know they both like them.
ReplyDeleteThey are either loved or not it seems-no in between. I feel like it adds a nice different flavor to ordinary food.
DeleteYummy! I'm saving your recipe :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you like them.
DeleteI have never made refrigerator pickles, but may try. I have made bread and butter, and dill spears, which, while they tasted great, were not very crisp, so they lingered in the pantry, being used for things like egg salad and chicken salad. Perhaps refrigerator pickles wouldn't have this issue?
ReplyDeleteJust FYI-these are not crisp and not intended to be. Between the soaking in salt and how thin they are sliced, they really are a soft pickle. I'd have to research how these might stay crisp-thick slices perhaps, but then the flavor likely would be different.
DeleteThere's something called "Pickle Crisp" which you can add to homemade pickles to make them crisp, but I am reluctant to use it. It's sort of like using "Clear Jel" as a thickener for my home canned apple pie filling**--adding these things sort of defeats the purpose of home canning in my eyes. I've also been told if you don't process your pickles--hot pack them, flip the jars to heat the top, and flip them back over, you will get crisper pickles, but this strikes me as unsafe--though I did learn to can with the open kettle method, so maybe I am overthinking this.
Delete**Clear Jel is a modified food starch. The Ball book recommends it for thickening over flour, not because flour is unsafe for canning, but because it may break down over repeated heatings--once for the preparing of the filling, once for processing, and then a third time when baking in the pie. I have not had this issue. Flour does make the mix a tad bit cloudy, however, whereas Clear Jel makes it nice, clear and shiny...but it's still modified food starch, which I just can't bear using in canning...personal feeling. I have made a batch of pie filling with no thickener, I just boiled the heck out of the mix to cut down the moisture. Worked fine everywhere, except on my feet as I stood in front of the stove stirring.
The pickles look so pretty in your big jars, Sam. My version is simple and calls for sliced cukes, vinegar and water. Nothing special, but still tasty. I'll have to give your version a try. :)
ReplyDeleteMy mom and dad both loved just vinegar pickles. I like the little tang the mustard seed gives these.
DeleteThose are pretty pickles. I am not a sweet pickle lover but can make them for my sister who does love them.
ReplyDeleteI love them too much! that is kind of you to make something youpersoally do not enjoy.
DeleteI don't eat pickles at all, so I am not much of a pickle maker or eater. But, I do make refrigerator pickles for Tommy and put a few slices in when I make him a salad. I made some a while back and he liked them. I have never put mustard seed or celery seed in pickles. I just need to get the mustard seeds.
ReplyDeleteI think there are as many pickle versions as there are people! that's nice that you will make for him.
DeleteI've had a lot of cucumbers this summer due to the weekly produce delivery- I've made sour cream cuke salad, tomato/onion/mayo salad, etc but no pickles. Alas I only have the vinegar, sugar and cukes. Maybe next year- now I only go to Aldi monthly. I think the last of the homegrown tomatoes are gone too- I'll surely miss them.
ReplyDeleteBelinda above mentioned how she makes hers. No celery seed or mustard seed. At east you had fresh produce for a while-yum.
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