Famous Dave's Signature Spicy

 

Famous Dave's Signature
Spicy Pickle Chips

Well, its been a while, folks, but Covid-19 has brought about all sorts of digging up of old relics, and here we are...another pickle blog entry!  

Today's foray is largely due to a trip to CostCo, where they had the gallon-sized jar of Famous Dave's Signature Spicy Pickle Chips in quantity.  They looked great in the jar, but if I didn't care for them, I didn't want to be eating them until next Easter.  So, this week's grocery run found a smaller jar in my cart.

I gave them a few minutes to chill, but not enough to really do the job right, but I was worse than a cat, and I had to crack open the jar.

The label says that they have a "unique blend of sweet and heat" and I think they hit it on the mark.

Sweet. Yep, they are sweet pickles, in the bread'n'butter variety, but nicely, they're not over the top.  I munched on a half-dozen of them, and didn't get the sweet-gag that you can sometime get.  DANGER: this is an addictive quality!

Heat. Yep, after the half-dozen chips or so, there was some heat buildup, but not in an unpleasant way.  The heat tended to stick around for about 5 minutes, but nothing to sweat about (literally!).

Unique Blend. I think the "unique blend" is probably the Sweet, with the Heat combined with a lick of vinegar, so that all 3 flavors are experienced for a pretty tasty combo.

Applications.  Clearly the folks at Famous Dave's have a few other culinary strengths, as their ribs are, well, "famous"...or at least in places I'm not.  This hints that they may just be putting things things on the side, or on top of their more "famous" entrees and sandwiches.  The sweet+heat+vinegar flavor would go great on something that needed dressing up, like the classic leftover meatloaf sandwich, or floating on top of a load of cole slaw on a Memphis-style BBQ beef--hey!  Dave might have thought of that one already!?

In any case, I liked these things and look forward to munching on them and trying them out as toppers.  Nice job, Dave!  Now...if we can talk about getting you to open a rib joint near Ann Arbor....

Bloody Mary Pickles!

Well, this is a change-up...pointing at someone else's ideas!

This one came to me via a Facebook post, and it looks good.  Note that they use Vlasic Zesty Whole Dills...the spears are my go-to favorite pickle if I can't find something more exotic.

Bloody Mary Pickles

Back from pickle-hiatus!

I'm just going to do a quick check-in and say that I haven't forgotten about the Pickle Reviews blog.  I've only stumbled on a few varieties here in SE Michigan that I haven't reviewed, but with this Covid-19 thing, it means there's more time to look around and try stuff in the normal "high standards" of the Pickle Review blog.

Hang in there, stay safe and healthy!

-Jeff. :)

Miss Kim's Dill Pickles

Miss Kim's Dill Pickles

I'm back!

Never on a pickle-hiatus, but just got out of the habit of posting.  I have a backlog of photos, but I'm afraid I'd have to re-buy the pickles to give them a fair review.  Oh darn...

Last weekend, we were at the Saline Farmer's Market, and found Miss Kim's Pickles at one of the vendor tables.

They're made in a licensed kitchen, which is something you need to be aware of at Farmer's Markets.  It was reassuring that they had a serial number and a Use-By date on the label.

Firstly, since I was eye-balling the label anyway, I noticed that there are only a few ingredients: cucumbers, vinegar, salt, dill, garlic.  They need refrigeration, for sure, but the short list was pretty reassuring, and telling, given the simple, straight-forward goodness inside.

Miss Kim's Dill Ingredients

The other thing that was a little different is that these are dill slices instead of spears or wholes as one might expect.  Evidently, Miss Kim envision these things on burgers or sandwiches before simply munching on them.  Each slice, though, had full flavor, since it touched the brine and garlic/dill flavors directly.

As far as taste, these were very similar to Claussen Deli Dills, but a bit less garlic-y. Very good crunch and the little slices made them easy to munch on.  I wish I had more to talk about, but these are simply well-balanced deli-dill pickles.

Simple and straight-forward is a good description, and whattaya know, its right on the label!

Grillo's Pickles

Sometimes, life is full of surprises.  OK, most of the time. A couple weeks ago, I get an email from Miles McAlpin from Grillo's Pickles out of Cambridge, MA. He asked me if I'd be willing to review his pickles.  Since they're not readily available here in SE Michigan, I said, "Sure!", and a week later (they ship on tuesdays), I had a box of pickles on my doorstep.

They came packed very securely, with rubber bands holding the lids on in case of any accidents.  As pictured on the left, they're clear plastic "tubs" to let you view the goodness inside.  Visually, that's a good move, because you see all of the big slices of garlic, the dill weed and the beautiful cucumber spears inside.  There was a little tab to remove before you could pry the lid up, but otherwise, they were remarkably tightly sealed...it took some coaxing to get the lids off!  More about the lids later...

Grillo's Pickles are what I'd call a "deli-style", fresh-pack type of pickle, similar to what the Claussen national brand does.  They need to stay refrigerated, because they are 100% natural and contain no preservatives.  The ingredient panel pretty much confirms this...6 ingredients total, including the brine ingredients.  Government regs aside, they really don't need the label...you can see and taste what's in there.

Grillo's Italian Dill Pickles.
Note the garlic slices!

Open the lid, and you see the cukes, obviously, but then the slices of garlic, the dill weed and...grape leaves!?  First bite is crunchy and the first thing that you notice (like you'd notice a 2x4 to the head) is the garlic.  They are "Italian" dill pickles, and the garlic really underscores what they mean.  Its certainly not objectionable, but its not disguised.  Once the flavors start blending you notice that the dill smooths some of the punch of the garlic into a briney, herby goodness...and prompts another bite.  I went through 2 of these spears without even flinching. They have a unique flavor, which I have to give credit to the grape leaves...I have a feeling they take the bite out of the garlic's punchiness, but that's just a hunch. 

The brine is about what you'd expect of a "deli" dill...water, vinegar and salt in pleasant proportions, so that you taste the vinegar, but it doesn't whack you upside the head, like our benchmark McClure's brand. I think this makes these pickles very "munchable", so that you can go through 2 or 3 without noticing.

The second jar Grillo's shipped was their "HOT" variety. After Harold's "Derned Hot" variety, I've approached "hot" varieties with a newfound respect. Grillo's HOT variety are the nice kind of hot, not the mean kind.  Flavored with strips of jalepeno pepper (see the picture below), it provides them with a little extra peppery zing, but you can still munch on these 2-3 at a time without needing an ER handy.  As with the normal pickles, these have loads of garlic and dill and have all of the wonderful qualities of the original Grillo's.

Grillo's "HOT" variety. Note the
jalepeno slices and garlic!

For about 2 weeks now, I've really been enjoying both varieties and only regret that its taken me this long to write up the review for these excellent pickles.  They have great crunch, the right brine and present their flavors without hitting you over the head with them. The Hot variety adds a little heat without detracting from the basic goodness and flavor of the originals.  It was really nice seeing whole sprigs of dill rather than a few choppings at the bottom.  Slices of garlic ensure that the garlic flavor gets into the pickles and adds its own "hotness" to even the normal variety.  I really loved these pickles and will need a refill when I finish them up.

A word about the lids on these jars... I mentioned before that they were difficult to get off, and as Miles suggested, need a "heavy weight on one side of the jar and the lid will click right into place." I tried this and indeed it works.  I found that firmly pressing down with your palm on the edge and then pulling the bottom part of the jar up to the lid was what it took to click it into place.  Miles said that they "have discussed changing the jars but these ones are the best we can do at this stage".  The jars are made of fully recyclable plastic and seem pretty reusable, so I can appreciate their efforts to be environmentally responsible yet keep a lid on costs.

Right now, Grillo's is not (yet) a national brand, so getting a jar or four might be a mail-order affair.  The good news is that Whole Foods has picked up their brand in stores in New England, the Atlantic states and in the Gulf coast South.  They've even made it as far west as Ohio.  If you're in one of those areas, check their stock list.  If you're not, run, bike, or drive straight over to your hometown Whole Foods and ask them to stock Grillo's Pickles. If you want to make points with Grillo's and your humble reviewer, pester the living daylights out of the Ann Arbor, Michigan Whole Foods to carry them. ;)

Bravo, Grillo's, becoming one of my new favorites!

* * * * *

Grillo's Pickles, 1075 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139  http://grillospickles.com

Bubbies Kosher Dills

There are 2 ways to pickle something, and most everything I've reviewed to this point has been pickled in vinegar.  The other method is to let natural lactic bacterias ferment and produce lactic acid, which does the pickling.  This is the more traditional method and results in a much different flavor of pickle.  Local entrepreneurs have been starting whole businesses based around lactic acid fermented food, one of my favorites, The Brinery, here in Ann Arbor.  Their products have become so popular that local gastropubs and even Zingerman's have started using their products.

Anyway, we were shopping at Hiller's and noticed the odd name, Bubbies, on a jar of refrigerated pickles.  They appear to be of the lactid acid (LA) variety, due to the cloudy liquid inside.  Bubbies even puts it on the lid: "Its the cloudy brine that makes it 'Bubbies'". Lots of nice herbs and mustard seeds were in the bottom, as well as the expected amount of garlic for a Kosher-style pickle.  They're around $5.50 at Hiller's, so they were a bit on the expensive side, but in the end, they're probably worth it.

One of the drawbacks to the LA method seems to be a lack of crispness in the pickles.  Bubbies are probably remarkably firm and crunchy for an LA pickle.  Perhaps "crunchy" is a bit of an exaggeration.  Due to the time it takes to ferment, its tough to keep the pickles from getting soggy and soft. Bubbies have a very dominant garlic and dill flavor with the "slightly skunky" flavor you get from natural fermentation.  These pickles weren't spicy like Harold's or even Vlasic Zesty, but had lots of flavor.  I'd characterize them as "full flavored" since all of the flavors lingered on your tastebuds a while--no flash-in-the-pan spike of flavor here.  The flavor is, in fact, very well rounded, but it really didn't "hit home" for me, until I was into my 2nd pickle.  There is some red-pepper flake in there, to give them just a touch of peppery flavor.  Nice!

To wrap things up, Bubbies Kosher Dills are pretty tasty, with very full flavor, but don't judge them on the first or even second bite.  Give 'em a pickle or two trial, since they kinda grow on ya!

Harold's Texicun Gormay Pickles

Harold's Texicun Gormay Pickles
Derned Hot

We had a friend up from Texas, who as we soon found out, has a taste for the hot stuff.  Didn't think twice about it.  Should have.  She was visiting relatives in Ohio, so she was able to pick up some gifts for use for having her over for a few days of her stay.  

She knew that I'm a pickle addict and brought a jar of Harold's Texicun Gormay Pickles.  Red flags of fire should have lept up at me when the label had 2 categories, "Purdy Hot" and "Derned Hot" and the latter was checked.

First, Shannon recommended that we chill the jar.  Apparently, these things are particularly sensitive to temperature and get soggy and limp when warm.  I think most pickles probably do this, but some hold up better than others.  As a side note, I returned the favor by introducing Shannon to McClure's Spicy, which she really liked, but gave me egg on my face when they weren't as crazy-crunchy as I'd reviewed.  Chilling helped those too, so its probably a safe bet to chill your pickles as a matter of course.

Harold's pickles came in a jar that was pretty much a Mason jar, complete with the separate seal and outside ring--just like Mom used to use.  Definitely gives it a "crafted" quality.  The first thing you notice (aside from "Derned Hot") is the beautiful red color of the chilis inside and the chunks of garlic and mounds of seeds on the bottom.  I'm not precisely sure what those seeds are, but if I had to guess, I'm going to say they were hot pepper seeds.  Why?  Let me make this clear:

They are DERNED HOT!

McClure's are spicy, but can't hold a blowtorch to these babies.  Shannon thought they were "pretty hot" because she could only eat "3 or 4 before I had to quit".  I ate one, and the initial dill and garlic flavors hit you first--really tasty, in fact.  Next, you taste the pepper, and its pretty zingy.  However, what you're tasting is the initial effect, and it builds very quickly to overcome the niceness and bring you to a full sear.  Seldom do I do the hot pepper cough, but with these, it came easy.

Now, the trouble is, I can only eat one, so its taken a few days to get a feel for the true flavor of the pickle.  They are yummy, but the heat really reigns you in.  If I buy a jar of my own, I'm going to have to go with the "purdy hot" variety to step it down a bit.  The crunch and flavor came through, but they had some stout competition from the heat.