Sasha's Kitchen: Homemade Sour Honey-Infused Pickles

This was my second attempt at pickle making. My first resulted in some quite good half sour pickles, although I have quite a bit to still learn about the chemistry of pickle making. Thus the result of these turned out to be a bit more on the sour side than I initially planned, but they were still quite good. Changing the balance of vinegar and water could give a bit of a more half-sour variant next time. The honey infusion with the sour pickle taste was quite lovely, and this is a great treat to make with organic local honey and farmers market cucumbers during the summer. A bit of tumeric gives a lovely bright yellow-green color. But beware of getting tumeric or pickle juice on your counter top, as it stains! This is loosely based on a recipe I found in Andrea Chesman's book on pickling.

Sasha's Homemade Sour Honey Infused Pickles
1 gallon (or full large stockpot)  plus 1 cup of water
1/3 cup Kosher salt
6 large ripe cucumbers, cut into spears (each cucumber should make 8 spears)
2 medium sized onions, sliced
3 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup of honey
2/3 cup of high quality maple syrup
1 1/2 T mustard seeds, whole
1 tsp tumeric
2 tsp celery seeds
3 sprigs of thyme

Combine the gallon of cold water and the salt and soak the cucumbers and onions in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, drain away the water. Combine the remaining cup of water with the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Then, remove from the heat, and add the cucumbers and onions. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10-15 minutes, before canning in sterile jars.

Sasha's Kitchen: Homemade Sour Honey-Infused Pickles

Sasha's Kitchen: Homemade Pickles, White House Style

I think it's wonderful that there is a kitchen garden at the White House that is committed to organic produce. I live in Brooklyn, and don't have my own garden, but my political leanings and passion for food keep me as an avid reader of the Obama Foodarama blog.  I am also a big fan of Bill Yosses, the acclaimed White House pastry chef, so I was excited to read his recipe for pickling vegetables from the White House kitchen garden. What fun! I modified this recipe to try my own recipe for making picked cucumbers (rather than other vegetables) for a more traditional pickle. They were great, especially for a first try! I was never a fan of pickles at all growing up - in fact I didn't start eating them until last year, but my husband, a longtime pickle fan, was quite impressed.

Sasha's Homemade Pickles (based on Bill Yosses' White House Recipe for pickled vegetables)
4 cups of water
2 cups white wine vinegar
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
12 stems thyme
12 stems rosemary
1/2 to 1 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 clove of garlic, whole
one purple onion, cut into slices
10 farmers' market or homegrown kirby cucumbers, cut into pieces

To prepare the pickles, combine the water, vinegar, herbs, garlic, onion, sugar and salt to a large pot. Bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat, and add the kirby cucumbers to the pot. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hrs.

To can the pickles - use conventional sized Mason jars. They need to be sterilized. I used half size Mason jars because that's what I found in a pinch at the local hardware store. Sterilize the jars by dipping them with tongs in boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute. Fill the jars with the marinated pickles and solution. Simmer the jars in a pot halfway filled with hot water for about 12 minutes to sterilize the pickles.  Store in a cool, dark place for four weeks to one year.

My friend Amasea who posts on this blog from time to time in Sun Valley, Idaho has her own garden and has her own fabulous recipe for pickles which I hope she'll share in the future.

Sasha's Kitchen: Homemade Pickles, White House Style