Seven-Day Pickles

We made this recipe for sweet pickles a few times when we lived in North Carolina. Their unique taste and crisp texture still lingers with me. Found this recipe again on cooks.com and revised it as per below.

Ingredients:

7 pounds cucumbers, washed.
Enough fresh cold water to cover the cucumbers
2 tablespoons salt
1 quart apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons pickling spice
8 cups sugar

Follow this seven-day process:

Day One:

Pack the cucumbers in a huge jar or food safe container. Cover with boiling water.

Cover the container and let it sit overnight.

DayTwo:through Day Four

Drain. Repeat day one each day for three days. Using fresh water every time.

Day Five

Drain. Trim off the ends of the cucumbers, then slice (a mandolin is best) into 1/4″ slices. (Note: we cut them into crayon-thin spears.)

Combine vinegar, salt, sugar and pickling spice. Bring liquid to boil and pour over cucumbers.

Cover and let it sit overnight.

Day Six:

Drain syrup and bring back to a boil

Pour this vinegar mixture over the cucumbers.

Cover and let it sit for 24 hours.

Day Seven:

Repeat Day Six.

Pack the pickles into sterilized jars – pints or quarts, whatever size you want, depending on how many you think you will eat in one sitting. (Not that you can’t keep these in the refrigerator or on the shelf for months.) Make up any shortfall of liquid by adding a little more vinegar ... just until the pickles are covered.

Cap the jars. 

Chill the pickles well before serving.

Caesar Salad ala Janina

Croutons:
One small loaf of crusty bread cut into 1" cubes. Toss with olive oil and toast for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with kosher (or sea) salt.

Lettuce:
One large head of Romaine lettuce. (Do not use packaged lettuce ... it often has an aftertaste.) Trimmed of darkest leaf ends, washed well and spun dry. Chop into bite sized pieces.

Dressing:
       1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
       2 tablespoons good mayonnaise
       1 teaspoon anchovy paste (if not using chopped up anchovies)
       1/2 cup good olive oil
       2 dashes of Tabasco sauce
       1 crushed large garlic clove
       1 tablespoon salt

Parmesan cheese:
       Grate a good half cup of fresh good real Parmesan cheese

Dress the lettuce with about half the dressing and cheese (and, if desired, 3 or 4 chopped-up anchovies). Just before serving add more dressing, cheese, and croutons. Toss well.

Bon Appetit!

Mom's Strawberry Sherbert

This dessert is so simple and so good.

Ingredients:
One quart good, ripe strawberries, destemmed and picked over
Three egg whites, stiffly beaten
Juice of one lemon
Simple syrup made with two cups sugar, three cups water -- boiled until well dissolved

Mash and combine berries, lemon juice with simple syrup and briefly continue to boil
Air-cool mixture and put in a freezer tray with the beaten egg whites on top
Place in freezer until almost frozen
Remove to a bowl and beat with (electric) mixer until light and frothy
Return to freezer (in tray) until fully frozen

Enjoy with, say, almond cookies.