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We used up the last of our dill pickles at our sandwich party we had over the weekend, so now we’re left with about 12 ounces of pickle juice. Typically we just mix the brine from pickles and peperoncini with mustard, oil, mayo or spices to make salad dressing. But we’ve got enough salad dressings (thanks to Mr. Foxypants’s love of of condiments) to last us until the end of time *cough* the month, so I decided to research some alternate ideas for pickle juice.

Straight up as a chaser for whisky or tequila. This is known as a pickleback.

As a dessert. The G-Rated version of a pickleback is a pickle juice snow cone.

With eggs. The only recipe I consistently use that involves pickle juice as an ingredient is deviled eggs. Deviled eggs, especially those made with garlic pickles, are delicious. A lot of cooking sites also mention using pickle juice to add some kick to egg salad. When poaching eggs, a la Julia Child, add pickle juice to the egg-poaching water to keep the egg whites from separating from the yolk. One of the easiest things to make with leftover pickle juice are pickled eggs. Just throw some hardboiled eggs into the brine for a couple days for this old fashioned treat.

As a soup base.

As the secret ingredient in picnic foods that I think are gross. Tyler Florence uses pickle juice in his Ultimate Potato Salad. Bobby Flay adds it to cole slaw.

As a meat marinade. Chick-Fil-A denies that they marinate their infamously yummy chicken in pickle juice. They can deny all they want, but chicken brined in pickle juice before it’s battered and fried is fantastic. This is the best tasting urban legend ever.

As sports medicine. Nolan Ryan would soak his pitching hand in pickle juice to prevent blisters. The New York Giants swear that drinking pickle juice alleviates muscle cramps.

Ultimately my leftover pickle juice question was answered by…more leftovers. While digging through the fridge to find ingredients that I could mix with the pickle juice, I found six ancient carrots. And by ancient I mean totally hairy and able to be bent 90 degrees without breaking. Instead of throwing them straight into the compost bin, (no wasted food) I peeled them, cut them into thin slices and threw them into the pickle juice along with a couple whole dried chilis and some garlic cloves. Hopefully, with some soaking, I can turn these into a yummy side dish later this month.

Tuesday Menu
Breakfast: Me: mango, toast, coffee Mr. Foxypants: cinnamon toast
Lunch: Me: mixed green salad with leftover avocado and tomatoes Mr. Foxypants: ham and cheese sandwich, tiny apricots
Dinner: Me: leftovers from yesterday’s Acapulco lunch Mr. Foxypants: free catered dinner at work