One Month...

It's real.  For the first time, it feels like this great, fast-approaching event, that has been nearly a year in the making, might be more than just a dream with a Pinterest board.  Yesterday, as I bid my last goodbyes to summer, we hit the one month mark.  

Over the weekend, my dear aunt helped us assemble the first of our major decorations and my heart took a deep sigh of relief when it really did look beautiful.  Up until now, we have had flowers, sequins, and candlesticks scattered about and I have held my breath and hoped that it would all come together in a seamless, cohesive design. 

Now, I sit at my computer flipping through tab after tab of wedding programs.  Literally hundreds of them.  Yet somehow, I still have not found exactly what I had envisioned.  Whyyyyy?  I think I'm a little picky. 

This week, I shot my last pre-wedding recipe with my mother.  It's a very special recipe, with very special memories and I cannot wait to share it with you.  The coming six-week hiatus of testing, baking, and photographing has been months in the making, but now it's done.  Mind you, I still have so many pictures to edit, posts to write, and recipes to type up, but the most daunting portion of the task is done.  And I already miss it.  

My fiancé might finally have his outfit figured out.  Who knew it would take eleven months to find a dusty-blue bow tie?

I do not know what's happening.  Some mornings I wake up and gaze across the room to my little wedding countdown and it feels real.  I know and believe that so much of the reality that I have known for the past twenty-one years will be turned upside-down, and yet so much will stay the same.  Other mornings I wake thinking that I have not woken at all, but am still heavily immersed in the most wonderful of impossible dreams.  It's all very bizarre in the happiest of ways.

I want to soak up these last four weeks, but at the same time I cannot wait for the day to finally arrive.  I'm filled with excitement as my fingers bounce about this keyboard like timid feet across hot coals.  One month.  ONE MONTH!  

I'm a very lucky lady. 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

My Favorite Bread & Butter Pickles from Food in Jars

My family moved to the house they live in now when I was ten.  On one action-packed day in May we went from a small house with a backyard that was parallel to a major road in bustling suburbia, to a home with no streetlights in sight and a yard that seemed to go on for ages, at least in the eyes of a ten-year-old. 

The following summer we planted a garden, with no comprehension of just how prolific cucumber plants could be.  When we reached the point of having one-hundred cucumbers in our refrigerator at one time, my mother decided that it was time for intervention.  My grandmother came up to rescue us and our over plentiful garden, and that day I sliced cucumbers for what felt like forever.  Together, we three ladies made jar after jar of sweet, bread and butter pickles. 

Since that warm, summer afternoon, I have loved bread and butter pickles piled high on hot dogs - my personal favorite, or stacked atop sandwiches. Their flavors are so familiar and comforting.

 My fiancé brought me a dozen cucumbers several weeks ago and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. 

I had made Marisa's bread and butter pickles two summer’s ago and they were without a doubt the very best I had ever tasted.  Sadly, they did not last as long as I had hoped, so this year I made a double batch. 

If you are going to attempt pickle-making, which you definitely should, you are going to want a mandoline slicer.  Unless of course you would like to slice twelve cucumbers by hand…but I would not recommend it.  

Just be very careful using the mandoline.  My mom lost a finger tip once… Everyone at church the next day thought she destroyed her finger playing an instrument.  Why do they call them mandolines anyways?  Her children (including myself) still wonder if it was all a devious ploy to escape dishes for several weeks.

But back to the pickles!  The pickling process begins with salt.  A lot of salt. 

The cucumbers, onions, and peppers are sprinkled generously with pickling salt and then allowed to sit in the refrigerator overnight.  The salt will draw much of the water out of the vegetables to make room for the delicious brine that we are going to soak them in. 

The pickling liquid is made with a combination of apple cider vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, red pepper flakes, and ground cloves.

Now here is when you have to have your grandmother on standby and your fingers ready to be burnt, because that’s just part of the process. 

Place all your jars in a large pot and cover with water.  The jars need to be sterilized before we can fill them with our pretty pickles. 

The lids and rings will need to simmer in a smaller pot.  The key is to keep everything hot in order to avoid any icky bacteria from creeping into our sterilized jars. 

As soon as the pickles have finished steeping in the brine, you can fill the jars.  You’ll need a wide-mouthed funnel, a pair of jar tongs, and some paper towels for this process.  It sounds scary and complicated, but the more you do it, the easier and less intimidating it gets.  Believe me.  

I still have to mentally prepare myself for a day of canning, but it’s so worth it. 

We might have just begun our diy Christmas gifts! 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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My Favorite Bread and Butter Pickles

makes six 1-pint jars / recipe adapted from Food in Jars

- 12 cups cucumbers in 1/8-inch slices (pickling cucumbers are best, if you can find them)

- 4 cups sliced sweet peppers (I like the mini peppers but bell peppers work great too)

- 4 cups sliced sweet onion (about 2 large onions)

- 1/2 cup pickling salt

- 4 cups apple cider vinegar 

- 3 cups granulated sugar

 - 1/4 cup mustard seed 

- 4 teaspoons celery seed

- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

- 1 teaspoon ground cloves 

Slice cucumbers, using a sharp mandoline and combine with sliced peppers, onions.  Sprinkle with pickling sauce and toss to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for four hours, or overnight.  This will draw much of the water out of the cucumbers so that they can soak up all of the delicious pickling liquid later on! 

Rinse and drain the vegetables thoroughly, then prepare the brine. 

Place your jars in a very large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and allow to boil until you have finished the pickles.  Place the lids and rings in a small saucepan of water and simmer over low heat.

Prepare the pickling liquid by combining the vinegar and sugar in a large pot.  Place over medium heat and stir until the liquid has heated through and all the sugar has dissolved.  Add spices and increase the heat to bring the mixture to a boil.  

Add the drained vegetables to the boiling brine and stir to combine.  Cook for 5-10 minutes, until all the vegetables are fully heated through and have begun to soften. 

Line your countertop with a heavy dish towel.  Remove the jars from the boiling water (jar tongs are very helpful for this), one at a time and fit with a wide-mouthed funnel.  Use tongs to fill the jars with the pickles.  Ladle in the brine until the jar has only 1/2-inch of headspace.  Gently tap the jars on the towel to remove any air pockets.  Dip a paper towel into the boiling water and carefully clean the edges of the jar before fitting with the lids and rings.  Repeat with each jar until all the jars are filled.  Then, return to the pot of boiling water and boil for ten minutes.  Remove from water and return to the dish towel to cure for at least two days before opening and enjoying.  The pickles will get better and better the longer they sit.

Enjoy, and be proud, you just made your own pickles! 

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Fried Chicken Sandwiches with The Southerner's Cookbook

I purchased this cookbook back at the start of the summer, and when it finally arrived at my door, I waited no small time before turning to one recipe - Fried Chicken: Classic.  This deeply southern feat of poultry genius was the reason I was now holding this canvas-bound collection in my hands.  I wanted fried chicken - truly southern, truly good, fried chicken.  

It is with great regret that I admit that I have not found a single piece of truly good fried chicken in my vicinity.  This lack of crispy goodness was the driving force behind my quest for a solid recipe. 

So, one Saturday evening, in early summer, my fiancé and I set out to attempt the hallowed dish. Our expectations were high, our mess large, and our stomaches empty. 

In the end, all of our greatest, fondest, most fantastic fried chicken dreams were surpassed.  This recipe, more so than any I have ever tried before, delivers the fried chicken we all secretly dream of. 

Just as with nearly all great poultry recipes, this one begins with a brine. 

A brine is a highly salted water mixture that keeps poultry extra juicy and very tender.  It's the key to really flavorful fried chicken. 

After the chicken has sat in the brine for several hours, it is time to consider the coating. 

Now, if we were going to be eating this chicken on its own, I would definitely be using skin-on, bone-in pieces.  However, after preparing this recipe several times, I found that it is incredibly well-suited to sandwiches when made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  

And while it might seem sacrilegious to some to make fried chicken skinless, I can assure you that it is truly awe-inspiring, with or without skin. 

The brined chicken is soaked in hot sauce-spiked buttermilk before it is coated in the flour mixture.  Season your flour liberally, and then season it more.  This is the key to great fried chicken.  Get in there with that pepper grinder. 

After the chicken has fried (which I have no pictures of because I'm kind of attached to my hands and my camera lens), it is allowed to cool for a few minutes while we toast up some buns and make a quick honey mustard.  Oh, and you should probably slice a couple of tomatoes too. 

My mouth is watering.  I no longer remember what I was going to write here.  Something about how the honey mustard seeps into the crispy coating...ohmygoodness I just want to eat it! 

If you are a fan of the chicken sandwiches from a certain fast food chain, you might know how good pickles are with fried chicken.  

But, they do not have the very best, homemade, bread and butter pickles.  Thankfully, we do. I'll be sharing that recipe with you soon! 

So far, we have a toasty bun, perfectly crisp fried chicken, honey mustard, sweet pickles, fresh tomatoes... What's next?

Maybe some lettuce, to pretend like we are healthy or something.  Oh!  And sweet tea!

We are being southerners tonight, remember? 

My farewell to summer. 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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The Very Best Fried Chicken Sandwiches

makes 6 / recipe adapted from The Southerner's Cookbook

for the fried chicken

(brine)

- 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

- 1 gallon water 

- 3/4 cup kosher salt 

(dip)

- 3 cups buttermilk  

- 1/2-1 tablespoon hot sauce (depending on your spice preference) 

(dredge) 

- 3 cups all-purpose flour 

- 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt 

- 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

(frying)

- about 6 cups peanut oil

- frying thermometer 

Begin by making the brine.  Bring four cups of the water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Stir in the salt until dissolved, then remove from heat.  Transfer to a large bowl and combine with the remaining cool water.  Refrigerate until thoroughly cooled.  

Add chicken breasts to the cooled brine and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for four hours or overnight. 

Prepare a drying station by lining a sheet pan with several layers of paper towels and top with a cooling rack.

Prepare the dredge by combining flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a medium bowl or pie plate.

Cook’s Note: I like to season and mix the dredge in a pie plate because it is nice and wide for coating later on. 

Fill a large dutch oven with 1-inch of peanut oil.  Attach a frying thermometer to the side of the pot and place over medium-high heat; bring the oil to 350 degrees F.  While the oil is heating, prepare the chicken.  

Using tongs, dip each chicken breast into the prepared buttermilk dip, being sure to coat each piece thoroughly.  Then, transfer to the dredge and coat both sides, shaking off any excess flour. 

Carefully drop the chicken into the oil.  Depending on the size of your dutch oven, you should only fry about three pieces at a time.  The temperature of the oil will begin to decrease the moment you add the chicken, so turn up the heat as needed.  You want to maintain a temperature of roughly 325 degrees F.  Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, until the chicken is deep golden and the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees.  An instant-read thermometer is very helpful for this.

Place the chicken on the prepared cooling station while you prepare the sandwiches. 

sandwich assembly

- 1/4 cup honey

- 1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard 

- 6 fresh sandwich buns 

- 6 tablespoons butter, softened 

- bread and butter pickles 

- 1 tomato, sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices 

- butter lettuce

In a small bowl, combine honey and mustard.  

Place a nonstick frying pan over medium heat.  Butter each half of the sandwich buns and toast, cut-side down, for about three minutes, until the buns are warm and lightly toasted. 

Spread the upper half of the bun liberally with honey mustard and top with tomato slices and lettuce.  Place the fried chicken on the bottom half of the bun and top with sweet pickles.

Serve the sandwiches immediately, preferably with some equally southern sweet iced tea. Enjoy!