Christmas is always a great time of year and creating unique and fascinating recipes for the holiday season is a tradition for many families. Granted, the old standards like turkey and dressing, ham, sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole are definite must-haves, but when it comes to those unique flavors, adding a little heat with a healthy attitude to the mix isn’t a bad thing either. With that said, Christmas Pickles will definitely fit that bill!
Here’s what you do:
Ingredients-
1 gallon Dill pickles
5 cloves chopped garlic
5 pound bag white sugar
1 bottle Tabasco (or equivalent) sauce (5 ounces)
Method-
Drain pickles and discard the brine. Slice pickles in half and put back in the jar. Add garlic and the whole bottle of Tabasco sauce and 1/3 of the sugar. Rotate pickles and mixture in the jar until all pickles are well coated. Leave counter or shelf at room temperature for a week.
During the week, slowly add the sugar and move the mixture around in the jar to completely coat the pickles during the process. Continue until all the sugar is used. At the end of the week, transfer the pickles to smaller jars and divide the sugar/Tabasco sauce syrup evenly between them. Seal jars and store in the refrigerator.
This will create a hot, sweet and sour pickle that will be a great counter-point to all the other Christmas goodies you have on the table. These pickles will last for around a month after refrigeration, so you and your family will have plenty of time to enjoy them! The Schwab Agency in Colleyville TX hopes you have the best of holiday seasons and hopes you’ll make some Christmas Pickles to make the holidays truly special!