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Reader Solves Cold Case Of Refrigerated Pickles

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By JEFF HOUCK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 16, 2008

A couple of weeks ago, reader Kathi Williams requested a recipe for Icebox Pickles that called for cucumbers, green pepper, onion, sugar and a few spices.

I searched our archives. And searched. To no avail. The digital archives showed that the words "icebox" and "pickles" ran in the same story five times since 1990, just not together, and not with a recipe.

After the column ran, Judy Batson wrote to say that she remembers the Tribune "ran a large article awhile ago, headlined 'Cool and Crunchy' with the recipe for Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles (source: 'Food to Live By,' by Myra Goodman). It is an excellent and easy recipe. If you cannot locate it, let me know and I will send it to you."

Thanks for being so kind, Judy. I appreciate your institutional memory - and that of regular RLF readers. I'm constantly amazed at your collective powers of recollection.

With your help, I finally was able to find it in our archives. It runs at right.
Batson also noted that the watermelon rind pickles recipe printed in our July 9 issue is missing one major and vital step: The skin must be removed from the rind first.

"I have a more complicated (and time-tested - over 50 years) recipe that takes five days to make, but they are by far the best ever, and well-worth the effort," Batson e-mailed. It runs at right as well.

Craving Kumquats
Elaine Bolack of Lutz is looking for a recipe for kumquat preserves.

"When I was a little girl, my grandparents in Miami had big kumquat trees that bore a lot of fruit," Bolack writes.

"My grandmother used to create something that was like a cross between preserves and marmalade," she says. "The kumquats would be whole, seeds and all, and in a thick, golden syrup. I only know that she boiled the kumquats, pricked them with a fork and added sugar. I would love to re-create this for my family."

Ah, kumquats. Growing up in St. Petersburg, I had a neighbor with a huge tree. On the rare times when my friends and weren't eating them fresh off the tree, we took turns throwing them at each other. It's what you do when you're 10.

Anyone have a non-throwing recipe for Elaine?

Leftover Requests

Diana Boggs of Tampa still is searching for Ruby Tuesday's croutons.

"They are the best I've ever tasted (hard and chewy at the same time)," Boggs writes. "They look like they're made with pumpernickel bread."

Elizabeth Walker of Sebring remains in need of a recipe for refrigerated pie using crushed Brazil nuts for crust, regular meringue and creamy custard filling flavored with vanilla rum.

REFRIGERATOR BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES
2 pounds pickling cucumbers (4 to 5 inches long)

2 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups distilled white vinegar (5 percent acidity)

1/4 cup minced onions

2 tablespoons noniodized (pickling or kosher) salt

2 teaspoons mixed pickling spice

2 teaspoons mustard seed

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Wash cucumbers well with cold water. Trim ends and cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Place cucumber slices into 4 pint or 8 half-pint hot sterilized canning jars. Mix remaining ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes.

Ladle liquid over cucumbers, leaving 1/4 -inch head space. Stir each jar well. Cool. Cover with metal lids and screw-on bands, then refrigerate. Shake jars once a day for 3 to 5 days to redistribute seasonings and blend flavors. Store in refrigerator up to 2 months. Makes 4 pints.

Source: "Food to Live By," by Myra Goodman

SWEET WATERMELON PICKLES

1 watermelon

Salt

Syrup:

16 cups sugar

4 cups white vinegar

10 whole cloves

10 to 12 cinnamon sticks

Cut whole watermelon into sections; remove all the meat, and remove the green skin. Cut rind into 1-inch cubes.

Soak overnight in strong saltwater (16 cups water to 1 cup salt).

Drain thoroughly and rinse well. Cook in clear water until tender and translucent (30 to 45 minutes). Drain for 30 minutes.

To make syrup: Bring sugar, vinegar and cloves to a boil. Put into a tea strainer and pour over pickles, then stir. Cover and soak overnight.

Remove pickles from syrup with large slotted spoon; heat syrup just to boiling point, return pickles to pot, cover and soak overnight.

Repeat. On the fifth day, heat the pickles and the syrup. Put one cinnamon stick in each of 10 to 12 mason jars, spoon in pickles and syrup to 1/2 inch from top, seal jars. Cool and then refrigerate.

Note: Depending on size of melon, makes about 10 to 12 medium-sized jars. Kept in refrigerator, unopened, these pickles can be stored for up to one year. Once opened, and kept refrigerated, they will last about 6 weeks.

Looking for a recipe? Write to Jeff Houck, The Tampa Tribune, P.O. Box 191, Tampa FL 33601; or e-mail jhouck@tampatrib.com. Recipes are not tested. Keyword: Recipes, for more recipes and to check out our online archive

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