Kool-Aid pickles

Alton Brown, the quick-witted host of the Food Network, has a new book out which traces the culinary tour he took via motorcycle from the Mississippi River Delta in Louisiana to the source of the Big Muddy in Minnesota.

 

The book is called "Feasting on Asphalt" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2008) and the publisher was cool enough to send a copy to the CHFF cardboard-box world headquarters.

 

Here's one really neat recipe that Brown found at Joe's White Front Café in Rosedale, Mississippi. It's for pickles that are brined – get this – in Kool-Aid.

 

He says they're incredible refreshing on a hot summer day, so should work for those early-season tailgates. In the book they're called "koolickles" but Kool-Aid pickles seems to work better in a headline, so we're sticking with that name.

1 gallon jar kosher dill pickles

2 packages unsweetened cherry Kool-Aid

1 pound sugar

 

Drain the liquid from the pickles into a large container. Add the Kool-Aid and the sugar to the liquid and stir until the sugar completely dissolves. Remove the pickles from the jar, slice them in half lengthwise and return them to the jar. Return the liquid to the jar of pickles. Not all of the liquid will fit, but make sure the pickles are completely covered. Place in the refrigerator and let sit for 1 week before eating. Makes 1 gallon of pickles.