Gillian’s 1 Hour Bread and Butter Pickles
I just wanted to do my people here a favor and post this recipe before the holiday ends. These pickles, of course, are an all year round treat, not limited to holidays but it’s the kind of thing you keep going back to nosh on and I’ve prepared these both with sliced up cucumbers and mini cucumbers (“pickle” cukes) both to the total delight of my family.
A word. The nice thing about writing a blog for quite a few years is people find out and come over to say how much they enjoy it but even better than that (tho’ that’s a biggie, yup!) they happily will share favorite recipes and say this should go on your blog! So I bumped into my old neighbor Gillian and we shmoozed a bit and she said, I have a pickle recipe that’s incredibly easy, I make all the time, my kids love it and it should be on your blog! Well, after all that I just had to try it, right? So I did and I found that while I only added the mustard seed and kept basically everything else the same, Gillian made a mistake. These pickles can be eaten literally one hour after you prepare them. They definitely gain more flavor if you let them sit 5 hours or so but are absolutely ready to rock and roll after an hour. Also, every word she said is true, crazy easy, my kids and grandkids kept coming back for more (and were shocked to find out they were homemade) and yup, I’m making them regularly now and so will you.
So gather your ingredients and let’s make pickles!
That fat bulb of garlic is called pearl garlic and I love them since it’s so easy to peel and you’re getting 4 garlic cloves out of the deal. But no worries, you can use regular fresh garlic. A note. While there aren’t a ton of ingredients in this recipe, you must use the fresh garlic, and whole peppercorns and not cheat with other ingredients or it won’t turn out properly. Since you will find yourself making these again and again, invest in the peppercorns and mustard seed. Trust me on this. K. Onward.
Put the sugar, salt, garlic, mustard seeds, peppercorns (whole black pepper) and bay leaves in the pot.
Then put in the water and vinegar (cider or white but not balsamic or wine vinegar, too overpowering)
Bring to a rolling boil, cook about 3-4 minutes together and add the sliced or whole baby cucumbers.
Bring the pickling liquid back to the boil and boil for about 2-3 minutes. Turn the flame off and cover and let cool in the liquid making sure they’re submerged. Remember, they will shrink a bit and give up a bit of their own liquid so even if it’s a bit tight, they will fit.
After one hour, they are ready to eat. If you want a deeper flavor, let sit for 5-6 hours but after first hour I refrigerate them. They last weeks in the fridge but they won’t. People will sneak them out of your jar or container and when you turn around they’re gone and ya just gotta make some more!
Gillian’s 1 Hour Bread and Butter Pickles
7 medium cucumbers, scrubbed, unpeeled OR about 16-18 mini cucumbers
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
Peppercorns (whole black pepper) about 10
mustard seeds about 8
2 -3 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
2 c (500 ml) water
1 c (250 ml) cider or white vinegar
Directions:
Slice your cucumber (do not peel) medium thin, the size of a sliced pickle. Set aside. Into a pot place the sugar, salt, peppercorns, mustard sees, bay leaves and garlic and pour over this the water and vinegar.
Bring to a boil , cook 3-4 minutes, add washed whole mini cucumbers or sliced cucumber and bring back to the boil. Boil 2-3 minutes and turn off flame, cover with lid and leave for one hour sitting in the pot. If you have time, let marinate 5-6 hours but put in fridge after the first hour. Great if you can store in a glass jar but works fine in a good snap lid container as well.
I also have an easy recipe!
1 cup long grain white rice (can use brown)
2 cups water
2Tbs Osem Onion soup powder
1 tin drained sliced mushrooms
2 Tbs margarine
Fresh dill/parsley.
Place in an oven dish with lid
175c for one hour.
It’s easy tastes great and no effort!
I usually make elaborate meals with all the patchgerai but this is great!
Thanks for sharing, a very old recipe which I recognize from my newly married days, this is an oldie but a goodie.
I made these just now and i find its not sweet enough. also i wonder if you can just put the sliced cukes in the jar and pour the brine over for an hour then refridgerate instead of boiling the slices first
The pickle is just supposed to have a hint of sweetness and it’s a vinegar pickle but of course, if you like it sweeter, just add 2 more tablespoons of sugar which should do the trick. If you boil the pickling liquid and pour over the cucumbers it will take much longer to get to the proper pickled consistency. The boiling of the cucumber (only a couple of minutes) is what pickles it so quickly.
Can I slice the Cucumbers with my magimix or will they be too thin? I have 2 slicer disks, one slices slightly thicker
Hi Rosalind, I was sure I answered you but can’t find it. I feel it’ll be too thin. Best, Debbie
How necessary is the sugar? Two reasons for asking. A. For health reasons I need to be off all sugars. B. I do not like sweet pickles at all.
Without the sugar (not a large amount and it does not make the pickles sweet tasting) the vinegar will be too prominent and they will be sour. You could try a sugar substitute if you wish but I have never done so so I can’t speak to it. If you want a pickle without sugar, I have a half sour/sour version on the blog.