Kosher Dill Sour Pickles

Been making my weird Pickles again lately...  I had a few people comment "I only eat Dill Pickles", and didn't want to try mine.  LOL!  Peeps...  Alright!  I'll make the Dill Pickles...  LOL!  Its been about 11 days since I started these.  At first they got this electric, or maybe florescent green color.  Now they are the Pickle Green color, but they smell awesome, and I can't wait to try them.  Maybe in another week they will be ready...

Turkey, Gravy, and Stuffing...

I've changed my Turkey process over the past few years.  I've got a need for Gravy, so cooking the Turkey in the smoker all the way won't work.  I'm still brining the Turkey, but to make Gravy I need the drippings from Oven Roasting.  So what I do is to Roast the Turkey to about 80% done.  Then let it sit at room temperature for a couple hours.  Right before the rest of the meal is ready I'll put it in the smoker for two reasons.  First to finish cooking the Turkey, and second to put a specific amount of smoke on the Turkey so that its smoky, but not blackened with smoke.  This one turned out great, sort of a Mahogany color.  I used Pecan wood to smoke the Turkey this year...

Reddish Brown, and the skin was eatable, kinda chewy, and smoky.  The Pan Drippings got routed a different direction.  First transferred them to a fat separator.  This lets you separate the fat from the pan drippings.  The Fat goes into a skillet to make a Roux for the Gravy.  I think I had about six ounces of Turkey Fat, and as that was heating I whisked in seven tablespoons of Flour.  Keep whisking until you have a smooth paste, that doesn't look oily.  Then I added the Giblet Stock I made with the Neck, and Giblets.  Whisk that in good, then add the Pan Drippings.  Whisk that together well, then add some more Chicken Stock, while whisking, until the consistently is what you want.  Add some seasoning to your taste, then what ever flavorings you like, pepper, herbs, chiles, and Giblets...

Stuffing is really easy.  I sauteed some Mirepoix, plus Mushrooms in Butter, plus Sea Salt, and Pepper.  In the meanwhile I Diced up some Artisan Sourdough Bread, and a pan of Jalapeno Cornbread.  Maybe 6 cups of bread between the two which becomes the "Stuffing".  When the Vegetation is well sauteed dump the breads into the pan, and mix it with the Vegetation while stirring in some Chicken Stock.  Once it is mixed dump all of it into a baking pan, and put it in a 350F oven for around 30 minutes.  Well, that only took about 8 hours...  Easy weeknight dinner...

Lunch Salad

This is a fairly typical Lunch Salad that I make for work.  I decided to weigh it this morning.  LOL!  1.5 Pounds!  That is bigger than I expected.  Cabbage, Celery, Onion, and Tomato...

Luffa Squash, and Winged Beans

With the help of some friends we have figured out that this "Vietnamese" Squash is really a Luffa Squash.  I've got plenty of advise from the Asians at work.  So, now I am picking them accordingly.  You don't want to let them get too big.  If they do get big then let them stay on the vine until they are fully mature for seeds, and the Loofah Fiber which is used like a sponge.  Definitely the weirdest thing I have evar grown.  Also maybe the biggest thing I have evar grown.  It's taking over the whole garden.

It's growing up the Trumpet Vine, and into the Chile Patch.  I was picking Carolina Reapers, and found Luffa Squash growing in the Carolina Reaper Plants.  Also picked a few more Chiles today.  I'm looking to make something a little less hot than the Grim Reaper Sauce.  I bought some Serrano Chiles this week, I guess I was needing to tone the heat down a little.

Pickling Jar Seal

This is an impromptu method I've been using to seal the top of the Pickling Jar.  By Pickling Jar I mean whatever vessel is free at the time I want to make Pickles.  This time the Pickling Jar is a 2 Quart Mason Jar, and the Lid this time is a 1 Cup Ziplock Container filled with water.  A lot of dedicated Pickling Jars have a stone that is  used to submerge the Pickles.  Molds can grow on the top of the Brine, and any Pickles that are sticking out of the Brine will get moldy.  So the method is to keep all the Pickles submerged.  Having a Pickling Stone is nice, but it only fits that one dedicated container.  My kitchen needs to be a lot more flexible so I can adapt to whatever container is at hand presently.  The One Cup Ziplock Container filled with water fill most of the space of the Mason Jar opening.  There is a gap that is large enough to let the CO2 gas bubbles out, but also small enough to prevent the Pickles, and other ingredients from rising to the surface.  This batch of Pickles is Cayenne, Garlic Cucumber Pickles.  Fresh Cayenne from my garden will put some fire in these Pickles.

Dragon Bean

This is the Winged Bean, also called the Four Corner Bean, and the Dragon Bean.  It has "wings"  The feathery extremities of the X shaped cross section resemble wings.  This is the first time I actually have Beans.  This is the second year I've grown them.  The first year I don't think I had enough plants.  This time there are more than enough for successful pollination.

Reaper Sauce

About the only thing I think I can do with them Reapers is make sauce.  They're not producing a lot of Chiles, but its right amount to make a bottle of sauce.  I've started with the Reaper Sauce, and just made another I'm calling Grim Reaper Sauce.  Itz a Halloween thing...

The Reaper Sauce is on the left.  It has Carrot, Onion, Garlic, and San Marzano Tomatoes.  The Grim Reaper Sauce has a larger volume of Carolina Reaper Chiles per ounce.  I omitted the Carrot, used Tomato Sauce instead of whole Tomatoes, then added more Vinegar, no water, and some Clover Honey.  The Grim Reaper Sauce will be Mo Hotta...

Next I'm going to try a Red Savina Habanero Sauce, and a Cayenne Sauce...