Pickles - July 31, 2022

After a 5 a.m "nature call" this morning, I went back to bed but could not go back to sleep for thinking about the cucumbers that had been soaking overnight in the refrigerator.  I lay there trying to do math to figure out what time I'd need to start in order to be done before suppertime.  I'd need to wash (and wash and wash) off the lime water, then there were two more soaks - a 3-hour ice water bath, plus a 5-hour soak in brine - plus a 35-minute boil, plus time to get the pickles in the jars, plus time for the water bath . . . .

I said, "Screw this cipherin'," and got up and went to the sink in my nightgown and started washing cucumbers.

They came out of their last soak (the brine stage) about 2 p.m.  

The brine recipe on the lime bag called for 8 cups of white vinegar, 8 cups of sugar, and some spices.  I had 6.5 cups of white vinegar, and just enough apple cider vinegar to reach the mark.  And I thought, "HAH!  Saved a trip to the store!"  Then I emptied the sugar canister and had only 4 cups of sugar.  Had to go to the store, anyway.

I added some kosher dill spices to the brine and some sliced jalapenos that had soaked with the cucumbers.  The spices came in a plastic jar, already mixed.  I bought it last year (I think?), and it was all gummed-up in one chuck.  I hacked it up and dig out about 1/4 cup to start with, then added a little more later.  I should've just dumped the whole thing in, since the spices have probably lost some of their "oomph."  

But the pickles turned out pretty good.  Got 7 pints, plus another pint in the refrigerator that wouldn't fit in the canner.  They are sweet, but they have a little bit of a dill/garlic zing, and a little bit of heat.  I like them.

And I'm trying to lay off sugar and can't eat 'em.  

Such is life.

While the pickles were brining, I tried out a couple of new low-carb recipes.  One was a chicken roll-up, using baked pepper jack cheese for the skin.  It was meh.  I'm not much of a cheese fan.

The next thing I tried - chicken/bacon/ranch poppers - was good.  I found two recipes and sort of took the best parts of each.  I pulsed 6 chicken tenderloins in the food processor until they were about ground beef consistency.  Added 3 carrots, some green onions, an egg, and a cup of shredded cheese, and pulsed it some more.  It came out the consistency of bulk pork sausage.  A small ice cream scoup made quick work of making balls.  I flattened them a little before baking them on parchment at 375 for 30 minutes (flipping them halfway through).  They were not seriously brown and crispy after 30 minutes, but they were done enough.  That recipe made about 40 chicken balls; we'll crisp them up in the air fryer as we need them. 

The cup of carrots had about 12g of carbs, so I figure those chicken balls had about .5 carbs apiece, plus the ranch dressing we dipped them in.  

Kids will eat these.