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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: 
Total time: 
 
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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Chicago-Style Hot Dogs

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Chicago-Style Hot Dog

As I mentioned in my post about Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and my homemade hot dog bun recipe, my entire family met up in Chicago for my cousin’s wedding a few months ago.  My boyfriend and I had some time to walk around before the rehearsal dinner, so we set out to find hot dogs “dragged through the garden”  (or a hot dog with everything as I now call them).

Chicago Style Hot Dog

Chicago-style hot dogs (with everything) are a delicious steamed hot dog on a steamed poppy seed bun, then topped with mustard, relish, chopped onions, a slice of dill pickle, tomato wedges, sport peppers, and celery salt.   They are quite an amazing concoction and I had been craving them since our trip.   After discovering the recipe for hot dog buns with poppy seeds, I decided that we could try to recreate them.

I am obsessed with dill pickles (Claussen is the only type people- let’s get serious here) so I happened to have them on hand, as well as sweet green relish, onions, mustard, tomatoes and celery salt.   I ran out to the store and picked up some Nathan’s Original beef hot dogs, since the Chicago Vienna hot dogs with natural casing are not available around here.  Nathan’s is an East coast brand, but for some reason they carry them out here which I am thankful for. I couldn’t find sport peppers either so I picked up some pepperoncini peppers and sliced them on top.  I know this isn’t the traditional pepper, but I think these ingredients are hard to find outside of the Chicago area.

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Chicago-Style Hot Dogs
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Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • 2 all beef hot dogs
  • 2 poppy seed hot dog buns
  • yellow mustard
  • sweet green relish
  • yellow onions, chopped
  • 2 dill pickle spears (Claussen)
  • 4 tomato wedges
  • celery salt
  • sport peppers, or pepperoncini peppers if you live outside the Chicago area
Instructions
  1. In a medium sauce pan, add ½ inch of water to the pan. Heat on medium until a small simmer starts. Add in the hot dogs and cook for about 8 minutes rolling them back and forth every few minutes.
  2. Once hot dogs are cooked take out them out and set aside. Place a steaming basket or metal colander above the water. Place hot dog buns in the steaming basket/colander for a minute or two, covering, until steamed and softened.
  3. Add the hot dogs to the buns. Top with mustard, onions, and green relish (all to your liking) Stick a dill pickle spear on one side between the hot dog and bun, then on the other side wedge the tomato wedges. Top with sport peppers or sliced pepperoncini and finish with celery salt.

Delicious Hot Dog Buns

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