When it comes to pickles, I’m just a tad finicky. Sorry to all you sweet pickle lovers, but when talking about cucumbers, I like them dilly, salty and sour. Hold the yellow 5 and polysorbate 80.

Rebecca’s recipe for Homemade Claussen Knock-Off Pickles seemed perfect to me: natural ingredients and (best of all) no canning required. You simply pour a brine over your cucumbers and let sit until soured.

Sounds too easy, eh? Let me show you how it’s done.

Start with some awesome ingredients: pickling cucumbers (I grew them myself. *proud moment*), fresh dill heads or dried dill seeds, garlic, cold water (not shown), cider vinegar, canning or kosher salt (I used sea salt—don’t use iodized salt!) and mixed pickling spices.

Wash your cucumbers—I like crunchy pickles, but not crunchy with dirt.

 
 
 

Cut a bit off of the blossom end.

If you let some of your cucumbers grow too long, no worries. Simply slice them crosswise—perfect for sandwiches!

Layer the garlic …

Dill heads …

And cucumbers in jars.

Now make your brine: pour your water into a big measuring cup. Add the vinegar …

Salt …

 
 
 

And pickling spices.

Whisk until the salt is dissolved.

Pour the brine over the cucumbers. Make sure you get some of the pickling spices in each jar!

Cover lightly with the jar lid and place a piece of cheesecloth over the top (secured with a rubber band) so no pesky fruit flies can get to your precious pickles.

Leave on the counter, out of direct sunlight, for 2-4 days, or until the cucumbers taste like pickles!

Cover tightly with lids and refrigerate. These will keep, chilled, for up to six months.

Recipe Notes:

1. I love these pickles – so much more fresh tasting than canned! And way more affordable than those yummy ones you get at the healthfood store.

2. Reuben thinks these are great, but when my brother-in-law tasted them, he didn’t like them at all. Refrigerator pickles should be sweet, in his book. To each his own.

3. Don’t worry if your pickles develop “fuzz”—simply scoop any fuzz off of the brine and get rid of any pickles that are affected. No need to throw out the whole jar!

Thanks so much to Rebecca for sharing these tasty little treats with us. You should also check out her blog, Foodie with Family, where she shares many more awesome recipes. These Grilled Spare Ribs look ah-mazing.

Printable Recipe

Homemade Claussen Knock-Off Pickles

by Rebecca on July 22, 2011 in Homemade Ingredients July 22, 2011 Homemade Ingredients

See post on Rebecca’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 3 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: -

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 24

Share f a e

24

• Print
• Leave a comment
• write a review

x

Print Options

Page size

Letter 3x5 4x6

Text Size

Small Medium Large

Content

Include description
Include prep time, etc.
Show image

Print

Description

Always crunchy and garlicky, this perfect homemade pickle requires no special equipment, no canning experience and tastes just like Claussen’s refrigerated kosher dill pickles.

Ingredients

• 35 whole To 45 Whole Small To Medium Sized Pickling Cucumbers
• 4 heads Fresh Dill Or 4 Tablespoons Dried Dill Seed (not Weed!)
• 4 cloves Garlic, Or More To Taste (I Usually Use Double The Amount)
• 1 gallon Cold Water
• 1 cup Cider Vinegar
• ⅔ cups Canning Or Kosher Salt (do Not Use Iodized Salt!)
• 2 Tablespoons Mixed Pickling Spices

Preparation Instructions

Wash cucumbers but do not scrub them. Trim 1/8-inch from the blossom end of each cucumber and slice in half lengthwise or into quarters, depending on how large your cucumbers are and how big you want them to be when they’re done.

In a gallon jar (or large, wide-mouth, food-safe container) layer the dill heads or seed, garlic cloves and sliced cucumbers.

In a separate pitcher or bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients until the salt is dissolved.

Pour the brine over the cucumbers, taking care to make sure all of them are fully submerged. If needed, place a plate or mug or other non-reactive heavy item on top of the cucumbers to weigh them down and keep them under the brine!

Cover lightly with a lid just perched on top or secure a piece of cheesecloth over the jar with a rubber band to keep fruit flies away.

Leave out of direct sunlight on the counter for two to four days*, or until the cucumbers taste like pickles throughout.

Then, fix your lid onto your jar or container and chill the pickles. These can be stored in the refrigerator for up to six months provided you keep them covered with brine.

Note: If at any point in the proceedings “fuzz” or “foam” develops on top of the brine, use a spoon to remove it. If there is “fuzz” attached to any of the cucumbers, remove the ones affected and be sure the others are still fully submerged.

Cover the jar lightly but do not screw a lid into place!

 
 
_______________________________________

Newly-married Erica Kastner shares her wonderful recipes and amazing food photography on her blog, Cooking for Seven. She also writes about crafts and posts more of her beautiful photography in her personal blog, EricaLea.com. There really isn’t much that this amazing young lady can’t do, and we’re thrilled she does some of it here.

 
One of the joys of late spring and early summer is the abundance of rhubarb at the markets and in my neighbors’ backyards. Okay, those neighbors haven’t actually offered to share their rhubarb with me yet, but perhaps I could bribe them with a couple of rhubarb desserts or, better yet, one of these knock-you-on-your butt, tasty Rhubarb Margaritas.

Tasty Kitchen member Gaby (who is also a TK Blog contributor) knew what she was doing when she made a simple syrup out of fresh rhubarb and mixed it with fresh orange and lime juices, and kicked it up with tequila and cointreau. Quite honestly, these are some of the best margaritas I’ve ever tasted. They are not to be missed.

Let’s start mixing.

These are all the ingredients you’re going to need to mix up this naughty little concoction.

The first step is to make the rhubarb simple syrup. Just wait until you see how pretty it is! Chop up the stalks of rhubarb.

Toss them into a saucepan, along with some sugar and water. Bring the mixture to a rolling bowl, stirring occasionally. I actually turned down the heat to medium (though Gaby doesn’t require that in her recipe). Cook for 10 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved and the rhubarb releases all of its color.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing down on the rhubarb to release all of the syrup.

Just look at that syrup. Didn’t I tell you it was pretty?

Squeeze the oranges and a lime and combine the juice into a martini shaker. I strained the juice first to get rid of the pulp but that step isn’t absolutely necessary.

Now here’s where things get dangerous. Pour the tequila and cointreau into the martini shaker.

Pour in some of the rhubarb syrup. Give it all a good shake, then add the club soda. The recipe calls for adding the club soda first, but I’ve had experience with shaking club soda and it wasn’t pretty. I decided to play it safe.

Pour the cocktail into two margarita glasses.

It’s cocktail hour, folks!

Thanks so much to Gaby for this recipe. Be sure to check out Gaby’s blog, What’s Gaby Cooking. Not only can she mix a mean cocktail, but Gaby is also the queen of all things avocado and guacamole.

Printable Recipe

Rhubarb Margaritas

by whatsgabycooking on May 13, 2011 in Cocktails, Drinks May 13, 2011 CocktailsDrinks

See post on whatsgabycooking’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 2

Share f a e

2

• Print
• Leave a comment
• write a review

x

Print Options

Page size

Letter 3x5 4x6

Text Size

Small Medium Large

Content

Include description
Include prep time, etc.
Show image

Print

Description

A delicious margarita made with rhubarb!

Ingredients

• FOR THE SIMPLE SYRUP:
• 1 cup Water
• 1 cup Sugar
• 4 stalks Rhubarb
• _____
• FOR THE MARGARITA:
• 2 whole Oranges, Juiced
• 1 whole Lime, Juiced
• 4 ounces, fluid Tequila
• 2 ounces, fluid Cointreau
• 4 ounces, fluid Club Soda
• 4 ounces, fluid Rhubarb Simple Syrup

Preparation Instructions

For the simple syrup: combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan with the chopped rhubarb. Bring to a rolling boil and let cook for 10 minutes until the sugar is dissolved the the rhubarb has released its color and flavor. Remove from stove and set aside to cool. (Makes 1 cup syrup. You will only need 4 ounces for 2 margaritas.)

For the rhubarb margarita: Combine the freshly squeeze orange and lime juice with tequila, cointreau, club soda and simple syrup. Shake in a cocktail shaker for 10 seconds and then serve.

Makes 2 very large rhubarb margaritas.

 
 
_______________________________________

Dara Michalski is a doll and a sweetheart who clearly knows her way around the kitchen. She blogs at Cookin’ Canuck, where she shares her flavor-packed recipes and fun, engaging writing. The photography’s pretty incredible, too.

 
Cauliflower, to me, is a humble vegetable. It’s rarely the star of the meal, it doesn’t have a flashy color or a strong flavor, and let’s face it—its complexion could use some work. Despite its frumpy characteristics, cauliflower has a few tricks up its sleeve. Case in point: this Roasted Cauliflower Soup with White Cheddar Cheese recipe submitted by TK member hailskitchen. Pureeing the cauliflower creates the illusion of a creamy soup without the added richness from cream. Not only did this soup taste great, it was simultaneously light yet rich tasting.

Okay, it does have cheese, too. But if you use a sharp white cheddar, you might not need as much. (If you’re concerned with such things. I wasn’t one of those who swore off cheese-laden foods this year.)

For the soup you’ll need a nice, big head of cauliflower, shallots, fresh garlic, fresh thyme, shredded white cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, olive oil, and chicken (or vegetable) broth.

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Then prep the cauliflower. I like to turn it upside down and make a few slashes in the bottom to get the tough stem out and remove the leaves.

I also like to quarter the head before breaking it down into florets. It’s easier to manage than a giant head.

Once you have it broken down, toss it onto a large rimmed baking sheet.

Next, peel the shallots and garlic. If you lay your knife on the garlic and give it a whack with the palm of your hand, the peel comes right off. Don’t chop them too small. Quartering the shallots and cutting the garlic in half ought to do it.

Add the prepped shallots and garlic to the cauliflower on the baking sheet. Drizzle liberally with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and stick it in that screaming hot oven.

After 40-50 minutes it should look like this. See those dark, caramelized pieces? Roasting should be a part of all vegetable preparation, in my opinion. That’s how I got myself to like Brussels sprouts. Try it.

Transfer all of that roasted goodness to a big pot. (I doubled the batch, which is why it looks like my cauliflower suddenly reproduced.) Pour in half of the chicken broth—it makes pureeing much easier.

If you have an immersion or stick blender, this will be a snap. Just stick it in and start buzzing it around. If you don’t have one, go buy one. If you can’t go buy one, you can ladle the mixture into a blender and process in batches, returning it back into the pot when you’re finished.

Back to blending. You can leave it a bit chunky if you like. I made it this way the first time and I liked a few chunks. But I found that the texture was really odd.

So this time I blended it even more until it was smoother. I liked it better that way.

Place the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

While the soup simmers away, get your thyme ready. Grab it at the top with one hand, and with the other hand, pinch toward the top and pull down the stem to remove leaves.

Give them a quick chop if you like. This is just my personal preference, but I found the soup to be really “thyme-y”, so I reduced the measurement by half the second time I made it. The thyme really sings in this soup.

When the soup is done simmering, cut the heat and add the thyme and shredded cheese. Season to taste with a generous dose of salt and black pepper.

Time to serve it up with crusty bread or biscuits and a fresh salad! One of my favorite things about this recipe is that the steps can be broken up to accommodate your schedule. Roast the vegetables a day or two ahead and when you’re ready to prepare the soup, it’ll be ready in under 30 minutes.

 
Thanks Hailey for a unique and delicious soup! Visit her beautiful blog, Hail’s Kitchen, for more of her great recipes.

Printable Recipe

Roasted Cauliflower Soup with White Cheddar Cheese

by hailskitchen on November 16, 2010 in Creamy Soups, Soups November 16, 2010 Creamy SoupsSoups

See post on hailskitchen’s site!

4.40 Mitt(s) 5 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 50 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4

Share f a e

4

• Print
• Leave a comment
• write a review

x

Print Options

Page size

Letter 3x5 4x6

Text Size

Small Medium Large

Content

Include description
Include prep time, etc.
Show image

Print

Description

This light soup is surprisingly rich and hearty. Perfect for the change in the weather!

Ingredients

• 1 head Cauliflower, Roughly Chopped
• 2 whole Shallots, Roughly Chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, Roughly Chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 4 cups Chicken Broth
• 1-½ cup White Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme, Chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Coarse Salt

Preparation Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On a cookie sheet, drizzle the cauliflower, shallots and garlic with the olive oil and season with coarse salt. Roast for about 40 minutes or until the cauliflower is fork-tender.

Carefully place the vegetables in a food processor or blender and roughly puree. Texture is good, large chunks are not so good. Place the vegetables in a pot along with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about ten minutes. Add the cheese, thyme and a good dose of black pepper. Season to taste with salt. Serve with warm, crusty bread and enjoy!

 
 
_______________________________________

Be sure to check out Natalie’s own beautiful food blog, Perrys’ Plate, where you can see her growing collection of lovely recipes. There’s always something new to see there. Go visit now!

   I have a thing for meatloaf. My grandmother made it so well that it has always held a special place in my heart. I was so intrigued by the idea of using a meatloaf recipe to stuff into peppers, so I had to try this recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Meatloaf from Tasty […]

  It all started when I went off searching for a pizza sauce. I wanted, no needed a sauce with flavor, flair … and with roasted red peppers. So I typed in the words “roasted red pepper pizza sauce” into the Google search bar on my desktop, and wouldn’t you know it, up popped the […]

  Is there anything that epitomizes autumn more than soup made of sweet potato or butternut squash? After a brisk walk through crunchy leaves, bright colors muted and cheeks pink with the chill, nothing warms you to your toes more than a bowl of hearty soup. And the beauty of this Roasted Sweet Potato & […]

  Every year, the tomatoes catch me by surprise. One day I’ll head out to peruse the garden for gorgeous produce to pluck from the vine and … nothing. A couple of days later, I swear that the vines are practically drooping with ruby red tomatoes. If I want my share, I have to move […]