Harold, purveyor of gourmet pickles from Texas is most certainly my kin folk. I first “met” Harold via this here ol’ blog when he left a comment on one of my posts urging me to stop messin’ around with other “hot” pickles and to try his instead. After corresponding back and forth it was theorized that he may be my long lost father…’cept my dad is alive and well and I look just like him, so, love ya Dad, but there is no doubt that Harold and I are related somewhere along the brine line.
Well, I called him out about his pickles not messin’ around and sure enough, he had the smarts to send me a whole box of his pickles: a jar of the original Frances Cowley dills, a jar of his “2X” hot pickles with habaneros and a jar of his “4X” extra hot pickles with even more habaneros. I’ve got all 3 sitting in my fridge right this moment, no doubt keeping the other jars in there highly entertained. These are sassy pickles from Texas with a salty sense of humor.
All of these pickles come in thick, chunky slices, which I love, because for me they are a mess-free meal, only a fork need be “dirtied”. The original Frances Cowley dills are just a simple, straightforward dill that tastes better than anything Vlassic, Mount Olive etc can sell you. My friend Ruby Verbena tried them at the NOLA Hot Sauce & Gourmet show and shrieked with delight (of course, Harold, I must point out, at this point she had yet to taste MY pickles, just sayin’…). My friend Annie tried these the other night at my house and said they had just the right amount of heat for her, anymore would be too much. She is a wimp (I’m kidding Annie, just testing to see if you read the blog). The 2X or “Purdy Hot” pickles and the 4X or “Dern Hot” are the same recipe as the Frances Cowley dills just accordingly spiced up with habanero peppers, although I SWEAR my 2X pickles are hotter than the 4X ones! What makes these pickles unique is their super salty taste, so if you’re the type that adds salt to your tortilla chips, margaritas and cans of Tecate, these are for you.
After Harold sent me this big box of love from Texas, I had the pleasure of meeting him at the NOLA Hot Sauce & Gourmet Show. He welcomed me like family and I was happy to learn he is even funnier in person than his witty facebook updates and happier to know that he was even more hungover on that Sunday afternoon than I was! He and his pickle crew attended some sort of open bar for the show vendors and he declared that it was a flat out mistake to put him anywhere NEAR an open bar. Like I said-KIN FOLK.
And just like kin, Harold didn’t let me leave without a jar of his brand new pickle offering-The Beer Pickle-which I have to say is the COOLEST jar of pickles I’ve ever laid my briny hands on and it deserves its own post-my google search of “beer pickle” has already turned up some very interesting things so stay tuned.
