Bread and Butter Pickles and Basil

From the Compassion Garden: Cucumbers
From the Herb Garden: Basil

The basil is ready to bud and flower, so yesterday I harvested the tips of the plants to keep them growing and to make pesto. Pesto is a paste made in the food processor with olive oil, garlic cloves, pine nuts, salt and parmesan cheese. It can be added to pasta or served as a spread with french bread. It is good stirred into minestrone soup. I'll share more recipes with basil in future posts.

This is the time of year I become overwhelmed with cucumbers. What I long for is a good Greek salad with home grown tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, green peppers, feta and kalamata olives in an olive oil, lemon juice and oregano dressing. BUT the tomatoes are slow in ripening and there are no tomatoes just yet.

So, I've been using the cucumbers in other ways. Today for Sunday lunch I made an Italian pasta salad (corkscrew pasta, salami, cucumbers, garbanzo beans, green onions, grape tomatoes, green, yellow, and red peppers, and olives in a basil Italian dressing). Yesterday I spent time making pint jars of bread and butter pickles for the church with the cucumbers not taken on Sunday mornings.

So, what do you do with jars of bread and butter pickles?

They are good on a hot burger or alongside a sandwich. You can put them on sandwiches of cold cuts or cheese. Or you can use them in the following recipes:

Pressed Pork Sandwiches

1 loaf Italian bread (about 8 ounces)
¼ cup Dijon mustard
12 slices bread-and-butter pickles, plus more for serving (optional)
2 cups shredded pepper Jack cheese (8 ounces)
10 ounces reserved Roast Pork Loin, thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Halve bread lengthwise. With your fingers, pull out some of the bread from both cut sides, leaving about a 1/4-inch shell all around. Spread mustard on each cut side.

2. Layer one of the bread halves with pickle slices, half the cheese, and all the pork. Scatter remaining cheese over pork, and top with other bread half. Press with your hands to flatten sandwich.

3. Place sandwich on a baking sheet. Place another baking sheet on top; weight with a heavy ovenproof skillet. Bake until cheese has melted and bread is crisp, about 15 minutes. Cut into 8 slices, and serve with more pickles, if desired.

Peanut Butter Sandwich

2 slices whole grain bread
¼ cup chunky peanut butter
1 Tablespoon mayonaise
3 bread and butter pickle stackers

1. Spread one slice of bread with peanut butter. Top with pickles. Spread remaining slice of bread with mayonnaise. Place on top of pickles, mayonnaise side down.


Bread and Butter Pickle Potato Salad

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (about 2 1/4 inches wide), scrubbed
1 tablespoon mustard seed (see notes)
1/2 cup bread-and-butter pickle juice (see notes)
1/2 cup finely chopped bread-and-butter pickles
1/2 cup reduced-fat or regular mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider or white wine vinegar
1 red bell pepper (1/2 pound), rinsed, stemmed, seeded, and diced
6 tablespoons minced parsley
Salt and pepper

In a 4- to 5-quart pan, combine potatoes and 1 1/2 quarts water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain and let stand until cool enough to touch, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix mustard seed, pickle juice, pickles, mayonnaise, and vinegar. Peel warm potatoes, cut into about 3/4-inch cubes, and drop into dressing. Add bell pepper; mix gently. Let cool to room temperature, at least 15 minutes. Add 4 tablespoons parsley and salt and pepper to taste; mix. Scrape into a serving bowl and sprinkle with remaining parsley.

NOTES: Pour the pickle juice out of the jar through a fine strainer into a bowl and save the mustard seed for the salad, or use dried mustard seed soaked in hot water for 5 minutes, then drained. If making salad up to 1 day ahead, cover and chill; mix before serving.