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Spicy Refrigerator Pickles
Spicy Refrigerator Pickles
I’ll be honest. I like pickled things, but have never liked straight up eating pickles on their own. I’d eat them on things, but never just a pickle…until now. These refrigerator pickles have changed my views on pickled cucumbers. Unlike many pickles that I’ve despised, these are crispy, not soggy, and have a freshness to them that I’ve never had before. All you have to do to make them is combine all of the ingredients in a jar, shake it up, and let sit in the refrigerator for 2 days. If you don’t want whole pickles, you can slice them into chips or spears; speeding up the pickling time to a day.
Equipment
- 1/2 gallon jar
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs mini cucumbers
- 8 sprigs fresh dill weed
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 2/3 cups water
- 1 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 2 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 6 dried whole red chili peppers
- 4 bay leaves
Add all of the ingredients into a jar, shake it up, and refrigerate for 2 days before eating.
Steak Frites with Maitre D Butter
Put a tbsp of the maitre d butter on the steak and serve with your favorite fries.
Mexican-Style Watermelon
Mexican-Style Watermelon
Once you eat watermelon the Mexican way, you’ll ask yourself where has this been your whole life. Chamoy is a Mexican hot sauce made for fruit. Tajin is a spice blend of dried chilies, lime, and salt. Together on watermelon, this will become your new addiction. This combination is also great on mangoes, pineapple, and other melons.
Ingredients
- watermelon sliced into triangles
- chamoy
- tajin
Instructions
- Cover both sides of the watermelon with chamoy.
- Sprinkle tajin on both sides of the watermelon.
Whole Smoked Bone-In Beef Short Rib Plate
Serve with your favorite sides. Turn the leftovers into short rib tacos.
Croque Madame
Croque Madame
I’ve been waiting a lifetime to try this sandwich. I recently went to Paris for a week and this was the first thing I ate at a small cafe when I got there. The Croque Madame is a decadent, classic French sandwich consisting of ham, gruyere, and Mornay sauce(which is a cream sauce made with gruyere), topped with a fried egg. Without the fried egg, the sandwich is called a Croque Monsieur. It was everything that I expected. Rich, creamy, cheesy, and artery clogging. Seriously one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten, period.
Ingredients
Mornay Sauce
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup gruyere cheese grated
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
Sandwich
- 2 tbsp butter divided
- 2 slices French loaf bread
- 1/4 cup gruyere cheese grated
- 2 slices ham
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp chives finely chopped
Instructions
- Over medium heat in a small pot, whisk together the butter and flour. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the milk. Whisk over low heat for 3 minutes until thickened.
- Take off the heat and whisk in the gruyere, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet. Toast only 1 side of the slices of bread for 4 minutes.
- Take out the bread for assembly. Spread the dijon must on one piece of the bread; the other with half of the Mornay sauce.
- Place half of the gruyere on the Mornay sauce, followed by the slices of ham.
- Put the slice of bread with the dijon on top of the ham; mustard side down. Spread the rest of the Mornay sauce on top of the bread, along with the rest of the gruyere.
- Bake on a baking pan in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and gooey.
- While the sandwich is in the oven, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Crack and egg and cook sunny side up force minutes until the whites are cooked through.
Top with the fried egg and chopped chives.
