A Good Dish

making food simpler

Refrigerator Pickles Taste Great And Are Surprisingly Easy To Make

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Refrigerator Pickles
Folded Tray by Stuart Gair
Soda Fired Stoneware

Homemade refrigerator pickles pack a lot of punch for the small effort it takes to make them. Kirby cucumbers are perfect for pickling right now. When I spotted some at the farmers market last week, I bought 2 quarts and got to work. You will need some clean (either run through the dishwasher or washed with soap, well rinsed and briefly boiled) glass jars with lids, white vinegar, salt, garlic and pickling spices.

Kirby Cucumbers From Happenchance Farm Ready To Jar

Pickles and sauerkraut are having a moment, along with yogurt, kefir, kimchi and other fermented foods since they are high in pre and probiotics. Vinegar pickles are not but they taste good and have all the good qualities of the vegetables you use. Some pickles can be extremely salty but I have limited the salt in this recipe. The amount of salt you use is up to you. If you don’t like or can’t eat vinegar, make a salt brine using a ratio of 1 to 3 kosher salt to water and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Cukes and Spices
Awaiting Brine

I often see beautiful photos of homemade pickles in matching Ball jars but I just wash out and save glass jars from food or condiments we have eaten. They are good enough because I am not boiling and processing my pickles (too much heat in the kitchen), just refrigerating them. The spices will depend on your preferences. Start with mustard seeds, peppercorns and fresh dill and then see if you want to vary the flavor. Almost any spice seeds can work-coriander, fennel, celery, dill and cumin-plus bay leaves, fresh horseradish, ginger, turmeric, allspice and cloves are all good flavorings. If you don’t like garlic, just leave it out or substitute shallots. If you hate dill, use fresh thyme or another herb. Most pickle recipes call for sugar but I didn’t use any. For a touch of sweet, add a tablespoon to the brining liquid before boiling or, for really sweet (bread & butter style) pickles, add up to a cup of sugar. And you don’t have to stop at cucumbers. If you blanch them, carrots, daikon, sweet and hot peppers, beets and green beans all make delicious pickles. Make certain to pour the brine to the top of the jar to make sure the vegetables are completely covered. Then refrigerate 2-7 days, depending on how cured you want your pickles, and munch away.

Footed Folded Tray by Stuart Gair
Soda Fired Stoneware

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES

  • 8-12 Kirby cucumbers, enough to fill 2 wide mouth 12 oz or quart glass jars with lids
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds (I used black)
  • 1 tsp peppercorns (I used black)
  • 6-8 sprigs fresh dill
  • 3 cups white vinegar (cider vinegar will work but may discolor cukes)
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 tsp kosher salt

Combine vinegar, water and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer until salt is dissolved and set aside to cool while preparing vegetables.

Cut washed cucumbers into spears (or slices, if you prefer) and pack pretty tightly upright into clean glass jars.

Push garlic pieces and dill sprigs in between cucumbers.

Sprinkle in 1/2 tsp mustard seeds and 1/2 tsp peppercorns into each jar. I added a few allspice berries to each, as well.

Pour in somewhat cooled pickling liquid to fill jars, making sure cukes are immersed. Close with lids and refrigerate at least 2 and up to 7 days before eating, depending on how pickled you want them. Pickles, when under liquid, should keep in the fridge up to 2 months.

This recipe makes 2 jars of pickles but it could easily be doubled or halved, and you can use any size jars you like.

Jarred Refrigerator Pickles
Soda Fired Stoneware Teapot
by Stuart Gair
Drop Rim Bowl by Stuart Gair
Soda Fired Stoneware

Try Flageolet Beans For A Cold Main Course Salad – Just Right For A Hot Summer Day Meal Plus Leftovers

Flageolet bean salad
Hollow rectangular earthenware bowl
by Jerilyn Virden/Borealis Studios

When it is really hot out, as it has been and is likely to be for some weeks, I try to plan ahead and stock my refrigerator with cold bean salads. Why beans? Not only are they nutritious, inexpensive, full of fiber and shelf stable but they take on the flavor of whatever vinaigrette you use on them. My new favorite beans, flageolet, are a beautiful pale green and, although best known as a French side dish to lamb, they make a delicious bean salad. When soaked and simmered, flageolets hold their shape, probably the same reason they work so well in cassoulet-type dishes. I love their nearly celadon color before cooking, the creamy texture of the cooked beans and their ability to take on the flavor of almost any herb. They are sturdy enough to soak in a vinaigrette for a couple of days, after which they are most flavorful. And when you tire of the beans, which I never do, you can simply purée them, with their dressing, to make a dip.

These were delicious but
any white bean could work

To make my first flageolet salad, I followed the recipe from Rancho Gordo (one of the best things about ordering from them, besides how really fresh the beans are, is that they offer recipes for each ingredient they sell)) for a lemon vinaigrette with fresh thyme and garlic and ramped it up, using more garlic and juice plus the zest, adding chopped rosemary and fresh basil. If you are a lover of tarragon, you could use it for the herb, but not me, never. I added green olives for salinity, and to keep to the color scheme, but black olives would work fine.  If you can’t find flageolet beans, any white bean, like navy, great northern or even cannellini, could substitute, even if they won’t be as creamy. When we ate the beans the second day, I tossed in some chopped roasted red pepper to add volume and sweetness. I served it with a grain and balsamic tomatoes and cucumbers but just a green salad would have been sufficient.

Olives add flavor and texture
Olive dish by Jerilyn Virden

Like most bean dishes, this one is adaptable to your preferences and the ingredients you have available. If you see a cooler day in the forecast, soak the beans the night before and cook the beans in the morning, before it gets too hot. Then you can make the rest of the salad the next day to keep in the fridge for a couple of days for when it is too hot to cook. We had this salad on a day in the nineties and it was cool, filling and flavorful, a winning trifecta in my home. If you just can’t bear turning on your stove at all, open a couple of cans of white beans for this recipe and you’ll have a main course to chill in your fridge in no time.

Lemony flageolet bean salad
Earthenware bowl by Jerilyn Virden

FLAGEOLET SALAD

Whisk together:

  • 2 cloves garlic, grated or pressed
  • Zest of one lemon, about 1TBs
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2-3 TBs bean cooking liquid, optional
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1TBs rice vinegar (ume plum or sherry vinegar would work, too)
  • 1TBs fresh thyme leaves (stripped off stems) or 1 tsp dried
  • 1/2 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper

Place in a large bowl:

  • 6 cups cooked flageolet beans (about 1 lb dry)
  • 1/4 cup green olives, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
  • Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn or cut in ribbons

Pour vinaigrette over bean mixture and gently toss. Serve or refrigerator until ready to use. Serves 6.

Optional add-ins:

  • Roasted red pepper, chopped
  • Fresh bell or Jalapeno pepper, diced
  • Fresh radish, finely diced
  • Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • Grated Parmesan
  • Celery, diced or very thinly sliced
  • Capers
bottom (verso) of olive dish
by Jerilyn Virden
Water lilies

What To Do With All That Zucchini And Summer Squash? – Just Caramelize With Onions And Add Fresh Dill

Sautéed dilled squash
Earthenware bowl by Adero Willard

From the beginning of summer all the way into September, there is just too much zucchini and summer squash around. We get it in our CSA farm share but I see it overflowing bins at the farmer’s markets and in people’s gardens. What to do with all that squash? You can’t just eat it out of hand like a cucumber or green bean. You can bake it into loaves of bread or into pancakes or muffins but those projects almost always include sugar. I tried making them into noodles but not only did I cut myself badly in the process but I also didn’t enjoy the outcome. Occasionally I grate some into an omelet or salad but my husband, Brooks, hates it so much that I try not to sneak it on him. My standby for tackling a pile of green and yellow squash is to caramelize it with onions and top it off with a big handful of dill, fresh, if possible. We had it last night for dinner and Brooks actually said he enjoyed it!!

Onions just starting
to caramelize

What savory dish doesn’t taste good with caramelized onions? In this recipe, the taste is masked by the sweetness of the onions, the green of the dill and the brown sugar flavor of the caramelization. The more you caramelize both the onions and the squash, the better the whole dish will taste. My mother used to make this recipe, or something like it, with the mountains of zucchini either from her garden or from the bags of it friends and neighbors would give her. It was so much better than the soggy steamed or pulpy roasted with tomatoes recipes she made in an effort to use it all up. Don’t skimp on the size of your pan; the onions and squash will caramelize best in a large skillet. Try to use smaller, younger squashes rather than the larger, seedier, spongier beasts. Pattypan varieties work as well as the straight neck squash, but make sure to cut them in even, not too thick slices. Fresh dill works best but dry is acceptable. Just add the herb at the end of cooking so it stays fresh. And although you want caramelization, please, please don’t overcook the squash to a slushy mess. You can easily double the recipe and use up all your squash. Plus it tastes good leftover which means less cooking in hot weather, always a good thing.

Earthenware bowl interior
by Adero Willard

DILLED SQUASH WITH ONIONS

  • 2 TBs olive, avocado or grape seed oil
  • 1 large onion, (2 would be okay), peeled, halved and sliced
  • 3-4 small to medium zucchini or summer squash, cut in half moon slices
  • Big handful of chopped fresh dill (about 1/2 – 3/4 cup)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet. When hot, add the onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown. Be patient. Add squash slices and stir to combine. Cook, only stirring very occasionally, until squash starts to caramelize. (The more caramelization, the more flavor but don’t let the squash get stewed). Remove from heat; stir in dill and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

For a more substantial meal, add freshly grated Parmesan. Refrigerate leftovers and serve the next day at room temperature or briefly warmed. Serves 4-6 as a side dish.

Earthenware bowl exterior
by Adero Willard

The Americano Cocktail -Just When We Need An Easy and Refreshing Summer Drink

3 versions of an Americano cocktail
Kurinuki yunomi by Carey Nathanson

It was a long, difficult spring and summer is looking rough. The pandemic is far from over and we can’t let down our guard or our masks yet. We have much work ahead to learn to be more activeIy anti-racist and we must do all we can to push for change in November as a start. I don’t know about you but I need a drink. I actually felt too stressed to do a lot of drinking this spring but as I start to take some deeper breaths, I am craving some slightly buzzy refreshment. I have two requirements for summer cocktails – they need to be lighter than those we drink in cooler weather and they must be easy to make. Summer days get so warm that anything we imbibe needs to be cold and refreshing and when you are trying to stay hydrated, the last thing you need is an alcohol bomb. Save those for longer, colder nights. As for easy, keep it simple; You don’t want a long list of ingredients to measure out when you are already hot and thirsty!

Americano Ingredients
Vermouth heavy Americano
Porcelain yunomi by Carey Nathanson

My favorite summer drinks are heavy on tonic, soda water or some kind of citrus juice, cut with Prosecco or a light amaro and rarely include whiskey (which at other times of the year would be my base liquor of choice). One great summer cocktail is an Americano, equal parts Campari and sweet vermouth with fizzy water and a slice of citrus. The bitterness of the Campari is balanced by the sweetness of the vermouth (and vice versa) and the soda water lightens and brightens up the whole thing. The vermouth you choose will determine the flavor as some are sweeter and more one-dimensional while others are more layered and distinctive. My current faves are all Spanish: Atxa (complex and herbaceous), Priorat Natur (balanced and rose-like) and Vermut Lustau (sherry based and full of botanicals) although good old Martini & Rossi works just fine in a mixed drink, if that is what you have on hand. You can play around with the proportions depending on whether your preference, the classic being a one to one ratio. I tend toward more vermouth while my husband likes more Campari. If you want less bitter altogether, substitute Aperol for the Campari (although just plain Aperol and sparkling water is delicious, especially with a big wedge of orange). You can also vary the amount of soda water from a splash to a generous pour.  And I wouldn’t say no to a sprig of mint for freshness. What could be more American, in a good sense, than an eponymous drink composed from imported ingredients which, when combined, create a whole that is greater than its parts? And if you happened to squeeze the orange, lemon or lime slice/wedge before adding, so much the better. To healthier and cooler days ahead!

Campari heavy Americano
Stoneware yunomi by Carey Nathanson
Aperol and vermouth with soda water
Stoneware yunomi by Carey Nathanson
Americano cocktail
Stoneware yunomi by Carey Nathanson

Cold Sesame Noodles: A Simple, Spicy And Addictive Recipe That Is An Easy Fix On A Hot Summer Day

Sesame noodles with peas and shoots
Stoneware plate by Mary Barringer

The Upper West Side of Manhattan used to be home to loads of good Chinese restaurants. Every few blocks, there was another reliably decent spot. Unfortunately, with gentrification came rising rents. As a result, our favorite local Chinese restaurants, Empire Szechuan and Chun Cha Fu, have been closed for years and we’ve never found a satisfactory replacement in our neighborhood. We can always go to to Chinatown or Flushing but we sure do miss having a good local standby. 

Small stoneware plates
by Mary Barringer

I ate at Empire when I first moved to the Upper West Side, when I was dating my husband, with our son and my sister and her family and with my in-laws as well as with out-of-town guests. It was our go-to for delivery whenever I just couldn’t cook. Their spicy soups got me through a lot of colds in my 20’s. Chun Cha Fu (now Carmine’s) had banquet rooms that could serve 3 or 4 families at big round tables with an enormous turntable in the center for rotating dishes. My husband’s family ate there when he was a kid and my family went there with 2 others to celebrate our college graduation. In college, we often ate at the Cantonese style Moon Palace a few blocks from school, but once we discovered the sesame noodles (and everything else) at Empire, there was no turning back. That big plate of spicy and sweet cold noodles with a heap of julienned cucumber was my gateway dish to a whole other world of food. 

I like udon in this recipe
but spaghetti or Chinese egg noodles
or soba also work well

I recently got a craving for those noodles and since there isn’t a local Szechuan place I can reliably order from, I decided to recreate them as best I could. There are lots of sesame noodle recipes out there. Some use tahini and others peanut butter. Some include black tea, sriracha, garlic oil or sugar. I culled the ingredients that I thought would taste good and then added a splash of mirin, a Japanese rice wine that is definitely not traditional but gave a little sweetness without added sugar. I didn’t have cucumber so, since I am trying to make do with what I do have, I substituted frozen peas, scallions and some pea shoots I’ve been growing in a sunny window. (When I made it a second time, I added the more traditional cucumber but actually liked the peas better). I used udon noodles but spaghetti, egg or rice noodles would work, too. If you are not eating any flour or grain, I think this sauce would be delicious on broccoli, chicken skewers or baked tofu. I’m not sure I got the recipe just like Empire’s but on a hot day when I didn’t want to heat up the kitchen, these cold noodles took me down memory lane and hit the spot.

Sesame noodles with cucumbers
Stoneware plate by Mary Barringer

SPICY SESAME NOODLES 

Cook one 8 oz package of udon noodles according to directions (don’t overcook), drain, cool with cold water and set aside. Save a splash of the pasta water to thin the sauce.

For the sauce whisk together:

  • 1/3 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth or 1/4 cup tahini
  • 3 TBs soy sauce
  • 1 TBs neutral oil 
  • 1 TBs toasted sesame oil
  • 1TBs mirin
  • 1TBs rice or sherry vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp granulated garlic or 1TBs grated fresh garlic
  • 1 TBs grated ginger
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste (or chili oil or sriracha)

Loosen with a splash of the pasta water

Add noodles to sauce and toss to coat along with your choice of:

  • 1/2 cup frozen peas, blanched and cooled
  • 1 bell pepper, any color, julienned or diced
  • 2-3 scallions, thinly sliced
  • A big handful of pea shoots or bean sprouts
  • Cold cooked or blanched greens like arugula, watercress, spinach or kale
  • Even leftover broccoli could work in bite sized pieces

Top with your choice of:

  • Toasted sesame seeds
  • Chopped peanuts
  • Chopped fresh cilantro, parsley or mint
  • Julienned cucumber
  • Squeeze of lime juice
  • Thinly sliced or cubed baked tofu

Serves 3-4 people (or 2 if your son is hungry) and can be easily doubled to serve more or leave in the fridge to eat the next day. It makes a perfect picnic lunch.