Hot and Spicy Pickles

OK, so this isn’t really a recipe. But it is something I am known to enjoy.

Hot and spicy pickles are incredibly easy to make and wonderfully delicious.

Most recipes presume you have or want to make a full gallon of these. While they are good, you don’t have to make that many. Up size the recipe as needed.

1 quart jar of your favorite store-bought sliced dill pickles
2 tablespoons of Tabasco Pepper Sauce
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup pickle juice

Open the jar of pickles and drain them well into a bowl or pan using a colander. With all the hub bub about pickle juice lately, you may want to keep the rest of this for other uses.

While they are draining, measure the sugar, pickle juice, and Tabasco sauce into a bowl and combine well. I use a fork for this. Ensure there are no unmixed patches of sugar in the bowl.

Once the pickle slices are thoroughly drained, put them into the sugar/Tabasco mixture. With clean hands, carefully mix the ingredients together. You should see a syrup start to form almost immediately. Keep mixing until there is no discernible sugar left.

Update, 24 November 2012
The last time I made these, I used a Tupperware bowl with a lid on it. I mixed the sugar, etc. in that, then put the pickle slices into the bowl, put the cover on, and shook it until it was mixed well.

Carefully place the pickle slices back into the jar. Then pour the syrup mixture into the jar with the pickles. Replace the lid and refrigerate.

The pickles will be good after a couple of days, downright delicious after a week, and to die for after 2 weeks.

Variations
Place some raw garlic cloves into the jar as you are filling it with pickle slices.
Measure a tablespoon of red pepper flakes in with the sugar and Tabasco.
Measure a tablespoon of dry onion flakes in with the sugar and Tabasco.
Try using Tabasco’s Worcestershire or Garlic pepper sauces.
Put a dry pepper or two in the jar.
Add a tablespoon or two of minced garlic so the taste is more uniform.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *