So this is what I will be doing tomorrow.
As a Christmas present this year, my grandmothers gave me a bunch of new recipes. Many of them non vegan, many of them fine for vegans. They give me a bunch each year so I can work on making the non-vegan ones, vegan over the year. Once I have those to their satisfaction; meaning they still think they are delicious, even vegan, they will pass on more recipes to me.
This is one of the recipes I got this year that I have been wanting for years. I have NOT made this yet. I have eaten them as recently as yesterday as my grandmother whose recipe this is, brought me a dozen jars. These are from my grandmother in Seattle.
As a little history: This style of pickle has been around for centuries, but what we know as bread and butter pickles are attributed to Omar and Nora Fanning, in the 1920’s. They were cucumber farmers who created these sweet and sour pickles. The name comes from them being traded for staples, such as bread and butter. No, there is no bread nor butter in the recipe. LOL
INGREDIENTS:
20 large cucumbers. (This is not a small recipe!)
2 Large onions
2 quarts’ vinegar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 tablespoon celery seed
2 teaspoons turmeric
½ of a fresh pimento
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Salt water to ferment vegetables.
3 tablespoons salt for every 4 cups water. You will need to make enough to cover all the vegetables in one go. Amount depends on what you are soaking in.
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Canning Jars
Lids
STEPS:
- Mash the cucumber.
If you do not know what this is, place the cucumber whole on a hard surface. Lay the blade of a large knife flat on top the cucumber and smash down lightly with your other hand until the skin slightly breaks in a few places.
- Do NOT peel the cucumber.
- Chop the cucumber into large pieces. About 1” in size.
- Soak cucumbers and onions in salt water covered for 4 hours.
- Drain very well.
- Add all the other ingredients to the cucumbers and onions except the pimento.
- Chop the pimento into small pieces.
- Boil them for 30 minutes.
- Be sure to stir every ten minutes.
- Evenly distribute among the canning jars with the liquid.
- Add the pimento evenly to all the jars.
- Seal the canning jars. (Sealing canning jars is easy. Add the lids, and submerge and boil for about ten minutes. Remove them and let them sit and cool for about 12 hours. You WILL hear pinging sounds as they cool.)
These will last for months once sealed. Wait at least 3 weeks before opening and eating any so they have time to properly get to the correct flavor and texture.
Enjoy probably the best pickle you have ever eaten!
