pickle butter

Until a week ago I’d never even heard of pickle butter. But once I had heard of it, I could not stop thinking about it. I mean, pickles and butter–they were meant to be together.

Last Saturday, Brian and I stopped into Saltie, a new eatery very near our apartment. Saltie is a little place with amazing food. We ordered three sandwiches and some bread pudding, though it was really hard to pass up the apple tartlettes. Saltie’s menu and general approach to food was really impressive. I found the flavors interesting and classic and will definitely be back. My sandwich had pickle butter, gruyere and crisp green pickled tomatoes neatly assembled atop the best sandwich roll ever. Their bread is no joke.

The pickle butter brightened the sandwich considerably, and later proved to be a culinary brianworm, much like the BLT. This type of brainworm is probably less appealing to the masses, but I have a deeply held love of pickles, raw onions and butter. And the beauty of pickle butter is that it allows you to spread the onion and pickle flavor evenly across your sandwich or toast instead of having it all fall off onto your plate or lap or original copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Pickle butter is only as good as the pickles used, so don’t skimp. We buy our pickles from the Lancaster-based Millport Dairy in the Union Square Farmer’s Market. Their sweet dill pickles are seriously amazing. I told the lady at the stand one day that her pickles were the best I have ever had and she said,”A lot of people say that.”

(Saltie’s pickle butter)

(My pickle butter)

Pickle Butter

1/2 stick extremely soft unsalted butter (leave it out overnight or rest it on a hot stovetop for a while, but don’t melt it – that breaks down the butter and changes it’s spreadibility).
3 – 4 tablespoons finely diced, preferably amazing, pickle slices
2 tablespoons finely diced red onion or shallot
salt to taste

Combine the ingredients and spead on some toast or an awesome ham sandwich. I pretty much ate my batch right away, but this would certainly be the kind of thing that would get better over time. I would keep it around for a week or so.