Sweet and Hot Garlic Pickles

Do you have a pickle lover in the family? There's always at least one. This recipe may just convert the whole tribe with its sweet-but-spicy-garlic-dill essence. And the garlic....oh, I think the garlic slices are the best part! The most difficult step of this whole process is having to wait several days for the flavors to mature. After a week or two, they go from great . . . to incredible . . . to  addictive. Put a bowl of these green babies on a picnic table in the summer and watch them disappear! Look no further for a half-time snack than these little jewels. Wives will be hounding you for the recipe. 

• 1, 16 ounce jar sliced dill pickles (I use Heinz Hamburger Dill Chips)
• White, granulated sugar
• Peeled and sliced garlic, at least four large cloves
• Tabasco sauce or similar hot sauce

Process:

Drain the pickles but do not rinse. Either using the same, rinsed-out jar, or canning jars, begin layering. First place a layer of pickles, then some sliced garlic, then a layer of sugar. Now sprinkle with several shots of Tabasco sauce. Continue layering until you've used up all the pickles. Screw on the lid and place upside down in the refrigerator. Every once-in-a-while, turn the jar. It will begin to make its own juices from the sugar. BUT they won't be at their peak for at least 3-5 days. 

I place the pickles in two pint jelly jars. To each layer, I sprinkle about 2 teaspoons sugar, 4 slices of garlic, 3-5 drops of Tabasco sauce. When done, I sprinkle the top with one tablespoon of sugar. Remember, you can always make them hotter, but you can't take away the hot you've already created. After several hours, shake and taste for "heat."

These are great served alongside chili.

Any size jar of sliced pickles will do.
Adjust garlic, sugar and Tabasco to taste.

Fines Herbes

One of my favorite herb combinations is the French classic fines herbes (pronounced feen airbs). It is a combination of equal parts of parsley, chervil, tarragon and chives. The fragrance is at once spring-fresh and "green." The flavor is clean with a rich simplicity that literally adorns the simplest of dishes such as eggs or a simple bechamel sauce. On chicken, it's bliss. In fact, Colonel Sanders used fines herbes in his "original" Kentucky Fried Chicken.

One tablespoon of each of the dried herbs will yield about one-fourth cup. (You can also
weigh them for more accurate equal parts. I usually buy small packets as close to the same amount of ounces.)

When I lived in Michigan, I was fortunate to live in a town that actually had a spice shop. They were more than pleased to mix me up a batch of fresh fines herbes. Now I grow my own during the summer and allow them to dry and then crumble them before putting them up in a jar. 

I avoid pre-packaged fines herbes. They often contain other ingredients including dill, lemon, and sage.

Dried herbs and spices are not cheap. When I have to buy packets of fresh herbs in the grocery store, I don't throw away what I don't use. I layer them between pieces of clean paper towel and allow them to dry before storing in small containers.

Suggested Uses For Fines Herbes:

~~Sprinkle in eggs before cooking, such as scrambled eggs. Before folding an omelet, sprinkle on top along with Gruyere cheese.

~~Add to melted butter and drizzle over fresh asparagus or white fish.

~~Add to mussel liquor and spoon over fresh mussels.

~~Add to sauteed mushrooms along with a splash of dry, white wine and butter. Use leftovers to fill an omelette along with some cheese!

~~Lightly coat chicken pieces with seasoned flour and brown in a cast iron skillet with a bit of butter and olive oil. Finish in the oven. Ten minutes or so before done, sprinkle liberally with fines herbes and a squeeze or two of fresh lemon. Remove chicken and add a bit of chicken stock or water to pan to make a quick sauce, adding more butter and herbs if necessary. Spoon over chicken and serve.

~~Sprinkle in olive oil and brush liberally on chicken breasts. Bake until done. Serve with a lemon wedge.

~~Sprinkle fresh salmon filets with a bit of garlic powder, Old Bay's, Fines Herbes, and dried dill. Drizzle with olive oil and bake until done.

Here's one of my favorite ways to use them with chicken tenders:
Crusty Chicken Parmesan Tenders with Fines Herbes

Once you are familiar and comfortable with this herb combination, you will find uses all your own!

Biscuits!

There's a reason the South is known for its flaky, tender, buttery biscuits. It's all about the flour. Yea, the white stuff. It's just one more thing that separates the North from the South. Wheat, that is. In the frigid North, hard-grained wheat grows best and produces a high-gluten flour that is perfect for bread making. But not so in the South. Here, there ain't no winter. And there ain't no 'winter wheat.' We have what is called "soft" wheat that produces a very soft, almost powder-like, low-gluten flour that is perfect for cakes .... and biscuits!

 

The premiere "baking" flour here is called "White Lily." (Don't you love the name? How could you not love it? It sounds like something out of a Tennessee Williams play! Whenever I say it, I pronounce it with a slight drawl.) It is made from soft winter wheat but is not without controversy. Milled in Knoxville, Tennessee since 1883, it was purchased by the Smucker's Company and milling was moved to the Midwest. Connoisseurs say they can tell a difference.

Be that as it may, it is still a very, very light flour. If you can't find it, the closest thing is cake flour, and I have a biscuit recipe for that, too.

 

I do not use buttermilk in the biscuits only because a) it's expensive b) it sits in the fridge forever and ends up going bad and c) it's getting more and more difficult to find real buttermilk--most is "reduced fat." If I have cream or Half-and-Half, I use it.

And now a word about lard. I use it. The newer lards are much healthier then they used to be. I use Armour brand. I use it in biscuits, pie crusts, and to grease bread pans. One tablespoon of lard has 10 mg of cholesterol. By contrast, one tablespoon of butter has 30mg of cholesterol. What about fat content? Well, one tablespoon of lard has 13% fat, of which six is saturated fat. By contrast, one tablespoon of butter has 11% fat, of which seven is from saturated fat.

One tablespoon of Crisco all-vegetable shortening is 12g of total fat of which 3 is saturated fat but contains no cholesterol. If you are dead-set against lard, use Crisco.

Whatever fats you choose, they should be cold, cold, cold. Over-working the dough is the downfall, literally, of biscuits. They less you handle it, the better. Unless you are making a huge quantity of biscuits, just gently pat the dough into shape. I go for about 3/4-inch thick.

Cut the dough with a biscuit cutter which has high sides. If you use a glass, make sure it is thin, such as a wine glass, and do not twist it. You do not want to "smooth" the sides of the dough. To do so will prevent them from rising and flaking. You may also use a sharp knife and cut dough into squares--which I do more and more.

 

A biscuit cutter is high-sided
to accommodate the height of the  dough.
Mine is fluted and gives a nice crispness
to each biscuit.

Do not begin making the dough until your oven is preheated. And be sure to brush the baked biscuits with melted butter. The untold rule is that biscuits should be served HOT and within 2-5 minutes of being removed from the oven.

If you choose to freeze the biscuit dough: place unbaked biscuits on a cookie sheet and freeze. When they are solid, place in a plastic bag and seal after letting air out. Bake a few minutes longer.

Biscuits

• 2 cups White Lily Self-Rising flour
• 2 tablespoons cold lard
• 2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2/3 - 3/4 cup milk, buttermilk, Half-and-Half

Heat oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.

Blend the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Using a knife, cut nubs of butter into the flour. Do the same for the lard. Toss to coat with flour. Using a pastry blender cut in the lard and butter until lumps begin to form, some the size of small peas. Do not over mix. Do not use your hands to mix the dough since their heat will begin to melt the butter and lard. Using the lesser amount of liquid, begin adding while "cutting" it in with knife, fork or small spatula. Try to avoid "mixing." Add more liquid if necessary just until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and gently knead 2-3 times. That's it. Don't worry if some "cracks" are on surface. Pat into 3/4-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch round biscuits.

For crisp biscuits, place one-inch apart on foiled baking sheet. For soft-sided biscuits, place closer together. Bake for 8-10 minutes checking after 8 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and while hot brush with melted butter.

Makes about 10 biscuits. Recipe is easily halved.

...............................................................................................................

Before I had access to White Lily Flour, I made these biscuits from my grandmother's old cookbook. Follow the same directions as above.


Cake-Flour Biscuits

• 2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons chilled lard
• 2 tablespoons chilled butter
• 3/4 cup (about) milk or "rich milk" which means cream

My antique pastry cutters from England.

Notes: Be sure your baking powder is fresh. I use aluminum-free and store mine in the freezer. When I make peach and raspberry cobbler, I top it with these unbaked biscuits and sprinkle with a bit of sugar before baking. The bottom absorbs the fruit juice and the top is all  nice and brown.

Creamy Shrimp Pasta

It's rare that I don't "tweak" or change a recipe. But this unadulterated shrimp recipe by Dave Lieberman is superb as is. And it's pretty simple, too. Unlike an "Alfredo sauce," it doesn't use cheese, just cream. The only thing I do differently is to sprinkle each plateful with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese. For 2-3 people, I usually half the recipe but use 3 cloves of the garlic.

Beef is now so expensive, it's actually cheaper for me to purchase one-half pound fresh shrimp in-the-shell from the seafood counter at my grocery store than to buy a New York strip steak. Look for shrimp that is already "deveined" and "cut" so all you have to do is peel off the shell. It's important not to overcook shrimp. As soon as it turns a bright coral color, it's done. 

• 1 pound dried fettuccine (I've also used spaghetti)
• Olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 5 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 20 grinds fresh black pepper
• 1 pound peeled, de-veined shrimp*
• 2 tablespoons finely-chopped parsley
• Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water until "al dente," about 7 minutes. Drain. Toss with a bit of olive oil to prevent it from sticking while preparing the sauce.

In a large skillet, combine the cream, wine, garlic, and black pepper and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce to medium heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Now add the shrimp and cook, about 3-5 minutes, depending on size of shrimp, just until they turn color. Toss the sauce with the pasta and the chopped parsley. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and, for garnish, a lemon wedge. (Purists would never add cheese to fish.)

Now, how easy was that!?

Notes: I usually begin on the sauce before I begin the pasta. Sometimes it takes longer than 10 minutes to thicken up. And sometimes I just make it real real slow adding a bit of extra cream and wine now and then to get it nice and thick. If it gets too thick, you can just add a bit of the hot pasta water after you make the pasta. Sometimes I add just a bit more garlic right before I add the shrimp. This is quite versatile. When you add the shrimp, go ahead and add some halved grape tomatoes and cut up fresh basil instead of the parsley.


If you like this recipe and for more tips about making the sauce, check out the following recipe:  Kitchen Bounty: salmon with shrimp sauce over pasta

*If the shrimp are unusually large, slice down the center. It keeps the shape intact but makes it easier to eat.