July 31, 2008
NINETEEN YEARS AGO ALMOST TO THE DAY, I ate pickles for breakfast with lovely Dan Koshansky, a retired railroad conductor and an organic gardener in suburban Long Island. I was garden editor at Newsday newspaper then, and the beat included many a recipe tasting at harvest time. It’s how I learned to garden, and to cook from the garden: from people like Dan. Today, on our second of a series of weekly Thursday Food Fests in collaboration with Everyday Food’s Dinner Tonight blog, I want to share his recipe with you. Enjoy.
Dan Koshansky’s Refrigerator Pickles were a hand-me-down recipe from his mother. And they couldn’t be simpler. Those in the photo (top) are from a batch I made many years ago (photo by Kit Latham).
The recipe:
Wash jars: Run gallon canning jars through the dishwasher or wash thoroughly (smaller jars can be used if desired).
Prepare your brine: To each quart of water that has been boiled and brought to room temperature, add ¾ cup of distilled white vinegar and 4 Tablespoons Kosher salt (Dan would say “heaping Tablespoons”). Estimate how many quarts to make depending on how many jars you will pack with pickles. Note: Do not use reactive pots (like aluminum) for making brine. Stick with stainless and glass equipment for pickling tasks.
Wash and pack small cukes (or green tomatoes or peppers) into clean glass jars, into which fresh dill has been layered on the bottom first.
Add 1 Tablespoon of pickling spice and lots of chopped garlic. (Trust me, I can still recall the garlic-for-breakfast experience. Up to you how much. And frankly I never chop it, as you can see in the photo. Creative license!)
Add a dash of crushed red pepper flakes, or 1-2 small hot red peppers slitted open lengthwise, plus more fresh dill. I love having the flowerheads from a variety like ‘Mammoth,’ instead of just the foliage of ‘Fernleaf’ for this task, but you’ll want plenty of both.
Cover with plastic wrap and let stand out until soured, perhaps a couple of days, then refrigerate with lids on.
I think of these unprocessed pickles as a seasonal treat, So I make enough for a few months only. If you want to store pickles all year, use a recipe that calls for water-bath processing (meaning vacuum-sealed lids). It’s not that refrigerator pickles go bad, but they lose that special quality. It’s the crispy freshness that makes Dan Koshansky’s Refrigerator Pickles so fantastic, a real rite of the harvest season, so enjoy them summer-into-fall and then (as gardeners know how to by necessity) start looking forward to next year.
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HOW THIS CROSS-BLOG FOOD FEST WORKS:
Now go visit Deb and the Everyday Food folks to get yourself a good hearty zucchini entree or something, but not before you leave a tip or recipe behind here (or a link to your best food-gardening tip or recipe, if you’re a blogger). Thanks for attending our second weekly Food Fest…see you next Thursday for Beans (and Aug. 14 for Tomatoes…and…).
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50 Responses to “dan koshansky’s refrigerator pickles”
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Here’s my contribution to this food fest:
I tried to line up people way back in February to take my zucchini this summer. However I grow a lot of the round varieties like ‘Cue Ball’ so I have to explain, “it’s just zucchini”!
But I don’t give away a lot of cucumbers because I want to eat them all, even though they contain curcubitacin, in varying amounts, that can cause “gastric distress”!
My mouth is watering just thinking about making these. They look delish!
I love refrigerator pickles! So easy and satisfying. I’ve always just put them in the fridge as soon as the brine cooled, though. I’ll have to try leaving them out for a few days.
My tip: All that purslane you keep pulling out of your vegetable and flower beds doesn’t have to be tossed with the other weeds. You can eat it, too!
Welcome, Carol, and thank you for being the inspiration for this fest with your Bloom Day events.
@Kitt: Yes, I have also just put them in the fridge right away…but Dan’s way was to leave them out first. Again, creative license!
Happy Cucurbit Thursday, Margaret
from an inveterate summer squash fan. Not just zucchini, but also pale-skinned Lebanese cousa and old-fashioned, these-days-you-can’t-find-so-must-grow crookneck yellow squash.
My favorite zucchini variety (Romanesco), pictures of same, a favorite recipe for using it (crisp-crusted savory zucchini cake) and pictures of that, along with a few cooking and freezing tips are all in this last summer post: http://leslieland.com/blog/end-of-summer-squash.
Just taking you at your invitation’s word! And thanking you again for bringing fellow bloggers into the food fests.
Margaret ~ I love this idea!
Those refrigerator pickles look great and are different from the ones I make. But I really want to share my zucchini recipe for Mock Crab Cakes with you. Enjoy Everyone!
Welcome, Cindy. The “mock” part is really appealing for me, as I am a longtime vegetarian, and these look great. Thanks and come again soon.
Good morning, all! Come by The Bountiful Harvest and try a delicious lentil salad that uses both the zukes AND the cukes. Yum. And Margaret, I’m so glad you posted pickles–over here, we LOVE pickles.
Ah yes, Zucchini season! I’m growing Zuchetta Trombocino which is very interesting. It actually vines and could be trained up a trellis-plus it has a very long neck with a bulb at the end which has the seeds-so plenty of nice seed free meat.
Recently I blogged about a quick Zucchini soup that I threw together with items out of my pantry. It was delicious both hot and cold.
Last year I talked about what to do with too much Zucchini (make sure you read the comments, my readers had some fantastic ideas) and preserving the Zucchini harvest by canning sweet (bread and butter style) pickles.
I hate bitter cucumbers. Here are some tips on how to avoid them:
http://tinyurl.com/5klecz
Robin
Gardening Examiner
Pickles are one mine and my sisters’ favorite foods! I am going home to Iowa in about a week to see the lovely family, including my grandmother who is a gardening genius. One of the things she does with cucumbers is cut them up, but them with onions (another one of my favorite foods) and put them in the refrigerator for quite a few hours in a liquid (maybe vinegar?!) I think those are refrigerator pickles, right?
Hope she has some waiting for me. Thanks so much for this garden fest!
As I anxiously await friendly neighbours to feel free to deposit their harvest on my doorstep, I was so thrilled to come here on my daily visit and discover so many great recipes.
Here is one of my favourites, plus there are links in the post to more zucchini recipe suggestions.
Zucchini Ginger Scones
Fabulous Asian cucumber recipe is now posted on BumblebeeBlog:
http://tinyurl.com/6dyje5
And check out my Armenian Yardlong Cucumber!
Robin
Gardening Examiner
Welcome, Alison (and all of you). I hope your visit home is great, and includes refrigerator pickles (and yes, that’s what those are indeed…no processing in a canner of boiling water).
@All of you: Have been downstairs cooking all morning for company coming to see the garden and have lunch (not zukes and cukes, but chard-parsley-potato fritatta, warm potato salad w/green beans, roasted peppers w/parm). Of course a giant storm blew through and so there is also more sweeping to be done (over) and so on. And the table to set, and and and and and and …
Here at Purdyville we favor yellow crookneck squash over bona fide zucchini, but any summer squash will work in my recipes. I offer up a mix of kid-friendly main dishes and baked goods (including 2 kinds of chocolate zucchini cake), as well as a few firm opinions.
Ah…what to do with all those cukes?
One of the best things about summer
is cucumber vodka. A couple of years ago, I had one of the best cocktails ever at a restaurant called Equinox in Portland, OR. The most important ingredient is cucumber-infused vodka. It’s very simple - get a large jar (mine is about a gallon) and fill about a third full with thick cucumber slices. Top with the vodka of your choice. Let sit for at least several days, the longer the better.
For two drinks: 4 oz. cucumber vodka, juice from half a lime, and maple syrup to sweeten. We use the last ingredient because we make our own here in the Hudson Valley. Muddle some basil and add. Serve in a sugar rimmed glass.
Then, sit out on your deck and survey your garden and plan new projects.
An old Ukranium woman who I used to talk to on her rambles in Stanley Park used to say always to add a perfect grapevine leaf to the brine of each bottle of pickles. They ward against slimy pickles. Works like a charm especially if you are processing them for the cupboard shelf! I just use the concord grape leaves on my arbor.
Can’t wait for next week’s bean fest as my flat Italian climbers are the most delicious thing ever- they won my heart away from Scarlet runners.
Welcome, Bamboogrrrl. So basically what you are saying is that you, too, are making pickles…pickling the gardener. Later today you will find me LYING, not sitting after a glass of this) on the deck surveying my inner landscape. Love it. :)
When the long days of summer get hot and steamy and the vegetable bin in my refrigerator is overflowing with cucumbers, I like to make Cold Cucumber Soup With Watermelon. It is light and refreshing, easy to make, and most importantly, it uses up cucumbers quickly.
I blog about growing and cooking seasonal, local food. Look at my recent post The Cucumbers That Took Over My Garden for information about the varieties I have been successful growing. And for information about fighting cucumber beetles organically look at Cucumber Beetles. However some readers might find this posting objectionable, due to the violent nature of the content.
Welcome, Tamra, and thank you for the great food and gardening links. And as for the violent-content warning, I think you arte among (homicidal) friends when it comes to cuke beetles (and Japanese beetles, and slugs, and …).
Hello, Margaret,
I’ve been reading your blog for about a month and love the information and entertainment :). Today’s pickle recipe is one my grandmother used and passed along to my sisters and me…it brought back many wonderful memories of her garden and the resulting home canning. Thank you!
hi..i joined the party.. visit my blog http://www.napafarmhouse1885.blogspot.com for a roasted zucchini and tomato recipe with balsamic reduction..and a recipe for potato and zucchini hash browns…
Hi Margaret,
Here’s my favorite summer bounty recipe — zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, mozz, herbs, yum!
http://writingbyear.com/2008/07/31/whats-for-dinner/
How nice to be having a lovely luncheon during the week. Enjoy your guests!
Thank for your these summer Food Fests. I enjoy reading both A Way to Garden and Everyday Food’s Dinner Tonight. I’d like to contribute a recipe for Crock-Style Kosher Dill Pickles. Another refrigerator pickle recipe, yes, but we had fun experimenting with using grape leaves in this one.
http://www.eatingwellanywhere.com/?p=94
You’re always rubbing our arctic Zone 5A noses in your tropical Zone 5B abundance. Cukes? Zukes? What are they? We’d be lucky to be able to make fried squash blossoms this week. : )
However, in another couple of weeks we’ll make our notorious West Indian Burr Gherkin Pickles. (Or, as one friend calls them: “Brined Alien Pods” - for their spiny, ovoid appearance.)
We grow all our Cucurbitaceaes (”Cucurbitaceai?”, “Cucurbitaceases?”) along “Melon Lane” in the BEEKMAN 1802 Heirloom Vegetable Garden.
Luckily, our neighbors are proprietors of the venerable D Landreth Seed Company (http://www.landrethseeds.com/), which is the fifth oldest corporation in America, and has sold seeds to every president from George Washington to FDR. They supply almost all the seeds for our organic 52 bed Heirloom Garden - and even more valuably: the knowledge that keeps them growing.
This year we’re growing seven different heirloom varieties of cukes (and relatives) dating from 1793. We’re very excited about our first year growing Loofahs - which will extend our garden’s reach from the kitchen to the bath.
But right now, it’s all the stuff of vine-y dreams. At least for another couple of weeks. All of these submitted recipes sound delicious, and make our anticipation that much sweeter.
To take a “virtual walking tour” of the heirloom garden, stop by: http://beekman1802.com/The_BEEKMAN_1802_Heirloom_Garden.html.
(You’ll notice, however, that we’ve banished zucchini. as a kid, I spent too many hot Wisconsin summers hauling those zeppelins around in a wheelbarrow.)
Love all the cucumber fun! I was inspired to make a new salad for the Food Fest:
Cucumber Tomato Herb Salad
hi margaret,
i have zucchini in my garden, but have no idea what variety. my gardening friends and i save seeds we love and pass them to each other, with a description that says only big tomato, little tomato, zucchini, pepper, hot pepper, etc. it’s fun, gardening adventure! i’m sure some would find this completely unacceptable, but i dig it.
my favorite way of pulling a quick and yummy zucchini dish together for a summer bbq is to make fritters with them. i just hosted a bbq on saturday with a lebanese theme. i grated some up tossed with flour, eggs, feta and some spices, then tossed little balls into oil to fry. with a yogurt/mint sauce. yum.
cheers to you!
samantha
Welcome to all of you new faces! I promise to come back and give proper hellos once I go zooming around and see what’s up on all your blogs…
I got a few zucchini over the weekend, and my automatic response was to make zucchini bread. It may not be super original, but it’s always delicious. :)
Margaret, Mea Culpa, what was I thinking whining about cooks and receipes. The website today, as always, is fantastic. Here’s to cucumber vodka!
I knew you’d get plenty of scrumptious side dish and main course recipes, so I posted one of my favorite ways to drink my cucumbers: Minty Orange-Cucumber Water. I will be checking out all of the other sites. You can never have too many zuke and cuke recipes!
Wow! Talk about a bounty.
Welcomes, first: To Nancy O (I’m so glad the pickle conjured good memories; and Laura (grape leaves is a great addition, thank you!); and Josh (I am jealous of your vegetable set-up, to say the least…not to mention that CASTLE), and Brenda (thank you for making a recipe just for us). I hope to see you all regularly, or at least next Thursday for green beans…
This sounds like a wonderful recipe. Thanks for sharing it. This is my first year growing cucumbers and I have a small climbing variety. Great for pickles. Can’t wait to try this.
Mmmm, cucumber vodka! Now I know what to do with all those too-big-to-pickle cukes that are in my fridge. I make bread and butter pickles, not dills, but this year I may make up a batch and just keep them in a big jar in the fridge. I did that once before and they were good to the bottom of the jar (about 6 months around our house).
Here’s my contribution http://wellreadgardener.blogspot.com/
Thanks for hosting!
I’m a little late to the conversation, but wanted to share an interesting bit of pickle trivia. The wonderful cook who taught my mother and I to make pickles (Charlotte Goldstein) told us not to pick any cucumbers from the garden before she arrived on the day of our pickling lesson. She believed they should go from vine to brine as quickly as possible, and never be refrigerated prior to pickling. More importantly, she showed us how to harvest the cukes carefully and handle them gently to preserve their almost invisible powdery coating of fine white dust. She was adamant about never washing the cukes, and she poured the brine slowly as she filled the jars. She swore that this coating was a kind of natural preservative that kept the pickle crisper and brighter and tastier if left undisturbed. We never did double blind tastings, but her pickles were legendary and always had an especially fresh crisp bite. Modern standards of hygiene probably make it difficult to publish a recipe telling people not to wash their vegetables but organic gardener’s may want to try this with their own harvest……..
Welcome, Peter. You know, I believe every word that you wrote. I think my old friend of years ago, Dan Koshansky, would have said yes, yes, yes as well. Oh-oh, we will have the FDA or UDSA or RDA or DDT or ABC or BBC or somebody after us!
What the heck is pickling spice?
Hi, Gina. It’s a mix of things all packaged into one product, like dill seed I suppose, probably bay, pepper and red pepper, etc. Look for it in the spice section of the grocery store. It reminds me of how “poultry seasoning” comes pre-mixed, or the stuff I can’t recall the name of that you use to boil shrimp. Have a look next time you’re in the grocery. Just bought some tonight…
Gina, I had to google it, too. It’s a mixture of things like peppercorns, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, etc. Presumably you can buy it labeled as such, but I just threw together my own, since I had most of that stuff in my spice rack already.
I was coming back to post that I made some fridge pickles today, inspired by this post. (Photo here.)
Well, I bought a bunch of little cucumbers at the Great Barrington Farmers’ Market today, so refridgerator pickles here I come. Thanks for the inspiration.
I made my own pickling spice for the refrigerator pickles..was very easy:
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon cloves
3 or 4 dried red chilies
1″ (2.5 cm) piece dried ginger root
1″ (2.5 cm) piece cinnamon stick
3 dried bay leaves
I tied it all up in cheesecloth and infused the brine. Will let you know how the recipe turns out!
And hellos as well to “by proxy, Brent” !
As always, I post before I’m truly finished. In the above recipe, I backed off on the cloves (to about a teaspoon) and amped up the heat (put a healthy pinch of red pepper flakes in the jars).
Your mileage may vary.
Oh I just got some pretty jars from some jarred brandied cherries we used at work. I was JUST thinking about making pickles in them when I spotted your blog. It’s perfect! I’m going to make them today. I love pickles!
Welcome Eat Me Outta Here. Glad to suggest the recipe at the right time…but wish I’d been around in time for those brandied cherries. Yum.
Mother of GOD! I thought that photo showed pickled FROGS.
Sorry to disturb. Carry on.
@Elise: Absolutely no chance of that. Frogboy Mama might get pickled on the occasional occasion, but not the precious boys, not ever.
I followed this recipe and the pickles have been in the fridge for 4 days…when is it best to eat them?
Welcome, Christina. Depending on size of cukes, freshness, how long you kept them out before refrigerating…all these factors will affect the taste. Taste-test: I bet they’re already good, and will evolve as they age. Unlike hot-packed, vacuum-sealed pickles, they don’t stay at a consistent stage of taste/texture. So try some, and note when you think they’re best so you can have that information on hand next year when you use the recipe.
wow….they are amazing! thank you!