Vegetables | onedadskitchen

A Meal of One’s Own – Apple, Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash

As tempting as it might be to make big ,filling meals all of the time like meatloaf, fried chicken, burgers and the like, sometimes you need something a bit more on a little bit lighter for dinner. Dinners like warm chicken salad or other refreshing salads seem to go well with warmer weather and the summer and fall weather is a great opportunity to not only do things with soups but also with all of the great winter squash that is available. A lot of the squash you find can serve as a great vehicle not only as the vegetable of your dish but also as part of the serving and presentation. My favorite thing is to try to do this with acorn squash. You can get them at just the right size so that when they are halved they make a great serving bowl all of their own that you can eat practically all the way through. Naturally, you want to be able to fill the squash with some great ingredients and I took a cue from this recipe at The Pretend Baker and took the opportunity to not only use some of her ingredients but add my own and use up some of the leftover wild rice we had from a previous meal.

Apple, Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash

2 medium acorn squashes

2 tablespoons butter, plus more if necessary

1 pound pork sausage, casings removed

1 large sweet onion

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 medium apple, peeled, cored and diced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, minced

1/2 cup cooked wild rice

1 large egg, beaten

Salt and pepper, to taste

¾ cup shredded white cheddar, mozzarella or Gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squashes in half, remove the seeds and place the squash halves on a baking dish, cut side down, and roast them for about 30 to 45 minutes or until the flesh is easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove the squash from the oven, turn the temperature down to 375 degrees, flip the squash over and allow them to cool until you are able to handle them.

Meanwhile, heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat and cook the sausage until it is browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the sausage to a plate.

Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the skillet along with the minced onion, celery and chopped apple. Add a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent and the apple is soft about 5 to 6 minutes.

Add the garlic and minced herbs and saute for about 30 seconds until they are fragrant.

Remove the onion and garlic mixture to another plate or bowl.

Add the remaining butter to the skillet and return the onion/apple mixture to the skillet along with cooked sausage and all the accumulated juices.

When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out most of the flesh, leaving some in the skin for sturdiness.

Add the squash flesh to the pan and stir until well incorporated. Add the wild rice to the pan and stir. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

Mix in the beaten egg and fill squash halves. You may have leftover filling – just add it to an oven safe dish.

Top the squash with shredded cheese, return the squash halves to the oven on the same baking sheet and bake them for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and brown.

Let the squash stand for 10 minutes before serving.

The blend of flavors and spices here make the kitchen smell great and you end up with a really nice meal all in one package. I loved the mix of the sausage, apple, squash and wild rice together. It was very hearty, warming and filling. While I didn’t top mine with cheese, Michelle and Sean both had cheese on theirs and said it was delicious. The great thing about this meal is that you can leave out the sausage entirely if you want to make this a vegetarian dish. You could also substitute in just about any grain that might you like instead of wild rice – brown rice, barley, quinoa, for example – and still have a wonderful meal. The leftovers are great for lunches as well as they are already nicely portioned out and if you have any stuffing leftover after filling the squash it makes a great side dish for chicken, turkey or even a pork dish.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on November 10, 2016 in Cooking, Dinner, Leftovers, One Pot Meals, Rice, Sausage, Vegetables

Tags: apple and sausage stuffed acorn squash, apple sausage and wild rice stuffed acorn squash, one pot meals, stuffed acorn squash, The Pretend Baker, winter squash recipes

Our 20 Most Popular Thanksgiving Side Dishes – Recipes from NYT Cooking

05 Nov

It’s that time of year again – when people begin to think about Thanksgiving and what the meal will contain. It’s never too early to start planning out your menu and the more organized you can be the smoother the days leading up to and Turkey Day will be for you. A good place to start is to consider some of the side dishes that you will want to make for the day. New York Times Cooking has put together 20 of their most popular Thanksgiving side dishes so you can see some classic recipes or give something new a try this year. Check it out!

Source: Our 20 Most Popular Thanksgiving Side Dishes – Recipes from NYT Cooking

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Posted by MikeG on November 5, 2016 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dinner, Holidays, Potatoes, Produce, Rice, Side Dishes, Vegetables

How to Use Squash, from Frying to Dips | Bon Appetit

29 Oct

Fall weather is upon us and winter is not far behind and among the bounty of great vegetables available this time of year or all the different types of squash that you can get. The choices seem almost endless and if you are looking for some ideas of what you can do with the different types of squash out there Bon Appetit has 23 squash recipe ideas you can try out that are ideal for all different types of cooking and baking. Check it out!

Source: How to Use Squash, from Frying to Dips | Bon Appetit

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Posted by MikeG on October 29, 2016 in Appetizers, Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Produce, Salad, Side Dishes, Soups & Stews, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tags: 23 squash recipes, Bon Appetit 23 squash recipes, how to use squash, squash recipes, ways to use winter squash, winter squash recipes

The First Soup of the Season – Baked Butternut Squash and Celery Root Soup

20 Oct

Okay, so the weather hasn’t been exactly fall weather here the last 2 days, with temperatures getting up into the 80s during the day on both days, but it still seems to be that soup time of year. Things cooled down quite a bit last night and should be back more towards normal here, which means brisk autumn air that makes for good soup weather. With so many great fall vegetables around right now, particularly a bunch of different root vegetables, the opportunities are there to make all kinds of good soups. One that has always been a family favorite of ours has been butternut squash soup and since squash is so plentiful right now I knew I just had to make some soup the other night. I had picked up a couple of butternut squash at the farmer’s market last week, along with some carrots, celery root and leeks and I knew this was all going to come together nicely for a soup dinner. I decided to use this recipe from Molly O’Neill at New York Times Cooking for a baked butternut squash soup and adapted it to include some other great root vegetables to make it my own.

Baked Butternut Squash and Celery Root Soup

2 butternut squash, about 1 pound each, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed well and finely chopped

1 celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons honey

⅛ teaspoon each of mace, ground ginger, cinnamon and allspice

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, stems removed, finely chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the squash, carrots leeks and celery root in a shallow roasting pan or casserole dish. Sprinkle the olive oil over the vegetables, add salt and pepper to taste and toss the vegetables in the oil to coat them well. Drizzle the vegetables with the honey and add the mace, ground ginger, cinnamon and allspice and toss the vegetables again so they are well mixed. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast the vegetables in the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil from the pan and continue roasting the vegetables until they are lightly browned and fork tender, about another 20 to 25 minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting, heat the chicken broth in a large pot or Dutch oven until it is simmering. Remove the pan from the oven and place the vegetables in the pot with the broth and mix them well. All the broth and vegetables to continue simmering for about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and using an immersion blender, blend the vegetables and broth together until the vegetables are smooth (You can also do this in a blender in batches if you prefer). Return the pot to the stove and bring the soup slowly to a boil over medium-low heat and then stir in the heavy cream. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with parsley, if desired.

You get some great combinations of flavors here with the squash, celery root, carrots and leeks. The honey just bumps up the sweetness a tiny bit here and the spices, even though they are in small amounts, add just the right touch. I like roasting the vegetables before putting them in the soup because they get nice and tender and seem to have better flavor this way than if you sautéed them in a pan or the same pot as the soup. You can leave out the heavy cream if you prefer but I added it because it helps create some great texture to the soup. The soup would benefit even more if you added a peeled and sliced apple to the vegetables when roasting, but I didn’t have any on hand so I left it out. You could also easily make this a vegetarian meal by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth or just using water.This makes a nice batch of soup so you can have leftovers for other meals or lunches and we had the soup with sandwiches for dinner, but you could easily have it by itself, with some croutons, a salad or just with some homemade bread or biscuits. It was a great way to kick off what hopefully is the first of some awesome soups and stews this year.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

4 Comments

Posted by MikeG on October 20, 2016 in Leftovers, Lunch, One Pot Meals, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tags: baked butternut squash and celery root soup, baked butternut squash soup, butternut squash soup, butternut squash soup recipes, New York Times Cooking, one pot meals, soup recipes

The 101 Recipes You Need to Know How to Cook | Bon Appetit

15 Oct

Every home cook has some basic recipes that they turn to all of the time for weeknight meals, special Sunday suppers or dinner parties. There are some classics and basic recipes that you learn along the way that you can always rely on when you want to turn out a great meal. Bon Appetit has put together 101 of the basic classic recipes, with everything from appetizers to desserts and everything in between so that you can have recipes to fall back on, learn and use when you want them. Check it out!

Source: The 101 Recipes You Need to Know How to Cook | Bon Appetit

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Posted by MikeG on October 15, 2016 in Appetizers, Beans, Beef, Beverages, Biscuits, Breads, Cakes, Cookies, Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dessert, Dinner, Eggs, Fruit, Lunch, One Pot Meals, Pasta, Picnic Fare, Pie, Pork, Potatoes, Poultry, Rice, Salad, Sandwiches, Sauce, Sausage, Seafood, Side Dishes, Snacks, Soups & Stews, Vegetables

Tags: 101 basic recipes, 101 recipes you need to know how to cook, basic recipes you need to know, bon appetit, Bon Appetit 101 recipes you need to know

A Lazy Day of Leftovers – Chicken Tarragon Pot Pie

07 Oct

If you are like me, there are probably many nights during the week where you make a meal and then end up with a bunch of different leftovers that you may or may not know how to use. It is not unusual to get tired of having the same meal two or three times a week just because you do not want to throw away perfectly good food but are not sure what you can do with those leftover chicken pieces or leftover vegetables. It is times like this where potpie can come to the rescue. Potpie is a great meal to put together just about any time of the year and you can do it with any type of protein (or no protein at all if you are vegetarian) and vegetables. The only real effort that goes into it is making the pie dough and even then, if you have no problem using store-bought pie dough you can get the meal together even quicker. Very often I will use store-bought pie dough simply because it is easy, I do not really have the room to make pie dough and for potpie purposes it tastes just fine. I decided to use this recipe from New York Times Cooking for a chicken-tarragon potpie and make a simple dinner.

Chicken-Tarragon Pot Pie

For the crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) cold unnsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 tablespoon cold vegetable shortening

Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

Scant 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 egg

For the Filling:

5 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped carrot

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup thinly sliced leeks

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried tarragon

1 cup frozen baby green peas

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 ½ cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 cups leftover roast chicken, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

To make the crust, combine the flour, butter, shortening, salt and sugar in a food processor. Pulse the ingredients together just until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is broken into small pieces. Pour 1/3 cup of ice water into the machine, and pulse 3 or 4 times. Squeeze a little dough in your hand to see whether it clumps together and is evenly moist. If not, add another tablespoon of water, and pulse 1 or 2 times more. Don’t overmix so that the dough forms a ball.

Turn out the dough on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Lift the ends of the plastic to gather the dough together inside. Press the dough into a large disk, and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough until you are ready to use it, up to 2 days.

To make the filling, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the carrot, celery, leeks and tarragon, and cook, stirring, just until slightly softened but not browned (reduce the heat if necessary to prevent browning), about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a bowl, wipe out the skillet, and place it back on the stove.

Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, and melt it over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, and cook, whisking, until the mixture bubbles and smells cooked. Do not let it brown. Whisk in 2 cups of chicken broth, and cook, whisking, for about 1 minute. Whisk in the cream, and cook 2 or 3 minutes, just until the mixture is thickened. Add the salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick, whisk in the remaining broth.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the cooked vegetables and peas, the chicken and the sauce to an 8-inch deep pie dish or other baking dish, mix the ingredients gently, and taste for seasoning.

If you are using store-bought dough, take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes. If you are using your own homemade dough, flour a work surface. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll out the dough, turning and flouring often, and cut a shape approximately the size of your baking dish plus 1 1/2 inches overlap all around.

Roll the dough up onto the rolling pin, and unroll it over the baking dish, so it rests evenly on top of the filling. Fold the edges under and crimp the edges. Poke the tip of a knife through the crust to create 3 vent holes near the center. Whisk the egg with a teaspoon of cold water. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the entire crust with egg wash. Place the pie pan or baking dish on a cookie sheet, and place it in the oven.

Bake the pie for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake the pie for 25 to 30 minutes more, until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents. Let the pie rest for 10 minutes before serving.

One of the great things about this recipe is that you can make use of any type of vegetables you want in a pot pie. I used the vegetables recommended but I also had some leftover broccoli that I put in as well. Pot pie works well with chicken, turkey, beef and pork that you may have leftover so you can make just about anything with it. I find pot pie tastes even better the next day and often have any leftovers for lunch, after the sauce and the flavors have had even more time to come together. It can be a great dinner to put together in under an hour.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 7, 2016 in Cooking, Dinner, Leftovers, One Pot Meals, Pie, Poultry, Vegetables

Tags: chicken pot pie, chicken potpie, chicken-tarragon pot pie, NYT Cooking, NYT Cooking chicken tarragon pot pie, pot pie recipes, using leftover chicken

Kitchen Pantry Cooking Essentials – Key Ingredients and Recipes – Food.com

16 Sep

The key to good cooking and easy cooking is having some basics in your pantry all of the time. When you have the right ingredients around you can put together a meal in no time at all. Food.com has a list for you of the 50 most common cooking essentials you want in your pantry so you can do anything at any time. Check it out!

Source: Kitchen Pantry Cooking Essentials – Key Ingredients and Recipes – Food.com

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Posted by MikeG on September 16, 2016 in Beans, Condiments, Cooking, Cooking Tips, Cooking Websites, Dessert, Dinner, Fruit, Herbs, Leftovers, Lunch, One Pot Meals, Pantry, Pasta, Picnic Fare, Pizza, Produce, Rice, Sandwiches, Sauce, Side Dishes, Snacks, Soups & Stews, Spices, Vegetables

Tags: 50 kitchen pantry essentials, Food.com, Food.com 50 pantry essentials, kitchen pantry cooking essentials, pantry essentials, stocking your pantry, what you need in your pantry

School Has Started! Time to Find Easy Dinners – Sheet Pan Sausage Supper

12 Sep

School started here last week for us so it was pretty busy as every tried to get back onto their routines of getting up early and starting the day, especially Sean. It is no easy task getting a 15-year old up and out of bed before 6 AM to get ready for school, but so far it has worked out just fine. Just as Sean gets back into his routine, it means that I have to try to get back into one myself. It means trying to get all my work done in the early part of the day so I can have more time to do things around the house, including getting dinner prepared each day. That’s why September (or really any month of the school year) is a great time to start pulling out those one dish meals. I have been making a lot of sheet pan suppers lately. They are easy to do, give you everything you want all in one pan, and make clean up a real breeze so I don’t have to spend a lot of time cleaning afterwards. Sheet pan suppers are ideal for just about anything – beef, chicken, fish, pork, turkey or even just vegetables – and it really all is a matter of timing everything right and chopping everything to a uniform size so all the ingredients cook at the same rate and are done at the same time. I came across this recipe from Food Network for a sausage sheet pan supper from Ree Drummond and thought I would give it a try.

Sheet Pan Sausage Dinner

1 pound trimmed whole Brussels sprouts
3 parsnips, cut into 1/4-inch slices
3 sweet potatoes, cut into wedges
2 red onions, cut into quarters
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
Sprinkle of kosher salt
Sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper
12 Italian sausages

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Add the Brussels sprouts, parsnips, sweet potatoes and onions to a baking sheet. Add the olive oil, sage, salt and pepper and toss all of the vegetables together so they are well coated with the oil and the spices. Prick the sausages with a fork and then put the sausages in and around the vegetables on the sheet pan.
Bake the mixture in the oven until the sausages are cooked through and the vegetables are tender and nicely roasted, about 40 to 45 minutes, turning the sausages about half way through the cooking process. Serve together on a platter.

That’s all there is to this recipe. I find pricking the sausages works well so that they don’t burst in the casings and let some of the fat run out to flavor the vegetables a bit more. While turning them half way through cooking might seem unnecessary, I like to do it so the sausages get nicely browned all over. You can also mix up the vegetables a bit at the same time you turn the sausages so you can get more even browning on them as well. Roasting vegetables is my favorite way to prepare them since I think they get better flavor this way. You can vary the mix of vegetables if you like, but you may want to stick to items that are a little bit thicker if you are cooking everything together so that the vegetables do not overcook and burn before the meat is done. Carrots would work pretty well here, along with vegetables like cauliflower, squash, fennel or beets.I actually used a couple of carrots in my recipe.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on September 12, 2016 in Dinner, One Pot Meals, Produce, Sausage, Vegetables

Tags: food network, one pan sausage and vegetables, one pot meal, Ree Drummond, Ree Drummond sheet pan sausage dinner, sheet pan dinners, sheet pan sausage supper

Steak and Summer Go Hand in Hand – Sirloin Steak with Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

13 Aug

There are always some meals that I immediately associate with the summer. Naturally people think a lot about things like hamburgers and hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad, watermelon and all of the great summer fruits and vegetables you can get. One of the things I always associate with summer is steak. Even though I made steak throughout the year and I don’t even have a grill to use, the idea of grilling a nice piece of steak is something I love. Since I need to do next best around here, I very often use one of my grill pans when making steak to get that same feeling. As much as I love steak, the price keeps me from buying it too often. Every once in a while I will treat us to a rib eye steak for dinner or a New York strip, but that’s about it and only if they are on sale. When I last went to the farmers’ market here in Monroe, I picked up a meat package from Bishop Farms, a farm out of Fulton, NY that offers some great beef, pork, lamb, chicken and more that are all-natural, no steroids and antibiotics. I had purchased a few things from them before and got a package of ground beef, short ribs, beef kebabs and sirloin steaks that looked awesome. I decided to make one of the sirloin steaks the other night and used this recipe from Martha Stewart to make a quick and easy meal.

Sirloin Steak with Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus wedges for serving

1 garlic clove, crushed through a press

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large sirloin steak (about 1 1/2 pounds and 1 inch thick), trimmed and cut into 4 equal portions

1 pound red new potatoes, halved (quartered if large)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds asparagus, trimmed

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Place the mustard mixture in a resealable plastic bag. Add the steaks, and rub the steaks to coat them well. Let the steaks marinate at room temperature for about 10 minutes or refrigerate them for up to 1 day.

On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil; season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Roast the potatoes for about 10 minutes, then add the asparagus to the sheet pan and toss them with another tablespoon of the olive oil. Season the asparagus with salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables until the potatoes and asparagus are tender, about 15 minutes more.

While the vegetables are roasting, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or grill pan over high heat. Remove the steaks from the marinade, allowing any excess to drip off. Cook the steaks for about 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. If the pan darkens quickly, reduce the heat. Let the steaks rest for about 5 minutes. Serve the steaks with the vegetables or slice the steaks into thin slices and serve over the vegetables on a large platter. Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.

It’s a very simple recipe that comes out nicely. I used Yukon gold potatoes in my recipe because that is what I had on hand to go with the asparagus. I chose to keep the steak as one large steak and then slice it after it rested, but you could certainly do whatever is best for you. The steak was perfectly cooked and the marinade was quite nice with the mustard and garlic. The marinade would be good on other things like chicken or lamb, but I think I might add a touch of soy sauce to it next time to really boost up the flavor. The whole meal only takes about 30 to 40 minutes to cook, which is great for a weeknight and if you have a grill you could easily do it all outside without having to heat up the house.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 13, 2016 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Potatoes, Vegetables

Tags: Bishop Farms, Bishop Farms Fulton NY, Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart sirloin steak, roasted asparagus, roasted potatoes, roasted potatoes and asparagus, sirloin steak, sirloin steak recipe, sirloin steak with roasted potatoes and asparagus

Don’t Dill-y Dally – Make These Dill-icious Homemade Quick Dill Pickles

04 Aug

As much as I love sandwiches it only makes sense that I love the things that can help them make them extra-special for lunch or dinner. That includes having a great side dish like potato salad, coleslaw or another kind of salad, just the right condiments and. of course, pickles. The thing about pickles is that there are some really good ones that you can get when you go out or buy them from the store or farmers’ market and then there are some really bad ones. You know the bad ones as soon as you get them – limp, lifeless and they have no flavor at all or have been sitting for too long. As much as I love pickles, the price for a good pickle is pretty darn expensive today. The good ones in the stores are three or four dollars a jar and you pay just as much or even more at farmers’ markets for good pickles. Now I have never been much of a person when it comes to canning and preserving myself; I just don’t have the space for everything you need or the space to store anything. However, I did want to find a way to make a good, quick batch of pickles so I could have some on hand when I wanted them. I got myself a good jar and set about looking for a recipe and I found this one from Food and Wine that seemed just right for some homemade dill pickles.

Homemade Dill Pickles

1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

4 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

3/4 teaspoon dill seeds

2 cups hot water

2 pounds Kirby cucumbers, sliced 1/4 inch thick or sliced into spears

3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill

3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

In a large, heat-proof measuring cup, combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, coriander seeds and dill seeds with the hot water and stir the mixture until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Let the brine cool.

In a large bowl, toss the cucumbers with the fresh dill and the garlic. Place the cucumbers, dill and garlic into a jar with a tight seal or leave them in the large bowl. Pour the brine over the cucumbers and turn to coat the cucumbers (if they are in the bowl; if you have them in the jar they are fine as is). If you are using a bowl, place a small plate over the cucumbers to keep them submerged in the bowl, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. If you have the pickles in a jar, close the jar tightly. Refrigerate the pickles overnight, stirring once or twice. Serve cold.

When I first looked at the recipe I was skeptical that I would be able to get good flavor out of pickles with such an easy recipe and with them just sitting overnight, but boy I was wrong. These pickles have fantastic flavor that they pick up from all of the spices, the fresh dill and the garlic. If you like garlic with your pickles these are ideal because the flavor is there without completing overpowering the pickles. If you really like garlic you could always add a few more chopped cloves to the mix, but I thought they were perfect as is. I have been making these pretty consistently for a couple of months now and once you have all of the ingredients on hand the only cost of making them is buying the pickles. I get a package of 6 Kirby cucumbers for $2.50 and it makes lots of pickle spears that last me for weeks, so the cost savings is pretty good in my opinion. These pickles are perfect to go with any type of sandwich or a burger and will be great for picnics, barbecues or any party. I brought a jar with me to the Outer Banks a few weeks ago and every ate them up. It’s definitely worth the little bit of time it takes to make them.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!