Granny Foster’s Bread and Butter Pickles
The perfect combination of sweet and tart, thinly sliced bread and butter pickles are the quintessential all-purpose sandwich toppers, delivering lots of big, punchy flavor in a small package. They make such a satisfyingly crunchy snack that—if you’re anything like me—you’ll soon graduate from layering them in sandwiches to munching them straight from the jar.
MAKES ABOUT 6 PINTS
20 to 22 small Kirby cucumbers (about 31⁄2 pounds), cut into 1⁄4-inch slices
1 onion, thinly sliced
1⁄4 cup kosher salt
2 garlic cloves
4 cups apple cider vinegar
3 1⁄2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
2 teaspoons celery seeds
1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1. Place the cucumbers and onion in a large bowl with the salt and garlic. Cover with ice and toss to mix. Let stand for 3 hours to crisp, then drain well, removing any ice that has not yet melted. Do not rinse.
2. If preserving the pickles, sterilize six 1-pint heat-tempered canning jars. Combine the vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the cucumbers, onion, and garlic, bring back to a boil, and remove immediately from the heat. For refrigerator pickles, refrigerate in airtight containers for two weeks to allow flavors to develop, or for up to 1 month. For preserved pickles, pack in the sterilized jars, leaving 1⁄2 inch of headspace, and process in a hot water bath for about 10 minutes to vacuum-seal. Let cool to room temperature, check the seal, and store in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks to allow flavors to develop before serving, or for up to 6 months. Refrigerate after opening.