Monday, August 27, 2007

Bread & Butter Pickles

A mini tutorial for anyone who wants to make the best, best, best, Bread & Butter Pickles! The recipe came from my Aunty Bonnie's webpage and she's tweaked it over the years to perfection :) She's not exact with her measurements (must run in the family) so a little extra of this, or not enough of that, is okay.

Update: Since posting this tutorial I've bought a meat slicer, it works GREAT for slicing the cukes, onions, peppers, and even the garlic!

Slice up four quarts of medium cucumbers. Not too thin, about a quarter inch thickness. I've sliced them too thin and, although they were good, they stay much crispier when thickly sliced. I've also used really large cucumbers, seeded, sliced, and cut into fours for "end of the season" pickles.


Slice 6 medium white onions. I like them a bit thinner than the cukes.
The recipe calls for 2 green peppers but I wanted to "dress" up my jars, so today I used red peppers. I then chop up 3 or 4 cloves of garlic. Layer the whole works into a tub and spread ice cubes throughout along with 1/3 cup of course salt.
I diced up my peppers but you can cut them into strips, chunks, or however you like them. Let this sit for 3 hours on your counter.


While everything is nicely crisping get a large pot and add:
4 cups of sugar
3 cups of cider vinegar (don't use regular vinegar)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
2 tablespoons mustard seed

Mix altogether and take a break.
Okay break time over :) Grab your jars, wash 'em, sterilize 'em, and they're ready. Lately I've been having to add boiling water to my jars instead of heating them up in a hot water bath because our water has been a bit dirty, but do them however you like. Today I used 3 old pickle jars and three new pint jars. I boil the pickle lids in a pot and after shutting off the gas throw in the pint jar lids. I let them sit for about ten minutes. Time this just before the three hours are up for your cucumbers.

After the three hours are up, drain your cucumbers into a large colander. Pick out the ice but do not rinse.
Add the whole thing into the pot and heat to just boiling. Things will be really hot! You don't want to cook the mixture but you do want it HOT. You might have to keep turning your stove up and down.
Ladle the hot cucumbers into your hot jar, wipe rim, and place hot lid on, tighten well. Immediately flip the jar upside down and place on a towel. Do one jar at a time, and then move on to the next one.
Leave for 24 hours, check seals, wash jars, stock your pantry :)

Mmm, mmm, good!

Now I was hoping to ask you all a favour. Hubby brought home ten dozen ears of corn on the weekend. I canned niblets last year and did not like it. This year I tried cream style corn, again a bust! I don't like the looks of it, and frankly am not impressed with the taste either. I did end up blanching and freezing a bunch of whole cobs, then vacuum packing, but does anyone have any other ideas? Do you have a great canning recipe for corn? Help :)

20 comments:

HuntressD said...

Did you ever do a corn relish? I have and my family quite likes it. And like you, we don't measure, so I will give you as close as I can.

9 sweet corn cobs
1 green pepper seeded, chopped
1 red pepper seeded, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c chopped celery
1/2 tsp table salt
2 1/4c granulated sugar
2 1/4c white vinegar
1/2 tsp celery seed

1 tsp dry mustard powder
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp tumeric
2 Tbsp water

cut the corn, but don't scrape from the cobs, you should get about 4 cups.

Add the next 8 ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat, stir lots. Turn down your stove and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring only occasionally.

Mix the last four item into a paste, stir into the still simmering corn mix, stir until it boils again and thickened.

Then can, not too hard.

Good luck.

KansasA said...

Oh this sounds wonderful! I talked to my Mom about it and she says it's one of her favourites and can't wait to try it :) I love how everything is so simple, just great! Thanks so much for the recipe!

David T. Macknet said...

1) Incorporate them into salsa, kind of like the above recipe.

2) Blanch, cool in ice water, remove from cob, dehydrate, vacuum seal in canning jars (with 2" head space), shake periodically to make sure no moisture builds up. It'll serve you really well during the winter months, as a quick addition to all manner of soups or stews.

Jackie said...

If someone was allergic to say......mustard seed....is there anything else that you might recommend as a substitute?

Anonymous said...

Hi Kansas Just to let you know. Cukes on ice?? Minimum 3 hours but yesterday I had to go to bingo so they were on for 6 hours. I do this lots and have even left them overnight on ice just be sure to drain well. Also I throw the onions in the food processer with a slicing blade. Love that corn relish recipe so can I put it on my page. Auntie B

KansasA said...

Jackie: I'm not sure about a substitute but you could probably just leave them out and the pickles would be fine.

DaviMack: Dehydrate! Great idea, I didn't think of that :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Kansas..

These are the best bread and butter pickles ever! My favorite way to eat them (other than straight out of the jar):) is in a cold meat sandwich or in a hamburger. mmmmmmm good! I have heard it said that they are good with cheez whiz. I am sure everone has a favorite way to eat them. You can never make to many of these. I think everyone in the family knows AB's recipe.

Love Ya!

Anonymous said...

hey Kansas
I have never made pickles in my life and I did your recipe and every jar sealed. I feel like a pro, thanks for the help.
Kathy Grossler
Lillooet

KansasA said...

That's great Kathy! Glad I could help :)

Anonymous said...

I haven't made pickles of any kind for years. I prefer dill myself. I decided tried your recipe since my hubby likes Bread & Butter Pickles. He absolutely loved them. I even ate 2 myself. LOL I think the step by step photo's are an awesome idea. Thanks for posting the recipe.

Anonymous said...

These sound good!


I am stopping by to invite you to participate in the The Carnival of Home Preserving.

It is a Carnival to Share Recipes and How-To's for Canning, Freezing, Dehydrating (drying), and Root Cellaring of Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs.

The first edition is posted if you would like to come visit:

Carnival of Home Preserving - July 14, 2008 Edition

http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2008/07/carnival-of-home-preserving-july-14.html

Submit your blog post (new or one of your archived ones that meets the above description) to the next edition of carnival of home preserving using the carnival submission form.

The Deadline to Submit is every Sunday 6pm EST

The Carnival posted by that Monday on the respective Host's blog.

Everyone is welcome to join in (beginners and experienced alike).

Laura

Anonymous said...

Thank you for participating this week's Carnival of Home Preserving!

The post is live if you haven't seen it already.

http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2008/07/carnival-of-home-preserving-jul-21-2008.html


Be sure to submit one for next week's edition. Jennifer at QuiverFull Family is hosting.

Feel free to share the link to this week's edition of the carnival to get the word out to others and bring in more participants.

Happy Preserving!

Laura

Anonymous said...

Hi Kansas!
I'm Fran from Long Island New York.I am the mother of three grown sons and I never canned a thing before, but I just entered your bread and butter pickles into a Country Fair, and they won First Prize! I could not believe it. The friends and family that I shared them with absolutely loved them. Thank you so much. I am now going to try the antipasto. Do you think a beginner should tackle that. Oh, btw...I also just started a Peach Brandy. Cannot wait for that. I love, love, love your blog. Wish you were not so far away!
Love,
Fran
p.s. can I email you, if I have any canning questions?

KansasA said...

Hi Fran!
Wow FIRST place! That's great! Congrats!
The antipasto is pretty easy, but time consuming, as I really try to hand slice everything... but it's the best! :)
You can email me any canning questions and, time permitting, I'll try to get back to you as quick as I can. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Kansas
I make a sweet corn that is very easy and very tasty. Take your corn and cut it off the ear and scape some of the juice. Place it in a large cooker and add butter and a little shortening, salt and a dash of sugar. Cook till half done and place in ice water to cool. After cooling, place in freezer bags and freeze. It will taste just like it came out of the garden. I don't have exact measurements because I don't measure sorry.

Anonymous said...

I just linked to your pickle recipe :) also - I have to get it, but my MIL has a creamed corn recipe = I will let you know and post it on my blog! Hope you are well, not smoked out too bad. --Di

Anonymous said...

for as long as i can remember my parents have used a huge black iron kettle outside over a fire, cooked all the ears of corn, then cut all the corn off of them and bagged and froze it... it always tastes like fresh summer sweet corn even in the middle of winter..just add some butter and salt and pepper when you cook it later... dont have to thaw just put in a pot and cook away... best corn ever!!

Anonymous said...

This looks and sounds delicious! I'm looking for new pickle recipes for this year and I believe I want to try this one!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much! My husband loves sweet pickles and these turned out fabulous!

Anonymous said...

I soak the corn with husks on and then BBQ them. Strip corn off cob when cool and put in bags in freezer. In winter months they tast just like a summer BBQ.