Pulykamall, this was my reference Chicago pizza growing up. I had it a couple or so years ago, and it’s still quite good, but more so it’s why I thought you could get good pizza on any corner anywhere. How wrong I was.
Nice one! My last tip is: don’t put the cukes into hot brine. It’s not necessary for fridge pickles, and will make them soft. If it’s snap you want, cold pickles into cold brine, then straight in the fridge.
Thanks, I was thinking the same thing. Quite a few internet fridge pickles have you pouring boiling water over the cukes, which seems crazy if you want crispness.
I don’t think of pickles as “snappy”.
My parents used to make pickles. I remember them making bottles and bottles of bread & butter pickles. (sweet, and actually, somewhat crunchy, now that I think of it.) Then my dad started making sour pickles, which I think were easier. They were fermented, in big stoneware pots on the porch. We’d fish them out early to get half-sours, or let them sit longer for sour pickles. That’s sort of the standard in my head when I think of “pickles”, although truth be told, I like the half-sours better.
I think the brine just kept going, and my dad dropped cucumbers into it throughout the harvest. (He grew a lot of cucumbers. He also put up gallons of tomato soup every year.)
My dad had sent us a packet of pickling spices, but I never saw the right cucumbers. Oddly enough I saw some last week. I’m looking forward to seeing the fruit of your efforts.
Well, I just made my quart of fridge pickles. I kind of winged it a bit, since the recipes are all over the place. 3/4" cups water and cider vinegar, each, 1 1/2 tablespoons pickling salt, heated it up and let it cool to fridge temp. Combined with Persian cukes in spears and halves, 1/4 tsp each of coriander seeds, mustard seeds, peppercorns, plus a couple median sized garlic cloves, crushed. Add one split Serrano pepper (I nibbled the end and boy-howdy that was spicy, so I just used one). And of course several sprigs of dill and a bay leaf. Now the waiting begins.
Nice!
Yum, those look awesome. Now I want a half-done pickle.
Same. Many people’s favorite store-bought pickles are Claussens. If you like Claussens, you like refrigerator pickles.
I got my That Pickle Guy giardiniera today, and holy crud is that spicy! I’m thinking a bit on a local BBQ joint brisket sandwich would be amazing. I’ve got 24 oz of this stuff and I can’t see ever using it up, it is way spicy.
^ If it’s too spicy for you, try making it yourself with the recipe I posted upthread.
They also have a mild version available, but their hot is about the level of the standard Chicago giardiniera you’d get at beef stands or Subway. I don’t remember it being particularly hot – no more than your usual pickled jalapeno or so – , but that particular brand does them in small batches, and pepper heat can vary quite a bit, so I suppose it’s possible you got a hotter batch than usual (though I’d expect them to taste and adjust as necessary.)
(Some brands also have an “extra hot” variety, and Bari (a local Italian deli) sells their own homemade Super Hot giardiniera, which truly is blow-your-face-off hot. Delicious, but tastes like not much more than a mix of habaneros and other chili peppers in a garlicky oil. There’s no other vegetables in there – oh, wait – it also has capers. But no carrots, celery, cauliflower, olives, etc. Now that oil is gold, but that’s the one giardiniera I have to use judiciously.)
I routinely eat pickled jalapenos and don’t consider them at all spicy, like just barely. I guess I got a hot batch. It’s still really yummy, I’ll eat it, but judiciously, on top of a fatty sandwich perhaps – I’m not sure what else it’s good for. Or, like jerez said, I’ll make my own, which looks easy enough.
I could also just have completely sheared off my heat-tasting taste buds, as well, so maybe I’m not the best to judge. 
Giardiniera is mostly used here on Italian beef (of course), often on pizza, and on any type of submarine sandwich. Well, any sandwich, really (burgers included, though I don’t see it being used that way often.) Some people will also put it on hot dogs or sausages (it does go great with Italian sausage.) Anywhere you might use a pickle, you can use it, of course. I’ve also heard of people mixing some in with their pasta salad.
I like to drop a tablespoon in my red sauce when I make a big batch.
Damn, now I need to make red sauce - off to the store…
Oh, I should also add, that recipe isn’t really quite a Chicago-style giardiniera, if you’re specifically looking to make that. That’s still just regular pickles, not stored in oil, like Chicago giardiniera is. (There is a token amount of oil used at the end to top off and “seal” the jar at the end, but that’s a miniscule amount.) Some giardinieras don’t even have vinegar in them, but rather ferment the veggies before preserving them in oil. That Pickle Guy doesn’t list vinegar in their giardiniera, so I’m guessing it’s fermented, as I remember a slight acidic taste to it. It’s been a year and a half since I last had it, though. Typically, though, you’ll see oil as the first or second ingredient on a giardiniera, and vinegar way down on the bottom of the ingredients list.
I can now report, from firsthand knowledge, that giardiniera on a smoked brisket sandwich is yummy.
Try it on pizza - it’ll change your life
OK…you’re well on your way to becoming One of Us.