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Mama’s Pickles

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Mama's Pickles

T is the kind of 3-year old who loves pickles.  He’s the kid who requests them for breakfast, lunch, snack, or dinner.  He’s the kid at the summer cookout who will be holding a pickle in one hand and a chocolate chip cookie in the other.  When I made my own pickles for the first time last summer, T was elated and started to refer to them as “Mama’s Pickles.”  The name stuck in our house and homemade dill pickles henceforth were known simply as Mama’s Pickles.

garden

One of the vegetables that I have planted in my garden this summer are pickling cucumbers (in addition to Marketmore cucumbers.)  The cucumbers have really taken off and are climbing all over my garden fence and the other plants.  I’ve already harvested quite a few of them so I knew it was time to make my first batch of Mama’s Pickles for the season, this time with my own homegrown pickling cucumbers!

Cucumber_plant

This recipe is very flexible and you can cut the cucumbers whichever way you see fit (spears, slices, whole, etc.)  T prefers “stick pickles”…his terms for pickle spears, so that is how I cut them for this first batch.  Feel free to halve this recipe or double as you see fit.

pickle ingredients

prepping pickles

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Mama's Pickles
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Prep time: 
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Ingredients
  • 1 bunch fresh dill
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed
  • 6-8 pickling cucumbers, washed and ends cuts off
  • 6 cups water
  • ¾ cup distilled white vinegar
  • 6 tablespoons kosher salt
Instructions
  1. Gather three to four clean mason jars and put a couple sprigs of the dill and some of the pressed garlic on the bottom of each jar. Next, slice the cucumbers up into spears, slices, or keep them whole depending upon your pickling preference. Place the cucumbers into the mason jars.
  2. In a large bowl with a spout or measuring cup, mix together the water, vinegar, and salt. Stir until the salt is fully dissolved. Pour the vinegar mixture into each mason jar until it fully covers the cucumbers. Place a few more sprigs of dill and more of the pressed garlic on top (if desired.) Screw on mason jar covers.
  3. Refrigerate for at least 2 days. Then, enjoy for breakfast, lunch, or dinner if you have the same love of pickles as my little guy!

Source: Slightly adapted from Annie’s Eats

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Caprese Pasta Salad

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caprese pasta salad

I’ve been too caught up in newborn/toddlerland to post for the past few weeks, but I’ve finally decided to hop back on the blogging train.  I haven’t been cooking too much lately as we’ve also been fortunate to have had a lot of meals brought to us each evening.  Baby N is pretty relaxed during the day, but things get a bit chaotic around dinnertime each night with him and T.  Yesterday, I had big plans to make this caprese pasta salad right after lunch today while both boys were sleeping.  However, T fought his nap big time, N woke up earlier than expected, and I spent any downtime I had trying to make our house look a little less like a scene from Hoarders.

I finally got a chance to start making this caprese pasta salad around 5 last night, but didn’t get a chance to start taking photos until 7 and I was losing natural light fast.  Baby N was a bit fussy so I had him in the Moby wrap while I was photographing.  Hence, these are not the most stylized or perfectly lit/focused photos.  But, I promise what my photos lack, this recipe makes up for in taste!

caprese pasta salad

This recipe combines two of my favorite types of summer salads: a good pasta salad made with fusilli and a caprese salad.  I love the bright flavor that the white balsamic vinegar brings to this recipe as well.  While I was making it, I was a bit concerned about using a half a cup of vinegar, but I think this is the ingredient that really makes this recipe shine.  This caprese pasta salad would be a delicious summer dish on its own or served on a side with a piece of grilled chicken or steak.

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Caprese Pasta Salad
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Cook time: 
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Ingredients
  • 4 cups fresh basil leaves
  • 1 pound fusilli pasta
  • ½ cup white balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, chopped into bite size pieces (you could also use small mozzarella balls)
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, chopped (I used a combination of the two)
  • 2 tablespoons capers, drained
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare an ice bath in a separate bowl Once water is boiling, blanche basil leaves for 30 seconds. Once they turn bright green, use a slotted spoon to add them to the ice bath. Drain well, squeezing out any excess liquid. Add basil to the bowl of a food processor.
  2. Using the same pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water until cool. Add drained pasta to a large bowl.
  3. Meanwhile, in the food processor, add the vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes, and pepper to the basil. Process for a few seconds. Continue to process and drizzle in the olive oil slowly through the top of the food processor until fully combined.
  4. Pour dressing over the top of the pasta. Add mozzarella, tomatoes, and capers. Stir together all ingredients until fully combines. Can be served immediately or refrigerated for up to 3 days.

 Source: Slightly adapted from Love and Olive Oil

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P.S. Happy, happy birthday to my favorite co‐blogger of all time!  That glass of rosé is for you!

Homemade Hot Dog Buns

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Homemade Hot Dog Buns

The other week, my boyfriend and I were craving the Chicago-style hot dogs that we experienced on our first trip to Chicago a few months ago.    We were reading recipes online and I found a recipe for homemade hot dog buns.   I got really excited about this because I have been wanting to make my own hot dog roll for some time now.  Also, I could easily make these homemade buns into some poppy seed buns that are required for Chicago hot dogs.

Although the hot dog bun recipe has poppy seeds on them, you can make these plain by skipping the topping instructions.   Bread-making wise, these are really easy to make and you won’t believe how good they taste!  Make them now and put them in the freezer for your Fourth of July party.  Your friends and family will be super impressed when you say “ Yeah I made these, no biggy!” (yes I totally just made up this scenario, but it could happen!)

Poppy Seed Hot Dog Buns

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Homemade Hot Dog Buns
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Serves: 8-10
 
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp. active dry yeast
  • ¼ cup warm water
  • 1 cups warm milk
  • 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 3 cups (plus more if needed) all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp. of cold water
  • 2 tbsp. poppy seeds (optional)
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together sugar, yeast, and warm water. Let the yeast mixture sit for 5 minutes. It should get foamy.
  2. Add in warm milk, vegetable oil, salt and 1 &1/2 cup of the flour to the yeast mixture. Mix on medium-high for about 2 minutes. Switch to the dough hook attachment and turn mixer onto low. Work in additional flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough come together and pulls away from sides of the bowl.
  3. Let the mixer go to 8-10 minutes on low to knead the dough.
  4. Oil a large bowl. Form dough into a ball and place into the oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with a clean towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. It should double in size.
  5. Ones the dough has risen, punch out the dough on to slightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 8-10 equal sized balls. (I used my kitchen scale and measured the dough to divide it. I also made 8 rolls and they were a little big for normal sized hot dogs.)
  6. Roll the dough balls into long rolls in your hands. You will want them to be about 4 and ½ inches long, then flatten each slightly with your palm.
  7. If using topping, sprinkle baking sheet with poppy seeds and lightly roll each dough piece in poppy seeds.
  8. Place the rolls on baking sheet so that they are equally spread out. Cover with towel and let rest for about 45 minutes.
  9. When there is 15 minutes left to the dough resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  10. Whisk together the egg and water in a small bowl to prepare egg wash. Brush the top of each roll with the egg wash and sprinkle each with poppy seeds (if using.)
  11. Place the roll in the oven and bake the rolls for 20 minutes. The roll will be lightly golden brown when done. Remove from baking sheet and let cool on wire rack
  12. When ready to serve rolls, slice lengthwise pulling the knife only ⅔ the way through, leaving other side closed. Store in airtight bag or container.

Source– Adapted slightly from Curvy Carrot

Chicago Style Hot Dog

Recipe for Chicago-style hot dogs to come!

Delicious Hot Dog Buns

 

Mmmmmm….
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