These Flip-Flops With Caramelized Pickle Sauce
When I was 10, I “wrote” a parody version of Melissa Etheridge’s “I’m the Only One”, replacing sapphic angst with pickle cravings. Unfortunately, the only text I can remember is: “But I’m the only one who will go through the fire for pickles / and I’m the only one who will drown in my desire for pickles.” My family didn’t particularly like my song, but that didn’t stop me from singing it.
Based on this anecdote, you might think I’m thrilled to be living in our current golden age of pickled foods, and to a certain extent I am ( Trader Joe does pickle everything, but his suggestions are apt). Besides simple pickle chips, pickle sauces became widespread, so of course I had to make my own. There are many recipes for pickled sauces on the world wide web, some of which contain caramelized onions, but to my knowledge no one has dared to caramelize the pickles themselves . Except me.
It’s easy to be brave when you’re armed with knowledge and experience. Based on previous experiments , I know that heating pickles creates all sorts of new and interesting flavors:
The sugars in the brine liquid caramelize and char, and the taste is pretty fantastic. The astringency of the marinade is slightly muted, and the piquancy is enhanced. This is a nice pickle.
It follows that nicely caramelized pickles can be made into a nice sauce. And boy, I was pleased with myself when I took my first bite.
The finished dish is tart and salty, like sour cucumbers, but all the other flavors in the mix make it really special. Cooking pickles in a pan enhances their tartness and saltiness, and adds a new flavor through browning. The sugars in the brine caramelize and the edges of the marinade pieces turn golden and chewy. The pieces are also savory, almost meaty.
I made the pickles, then chopped them in a food processor and then mixed them with sour cream along with a spoonful of mayonnaise and some sugar. The resulting sauce is creamy, salty, spicy, slightly sweet… and almost impossible to stop eating. I made a fairly small batch (I have a 20% drop in my fridge right now), but I recommend doubling the recipe to serve it to a crowd of more than one person.
Caramelized Cucumber Dip Sauce
Ingredients:
- 8 oz pickles, preferably something like Clausen’s or Grillo’s
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 ounces full fat sour cream
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, Duke’s is better
- 1/2 teaspoon table sugar
If using whole pickles, cut them into quarters and then into 1/8-inch pieces; if using marinated chips, cut each chip into 4 pieces. Add oil to a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add the pickle pieces, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and chewy around the edges (about 45 minutes). Scrape the pickles, along with the remaining oil, in a food processor and process until they are just about to taste. (Actually, you could use it as a condiment; that would be nice.)
Let the cucumbers cool to room temperature, then add them to the sour cream along with the mayonnaise and sugar. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.