The Dirty Bud Martini
Franklin Roosevelt is associated with the creation of the dirty martini, in two equally unsubstantiated stories. The first has Joseph Stalin suggesting vodka and pickle juice as a hangover cure at Yal...
Before I make a pickle brine, I try to imagine what the finished product will taste like. You’ve heard the expression “the mind’s eye”? When I’m inventing recipes, I use my “mind’s palate.” All brines have certain things in common (like water and vinegar), but your spices will change depending on what it is you’re pickling. The brine for these daylily buds is one of my favorites. It’s a little spicy, a little sweet and a lot delicious.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 3 Half-Pint(s)
- 3 cups daylily buds
Brine
- 1½ cups water
- 1½ cups white wine vinegar
- ½ cup sugar
- 1½ tablespoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dried wild ginger rhizome
- ½ teaspoon whole, dried spicebush berries
- ½ teaspoon whole, dried pequin chiles
- 1 large Pennsylvania bay leaf (if you have California bay leaves, use half a leaf; the flavor is much stronger)
Instructions
Combine all the brine ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the brine simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, whisking to dissolve the sugar and salt. Pour the hot brine over the daylily buds and let steep for several hours. You can eat your quick pickles right away, but the flavor will develop with time and they’ll be even tastier after sitting in the brine for a few days.
Store, covered, in the refrigerator, where they’ll keep for several weeks.
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