Today we have a guest post from my delightful (ahem) other half, Brent (aka BrentIndeed on Twitter). Hopefully we are going to make this a more frequent occurrence because he is way funnier than me Here he is talking about his love of all things pickled, and how he “fixed the pickles”!

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When I was 5 years old, I ate a large jar of dill pickles; I did this because I was bet 1 penny a pickle to eat them. I was a very money hungry child. I was also a very hungry child. It was a good thing I was growing, because I would have been one portly pup otherwise. You’d think after that experience I’d hate pickles, but no, I love them.

You see I come from an eastern European family and pickles are part of most meals. Not just pickled cucumbers, but also pickled tomatoes, peppers and even pickled fish. Going to the Fulton fish market in Manhattan was always exciting because we’d go to the pickle guy who had barrels and barrels of pickles. Hot pickles, dill pickles, kosher dills, half sours, full sours, pickled peppers, oh the joy! (and bad breath…)

Flash forward 20-something years and I am married to a anti-pickle person. It’s strange to me, but hey, she makes great beer, amazing food and is a lovely creature to boot, so one flaw I can live with. Nonetheless, now living in South Florida for 17 years I’ve also grown to love spicy food. I love very spicy food. Combine that with my love of pickles, I’ve discovered the fantastic Mexican style pickles they sell at local markets. Pickled jalapeno’s, carrots, cucumbers, oh my! These are delectable and quite the endorphin rush.

Now as a Jewish guy I am also a fan of the deal. “Such a deal!” So at Winn-Dixie, I see a sale 2-4-1 on kosher dills. Ok so these are not premium pickles. Actually they are remarkably average, however this lead me to an idea; “Fix the Pickle!”. I went to the cupboard where we had a nice package of Chili de Arbol (from Badia), and proceeded to shred about 15 chili peppers and shove them into the pickle jars. As Ron Popiel said, I “set it and forget it.” Return 2 weeks later, the jar has gone a murky brown, and I’m excited. Vanessa has cooked some gourmet burgers, and nothing goes with that like a hot pickle. I pull out the jar, and “crunch!”, I am a genius! Cheap pickles no more!

I strongly advise you try this. I plan next time to add some garlic cloves as well, how could it be wrong? Also, it is possible I may venture into making pickles from scratch, coming soon to a party near you!

Oh, and I’ve gotten the Bloody Mary with an injection of hot pickle juice down finally, and if you are very lucky you may try this some day. So, pickles, love them, eat them, and pour yourself a nice drink, cheers!

Okay, now off to find some good kim chee…

~Brent.