Carny Pickles! (and Sriracha sauce)

45th Parallel Carny Pickles

During a quick visit with relatives, at a morning run to the Cops & Donuts bake shop in Clare, MI for donuts and coffee, I noticed a refrigerator full of offerings from the 45th Parallel Pickling Co.   Move over, custard stick, I have to check these out!

The 45th Parallel Pickling Co. is based in Okemos, MI (about 80 miles south near the state capital, Lansing), and many of the recipes are from a former cop-mom, so there's a police theme for the products sold in the Cops & Donuts shop in Clare.  Its a fun place with lots of police paraphernalia,  newspaper articles and props.  They even have a red Michigan State Police "bubble" light from the top of MSP patrol cars.  The shop was founded by retired policemen and has done well over the years. 

First, all of the varieties in the case all looked delicious, so the decision on which to purchase wasn't easy at $7.99 a jar. The most eye-catching variety was a spicy combination of cauliflower and brussel sprouts called "Zombie Parts".  They were pickled with sweet peppers and onions and had sriracha sauce added into the mix for the spice.  "Police Pickles" were a garlic-dill sliced variety, but what caught my eye was the jar of "Carny Pickles".  These were spicy bread'n'butter variety pickles with the same sriracha sauce added for the heat.  The cucumbers were ripple-cut and had a fresh cucumber flavor, but with a hint of the garlic-y hot sriracha.  Bits of onion and sweet pepper are in there as well as the normal celery and mustard seed floating about.  The flavor was very refreshing, but with an "afterbite" of the sriracha peppery taste.

Huy Fong Sriracha Sauce

For those not familiar with sriracha sauce, its basically hot-pepper and garlic sauce that's usually found in asian restaurants.  Its special because it doesn't have the strong vinegar taste of Tobasco or Frank's Red Hot sauces, but rather, the flavor of the crushed fruit (peppers) dominates the flavor.  Its hot, but very flavorful and completely wonderful on Mi Fung noodles, pizza or even bratwurst. The Huy Fong brand is my favorite and I've even found it at Kroger, usually for about $3.75 a bottle. If you're new to sriracha, just start with a few drops--a little goes a long way.

Oh yeah...the custard stick was fantastic!