The Magic of Pickles

When I was a kid, I lived for dill pickles. I loved them so much I drank the briny pickle juice when the pickles themselves were gone. My grandmother, who  didn’t really allow indulgence unless it came to food or drink, encouraged my obsession, even going so far as to wrap jars of Heinz Dill Pickles (my favorite kind, long since gone off the market)for Christmas.

When I discovered my friend Bill also thought pickle juice a necessary and yummy treat, I knew I had found a kindred spirit. The kind of kindred spirit I found in the following soup.

Since breaking my arm, the alchemy required of soup creation has been difficult. I owe much of the success and most of the creation of this soup to Abby Machson-Carter, who also loves pickles.

Pickle Soup (or everything in your veggie drawer on a chilly March night)

Gather up:

½ cup pearl barley

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 bunch scallions, chopped

2 cloves  garlic (we had heirloom on hand, which tasted lovely)

1 pkg crimini mushrooms (about 10 oz)

2 small Yukon Gold potatoes

2 medium carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 medium turnip, peeled and diced

½ bunch kale

1 wedge of cabbage

1 orange bell pepper (choose the color that strikes your fancy!)

***1 cup finely diced dill pickles

Eyeball:

sea salt (full palmful)

Extra Virgin olive oil

thyme

dill

freshly ground black pepper

Our broth!

3 cups broth (we made our own with the leavings/scraps of our diced veggies, just boil in a pot with water until flavor is at desired level)

Let’s do it!

      1) Rinse the barley and put in a large soup pot with about 8 cups of water and half your sea salt. Simmer covered for about half an hour.

   
  2) Saute chopped onion in skillet with EVOO (just once around the pan) on low heat for about 10 minutes. Add chopped scallions and sauté until both onions and scallions are beginning to brown and are soft.

     
  3)In another skillet add another round o’the pan of EVOO and your garlic and sauté it up on high heat for about a minute or so. Add the mushrooms, just a dash of salt and a few good pinches of thyme and sauté until all the excess liquid cooks away. 

      
4) By this point your barley is well on its way. You can add the root veggies to the soup pot, adjusting the water-levek to keep all veggies submerged if you need to do so. 

5) Chop your kale (I always remove the tough stemmery because who wants to chew their soup?), bell pepper, and the cabbage and set aside (don’t worry! you’ll add it soon!).

6) Add all the things that have been sautéing (scallions, onions, garlic, mushrooms) to the soup. 

7) Stir your kale, cabbage, bell pepper, dill and broth into the soup. Simmer for about 10 minutes. 

Pickles!

        8) Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for! Add the pickles, simmer 10 more minutes and adjust the taste by adding salt and fresh black pepper.

The pickles will add a great, slightly acidic flavor that makes the soup quite special. Share with good friends. And give your mom a mason jar of it for her birthday. She’ll like it!

Rating: One of my fav's 
Easy-o-meter: 4 Pretty easy, though definitely time consuming. Consider chopping veggies beforehand

Time: 2 + hours (particularly if you only have one hand)

Taste: Even my mom loves it. No seriously. It’s comforting AND tasty.