Pickle Breadwich, by Diane

 

This week I hopped on the viral pickle breadwich trend where you melt cheese and sandwich slice pickles together to recreate bread. Holy crap this was the best sandwich I've had maybe ever! I chose to make a long wrap like a taco, and made an Italian themed sandwich with italian 6-blend cheese and dill pickles. I filled the inside with ham, turkey, roasted red peppers, red butter lettuce, and thinly sliced red onions. I didn't even need a sauce this was so packed with flavor!

Ingredients:

6 sandwich sliced dill pickles

1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Dry the pickles and set aside.

2. Spray parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray, then put 1/2 cup of cheese over the bottom, followed by pickle slices and the remaining cheese sprinkled over the top. 

3. Airfry at 400 for 8 minutes or until golden brown on top, flip and continue to cook for another 4 minutes or so until the bottom is also golden brown.

4. Transfer to a paper towel (to catch some excess grease and moisture) and once cool assemble your sandwich and ENJOY!

The Best Tuna Salad Bites, by Diane

 

I saw these on instagram from @goodeatsbyrose and despite me not liking quite a few of these ingredients I was for whatever reason inspired to try it. I'm so glad I did- these were amazing (she just called these Tuna Salad but honestly they are the BEST!). So quick and easy, I can't wait for lunch tomorrow! I think these are perfect because they are a mix of acid, salt, fat, sweet, spice, crunch and soft. I slightly adjusted some quantities based on what I had on hand. Yum!!

Ingredients:

1 large can tuna, drained

6 sweet gerkin pickles, diced

1/2 small red onion, diced

10-15 small sweet cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved

3 tbsp capers

1 tbsp mayo

Juice of 1/4 lemon

1/4 cup feta crumbles

Sprinkle red chili flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp garlic powder

Romaine leaves

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except lettuce to combine and adjust seasonings. Put into crunchy romaine leaves and devour!

Indian Pickles, by Diane

 

After the success of Quickles and Korean Pickles, I wanted to see if I could create any other fun pickle recipes with other international flavors because they are awesome to snack on after the pool or being outside. This recipe from myrecipes.com was awesome with one big exception- I wouldn't let these marinate for longer than a few hours. By the time I got to them after 24 hours they were so strong I couldn't handle them! So in the future I'd follow these instructions and pull them after 40 min. I also used a mandolin to make pickle slices, but this recipe called for spears which may have also made them taste stronger. Side note- I had all the spices on hand thanks to our cooking through the countries activities during quarantine, so that felt like a win!

Ingredients: 

1 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp each brown mustard seeds, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, whole allspice

1 tsp cumin seeds

3 cardamom pods, split open

2 small dried red chiles, broken in half

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt

4 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half

1 inch ginger, peeled and sliced thick

6 persian cucumbers sliced thin (I used a mandolin)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and add in mustard seeds for 2 min.

2. Add remaining spices except turmeric and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. 

3. Add turmeric, then remaining ingredients except cucumbers and bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 min. 

4. Put cucumbers into a glass jar or bowl, then pour liquid over top. Marinate for 40 minutes at room temp, then drain liquid and chill for up to 2 days.

Quickles, by Diane

True story, our family used to be heavy into the pickle making game. My great grandmother escaped from Poland with a barrel of them, and once in the US they had a statue they would place over the spot in the ground where the pickles were buried as they fermented called the Pickle God. Unfortunately, this tradition wasn’t passed down to my mom or I, although I remember playing around the Pickle God in my grandparent’s backyard.

With the success of the Korean pickles behind me, this week I decided to try regular pickles and came across this version of quick pickles, aka “quickles” on from @sophisticatedcaveman. I can feel my grandparents disapproval at the quick part of this process, but it appealed to me for that very reason! Because this was a last minute decision, I had to use a lot of subs like mustard powder for seeds, or cracked pepper for peppercorns (I couldn’t get them out of the jar!), or dried dill instead of fresh (more disapproval I’m sure).

The end result was way too sour/tangy, and tasted a lot like mustard (I guess that’s why mustard powder isn’t a good sub for mustard seeds!!), so next time I would actually just follow the recipe! But overall they were great and way easier to make than I expected!





Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 peppercorns
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 sprigs fresh dill
1 lb pickling cucumbers, sliced in 1/4 inch rounds
1 cup white or rice wine vinegar
1 cup water
1 tbsp kosher salt or pickling salt


Directions:

1. Place garlic through dill in the bottom of a mason jar, then pack cucumbers in as tightly as possible. Leave an inch of space at the top of the jar.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt has dissolved.

3. Pour the brine into the jar until the cucumbers are just submerged, cover with lid and allow jar to cool slightly.

4. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours, and keep up to 6 weeks.