A delicacy in the South is bread & butter pickles. Instead of sour dill pickles, these are super-sweet with a slight bitter taste. Why they are called bread and butter I have no idea, as they have neither.
I found some pickles recently by a local canner that mixes jalapeños & cucumbers. Superb! Sweet, spicy, and sour. As a sidenote, homemade pickles are always better–store brands are nearly always soggy and rubbery because they’ve been canned for too long. Pickles should be crunchy!
Here’s an easy recipe. These are great by themselves, on a tapas platter with olives and cheese, or finely chopped on a grilled bratwurst/tofu dog with some mustard.
- 3 cups sugar
- 3 cups vinegar
- 1/3 cup canning salt
- 1 tbsp mustard seed
- 1 tbsp celery ceed
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 10 Sliced cucumbers
- 20 Sliced jalapeños (or jar of canned for not-as-spicy)
Wash cucumbers and slice thin. Layer in glass jars with onion and jalapeños. Combine sugar, vinegar, salt, mustard seed, celery seed and turmeric. Heat slightly until sugar is dissolved. Let cool, then pour over cucumber and jalapeño slices. Cover and keep refrigerated. Let stand a day before starting to use.
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