Two Salad Recipes for Tailgating Using Granny’s Bread & Butter Pickle Brine

September is not only a prelude to a beautiful fall season, but for many, the season that they love best of all… football season.

Of course, for all of us picklers, tailgating is not only a chance to show off our delicious Great Lakes Pickling Company treats, but it’s ALSO a time to show off the brine and the tasty recipes that we like to use with them. Which is exactly why we’re sharing with you TWO of our favorite tailgating salads, which in this case, use the brine from our Granny’s Bread & Butter Pickle Pouches.

Pickles themselves are the perfect thing to bring to a tailgate. They go SO WELL with grilled burgers, hot dogs, BBQ ribs and just about any sandwich. For these recipes, we want to give you a couple of options to use the brine as well. Our first recipe features potatoes and bacon; while the second recipe features cabbage and apples. We often get requests to create recipes which use the brine created in your Great Lakes Pickling Company pouches.

These recipes scream fall and are very versatile as they can be made with any brine, any type of “waxy” potato, and any type of onion or bacon that you might have on hand. We’ve chosen the baby potatoes that have become so popular in the supermarkets. We’ve also decided to use white onion, as it is a bit milder and less bitter than Spanish onions.

German Potato Salad with Dijon Mustard and Granny’s Bread & Butter Pickle Brine Recipe

Servings: Makes 6 cups or 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound Baby Potatoes, Whole
1 ¼ cups White Onions. Cut in 1” Dice
1/2 pound Bacon, Cut in 1” Pieces
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
¼ cup Granny’s Bread & Butter pickle brine, Great Lakes Pickling Company
2 tbsp Dijon or Spicy Brown Mustard
¼ cup Italian Parsley, Coarsely Chopped
To taste Salt & Pepper
1 cup Pickles of Choice, Diced ½” (optional)

Directions:

Gently simmer the whole potatoes in water until tender. Drain and cool. Set aside.
Sauté the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon and place it in a large mixing bowl, saving the bacon grease in the sauté pan.
Sauté the onions in the bacon grease until softened and just barely golden brown.
Add the sautéed onion and all the resulting bacon grease to the bacon in the mixing bowl.
Add the pickle brine, brown sugar, and mustard. Stir to mix.
If your baby potatoes are 1” in size or less, leave them whole. Otherwise, cut any slightly larger ones in half.
Add the potatoes to the mixing bowl with the chopped parsley and stir together.
Season with salt and black pepper to taste and serve.

NOTES:

If serving warm, DO NOT add the parsley until after warming this salad which you can do either on the stove top, in the oven, or in a microwave.
If you choose to use your leftover Granny’s Bread & Butter pickling brine, this amount of sugar is just right. If you use any of the other brines, you may want to increase the amount of sugar to give your finished German Potato Salad that sweet and sour taste that a traditional German Potato Salad is known for.

Apple Coleslaw with Sun-Dried Cherries, Fresh Ginger, and a Touch of Honey Recipe

This unique salad is a wonderful change of pace from the traditional coleslaw recipes. It’s a perfect dish to take a tailgate party and can show off your Granny’s Bread & Butter Pickle brine by giving this recipe a slightly delicious “tang”.