Another use for pickle juice

Pickle-brined chicken from BH&G

I’m a total frugie when it comes to using up bits of byproducts – leftover potato cooking water, the oil from oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, beet stems, you name it. So when I saw the recipe for the pickle-brined chicken in the January 2014 issue of Better Homes & Gardens, I clearly had to make it.

I’ve long been a pickle-brine fan, sneaking it into vegetable cooking liquid, soups, pasta sauces and dressings, but I hadn’t found a way to use up the sheer volume leftover from all those pickles I made from all those cucumbers I grew. “Pickling” beets and other vegetables only takes you so far. So this struck me as genius, and doh, why hadn’t I thought of that?

The ingredients:

6 bone-in chicken thighs, brined for 8 to 24 hours in about four cups of pickle brine

¼ cup flour plus a few generous grinds of black pepper

White wine

Chicken broth

Fresh dill

Dill pickles and chopped red pepper for garnish

Method:

You pat the chicken dry after the brining, coat it with the flour mixture and brown it skin side down in cooking oil in an oven-safe pan. Then turn it over and bake at 475 for about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan, deglaze with wine. Reduce, add broth and reduce again. Then add butter and fresh dill to finish the sauce.

Rating:

The resulting chicken was tender and juicy inside, and got a nice brown crunch on the outside. I was skeptical about the pickle garnish, but it worked. 

On the side:

I paired this with some couscous made with fresh orange juice and zest and chopped roasted pistachios for color and texture. And on the side a repeater recipe for many bean salad, made using fresh steamed green beans: 

See the full, original chicken recipe here:  http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pickle-brined-chicken/

And here’s the next version I’m going to try with some of the remaining vats of pickle juice taking up room in the basement refrigerator (the beer and pickle refrigerator): http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pickle-brined-chicken

Other uses for pickle brine that I enjoy:

Combine some matchstick carrots and julienned red pepper and soak in brine. Stir in some cilantro or parsley and use it as a relish on sandwiches.

And if you’re into Bloody Marys, well, there’s that.