This is one of my Mom’s favorite recipes. She adapted it from a recipe she got from her friend Carol, “who lives just down the street”. If you like any kind of pickle, then this one’s for you. Even if you’re somewhat fussy about your pickles (I’m feeling you, right now, because that’s me, too…) you will be blown away by these. Mom says: Don’t mess around here with generic stuff. Make sure the pickles have a picture of a stork on them and don’t scrimp on the vinegar. Like Mom says, “there is a difference”.
Carol’s Gourmet Pickles
You’ll need:
1 80-oz. jar of whole kosher dill pickles (drained, the stems trimmed from the ends of the pickles, and cut into slices about pinky thick)
3 cups of white sugar
½ cup of good quality apple cider vinegar
1 TSP of celery seed
If you scale down the size of the jar of pickles, i.e. you may need these smaller proportions for only your first batch, here are the scaled-down measurements (Directions are the same):
For every 1 ½ quart sized jar of pickles, you’ll need:
2 cups of sugar
5 TBSPS of good quality apple cider vinegar
1 TSP of celery seed
Drain the pickles well, and after trimming and slicing, place them back into the original pickle jar. Stir the other ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined. Add the sugar mixture to the sliced pickles and shake well to distribute evenly. Put in the refrigerator for 10-14 days, shaking well every two days, or so. Serve chilled. (I recently saw a similar recipe that had the same ingredients as above and included sliced onion, garlic cloves and several broken cinnamon sticks. I’m going to have to try it and I’ll let you know how it turns out!) Enjoy!
I had the wonderful opportunity to help my Dad with a collection of endearing stories that we put together in a short manuscript titled “When I was Kid”, a memoir, if you will. Siblings had been bracing him for a while to produce it, for many reasons. Last year, around June or July, he decided he was going to finally do it, get it done, and distribute it to my brother and sisters for Christmas.
I have previously mentioned that Dad was not well. He had diabetes, insulin dependent and prostate cancer, diagnosed as terminal in May of 2008. I was fortunate enough to be around to help them, as needed. (I would submit to you that your life can take a new slant when you have had a discussion with your father’s oncologist about issues of “co-morbidity”.) Dad had a fairly advanced neuropathy condition and couldn’t write very legibly at all; a circumstance that he personally struggled with regularly. He and Mom had a small microcassette recorder and I had a small digital recorder, so, despite some operational technical difficulties we managed to get into a rhythm of sorts in producing this story of his childhood. We would swap recorders or tapes and I would bring them home and transcribe what he had dictated. In short, this process was something that is hard to describe. We laughed, we cried, it was frustrating at times and heartwarming in other times. Ultimately the piece was produced, bound and sent out in time enough to get under everyone’s Christmas trees.
Long story short (I promise, I am getting to the recipe…), in one of the sections of this piece Dad spoke fondly of family meals, particularly during the holidays when everyone got together. In an excerpt from the section about some of his relatives, he says:
“My Aunt Abby and Uncle Fred got along very well with my parents. This group of relatives would always have holiday dinners with each other, taking turns as to whose house was hosting. Whose turn is it; it’s your turn, and so forth. No one ever ate alone on the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year; they all took turns celebrating. It was great, I’ll tell you…we had great times. After the meals they would break out the cards and they played for hours.”
There may be numerous times that I will refer to this document to describe what I consider to be the foundation for how I was raised and the importance of how our family got together on holidays and for parties. There is strong tie to this and the foods associated with these gatherings and celebrations. Numerous “favorite” dishes, shared and consumed with friends and loved ones…comfort foods? You bet!
Please find below one of my all-time favorites. When we were growing up, we could request (within reason) whatever we wanted for our birthday dinners and I remember that this dish was ordered by me frequently. It was originally provided to my Mom from Dad’s Mom and has been in the family for years…
Hungarian Goulash (Margaret Emma Swartfegger)
Dredge (lightly coat in flour) and brown in 4 tbsp. fat (Vegetable Oil, or Olive Oil will do):
2 lbs. beef cubes
Add and brown:
1 cup sliced onions
1 clove finely minced garlic
Add:
¾ cup catsup
2 ¼ tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. (cider) vinegar
1 tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. salt
Dash of red pepper
3 cups of water
Thicken with 2 tbsp. of flour mixed with a ¼ cup of water
Cook and simmer for 2 ½ hours
Stir frequently
Serve over noodles (wide, or extra wide egg noodles are the preference)
Serves 6-8
(Enjoy!)
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