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Homemade Pickling Spice Recipe

A simple homemade pickling spice recipe to make refrigerator pickles, overnight pickles, canned pickles, and more!

This recipe might not be one that you make tomorrow, but when you are in the middle of making pickles (the canned kind or the simple refrigerator kind) and you run out of pickling spice (or your little store doesn’t carry it), this might just come in handy. I’m here to save the day, friends, one pickle at a time.

I am pickle crazy, if you haven’t noticed. I love normal canned pickles, overnight pickles, pickled peppers, and pickled hot peppers. Heck, I’ve even been getting into fermented pickles, and they are amazing (is that something you would want to know more about too??). All of them are so great in my opinion, and I’m here to get you excited about making pickles, too.

In the world of homemade pickles, pickling spice is essentially just a blend of spices that you use to season your pickles. It’s what makes a good pickle taste like a good pickle!

What is pickling spice made of?

I make mine from a mix of black peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, dill seed, allspice berries, bay leaves, and optional crushed red pepper flakes. Some recipes include cinnamon, but it’s not my favorite in it, so I don’t include it. 

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Sweet and Spicy Cucumbers and Vinegar

Sweet and spicy cucumbers and vinegar make the most delicious refrigeration pickles that only take about 5 minutes to make.

Making your own pickles sounds like a whole lot of work and you might even be thinking of hot water baths, canning, and boiling rings. I’m here to tell you that you can make the most amazing homemade pickles by simply adding cucumbers and vinegar and a few other ingredients together and letting them sit in the fridge. If you’ve never eaten quick pickles or refrigerator pickles, then you are missing out. They have so much flavor and the best texture. The cucumbers stay nice and crisp because they don’t go through much of a heating process. When you can pickles, you are boiling them in a hot water bath inside of the jars for a while, normally at least 10 minutes, which really changes the texture of the cucumber. When you make refrigerator pickles, the fresh cucumbers only get hot water poured over the top of them.

They have all the flavor and such a great texture with half the work! You do need to note that this is not a canning recipe. These pickles are meant to be stored in the refrigerator and eaten within a week. If you are looking for a shelf-stable pickle recipe, this isn’t it. I love that I can make a batch of these sweet and spicy pickles in the morning and they are ready to eat by the afternoon. They are even better if you let them sit overnight.

You’ll love how easy it is to make your own sweet and spicy cucumbers and vinegar!

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Rustic Italian Bread

Rustic Italian Bread made with only 4 simple ingredients and some time, which makes the most amazing loaf of bread. The outside is extra crusty and the center is wonderfully fluffy and light.

A-maz-ing. That is the only way to describe this rustic Italian bread. It is dense and wonderfully chewy on the outside while being super soft and fluffy on the inside. When I am asked to bring bread to dinner at a friend’s, I always make this because it is stunning. There’s something magical about simple ingredients like flour, water, salt, and yeast working together with time. This bread tastes just like any good loaf of crusty bread you’d find at a high end bakery but you can make it at home.

You might be wondering – what’s the secret to making rustic Italian bread?

The answer: a sponge.
A sponge is a magical little concoction of flour, yeast, and water that you make the day before and let sit for 24 hours before making the bread. You simply mix those three things together in a bowl and let it sit. The sitting is what leads to the magic. It is then added in with the rest of the ingredients when you make the loaf of bread. The sponge adds this amazing (and hard to describe) flavor and also does something magical to the gluten. The texture of the bread is so soft and chewy in the middle while the crust is still dense and delicious. The taste of this Italian bread is amazing and the texture cannot be matched.
This Italian bread recipe will scare you a bit at first, but once you make it the first time, you will make it again and again. I love making “slow foods” like this. There’s something very therapeutic about taking your time with simple ingredients, especially when the end result is so delicious.

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How to Make Oven Baked Bacon

How to make oven baked bacon is the simplest and cleanest way to make a large or small amount of crispy bacon in the oven.

Do you all know about bakin’ bacon in the oven?

My mom is a traditional stove-top bacon fryer, and that’s all that I really knew. A few years ago my grandpa (the one who painted the pictures on my hutch) mentioned that he would bake large quantities of bacon in the oven to serve to his men’s group at church. That was honestly the first time I had ever heard about oven baked bacon.

Bacon and I have an interesting relationship. I, like the rest of the world, like the stuff. BUT when I was in high school I worked at an amazing little deli called The Big Cheese. Every Saturday for years, I fried up 30 to 40 POUNDS of bacon. It was to prep it for the rest of the week. I would spend literally hours frying bacon and produce something like 3 gallons of bacon grease by the time that I was done. I would come home and just smell so strongly of bacon I had to shower immediately. My clothes smelled until my mom washed them, my car would smell until it had a day or two to air out; Holy Bacon Batman! After years of this, I started to hate bacon, especially the smell.

I stopped eating bacon at around 16 and didn’t look back. The smell was what really set me off; I just hated that cooking bacon smell. So I lived a bacon-free life and didn’t think much of it. After I got married and started cooking more for a family instead of just myself, bacon slowly made a reappearance. I like it just fine now – it tastes great – but the smell still isn’t my favorite.

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Rhubarb Crisp with No Other Fruit

Homemade Rhubarb Crisp made with no other fruit and topped with a pecan, butter, and oatmeal topping, baked to perfection, and perfect with ice cream on top.

Rhubarb is too often combined with other fruit like strawberries, and I think it’s a shame. There is a time and a place for that, but it isn’t a must. This rhubarb crisp with no other fruit really highlights the unique qualities in rhubarb without hiding it with other flavors. It’s sweet with just a bit of tang that makes it a perfect dessert. The richness from the butter and pecans go along great with the tart fruit. There are no dry parts to this crisp either because you melt the butter and stir it right in. That’s my little secret for the perfect crisp.

I think some people are weirded out by rhubarb, but I’m here to tell you that it is awesome! Mine just popped out of the ground and has about 6 inches worth of curly leaves coming out of the ground. It’s tart, like a tart cherry (which is so good in baking) but it cooks down a lot. It’s one of my favorite easy to go perennials on our farm and I look forward to it every spring. And fun fact, it’s super high in vitamin C. We like to eat it raw like celery with a bit of salt on it when we aren’t turning it into our favorite rhubarb desserts. Crisp is always my first choice when it comes to rhubarb desserts. It’s simple to make and people are always really surprised at just how delicious it is once they try it, rhubarb lover or not!

Fun fact- rhubarb leaves are poisonous.

While it would take ingesting roughly 10 pounds of leaves to kill an average size adult, small amounts will make you sick. Be sure to keep livestock and chickens out of your rhubarb patch, too – it’s not good for them either. Have no fear; the stalks are just fine.

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Perfect and Simple Grilled Fish Fillets

Ever wonder how to get perfectly flaky grilled fish fillets on the grill? This recipe is the simplest and best way to grill just about any firm white fish!

Welcome summer! When you combine a few pounds of beautiful fish fillets, amazing seasonal produce, and the grill, you are in for one simple yet perfect dinner. This recipe for simple grilled fish fillets is amazing. It takes about 5 minutes to prep, 7 minutes on the grill, and you are done. I can’t wait for you to try it. Add a side of watermelon, some corn on the cob, and fresh green beans and you’ll have dinner done in about 30 minutes with little to no effort! This is one of my ideal healthy simple meals and I could eat it once a week for the rest of my life and die a happy woman.

What I love too, is that you can literally pair it with just about anything that you have on hand and want to use. I like recipes like this because then I can hit up the farmer’s market or my garden, pick gorgeous fruits and vegetables and use them for the sides to this really simple but delicious main dish grilled fish recipe. It’s simple, it’s classic, and it’s always a hit in this house.

Ever wonder how to get perfectly flaky grilled fish fillets on the grill? This recipe is the simplest and best way to grill just about any firm white fish!

Tips and Tricks for Making Grilled Fish Fillets:

  • You have a lot of options when it comes to what kind of fish to grill. I tend to stick with less expensive fish like tilapia, catfish, cod, and pollock. All of these firm white fish are mild tasting and really easy to throw on the grill.
  • Don’t under salt this recipe and don’t forget the lemon. Because it is so simple, they really bring the needed acid and salt to a simple fish recipe.
  • When buying fish I like to find wild caught fish and I prefer when they are individually sealed if frozen. That way I can take just the few I need out of the freezer while the rest stay frozen. I have great luck buying high quality fish at Costco.
  • Don’t skimp on the oil. It help the fish to not stick the grill.
  • No outdoor grill? I’ve had great luck making this recipe on a grill pan inside.
  • I love this fish recipe with really simple sides like corn, green beans, and watermelon. It’s also great with a side of crusty bread, with some simple Santa Fe Rice, any of these 8 pasta salad recipe, or served with roasted vegetables. You can’t go wrong with any of those!

Craving more? Subscribe to Bless this Mess to get new recipes, meal plans, and a newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! Leave a comment, pin it, and don’t forget to tag a picture #blessthismesseats on Instagram. I love to see your kitchen skills in action!

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Perfect and Simple Grilled Fish Fillets

Ever wonder how to get perfectly flaky grilled fish on the grill? This recipe is the simplest and best way to grill just about any firm white fish!

  • Author: Melissa Griffiths - Bless this Mess
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 10
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 firm white fish, I used Louisiana Drum (about 4 large fillets)
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Good quality olive oil, about ½ cup
  • Additional coarse sea salt
  • 1 or 2 lemons cut into wedges
  • ½ cup chopped parsley, optional

Instructions

  1. Rinse the fish and lay it onto paper towels. Use the paper towels to pat the fish dry and place the fillets on a wire rack (a baking or cooling rack placed inside of a baking sheet works great to catch any drips and spills).
  2. Sprinkle half the salt and half the pepper over the fish. Carefully drizzle half of the olive oil over the seasoned fish. Using a pastry brush or your fingers, evenly distribute the oil all over that side of the fish. Flip the fish over on the rack and repeat with remaining salt, pepper, and oil. Let the fish rest and marinade while you fire up the grill.
  3. Turn your grill on to high and allow it to heat for 5 to 10 minutes until the grill is very hot. Carry the fish out and open the lid to the grill, it should be very hot. Use a brush to scrap the grill grate clean and then lower the temperature to low. Place the fish on the grill, close the lid, and leave the fish to cook with the lid closed, without turning for 7 to 10 minutes (chances are really good your fish will be done right at 7 minutes unless it is very thick, check it 7 minutes!).
  4. The fish should be white and flakey when you test it with the end of a paring knife. Using a metal spatula remove from the grill.
  5. Sprinkle with additional sea salt and lemon juice before serving and then serve with additional lemon slices and chopped parsley to suit individual tastes (the first squeeze of lemon isn’t optional, it makes it amazing, but additional lemon and parsley are up to you or your guests. I didn’t feel like this tasty dish needed anything extra because it was excellent as it was).

Notes

  • You can use this cooking method for just about any firm white fish such as catfish, tilapia, pollock, and cod.

I can’t wait to hear how this simple grilling method turns out for you. I have done all kinds of things to fish from frying it (always tasty but a little labor intensive) to baking and cooking it in foil. These grilled fish fillets were by far the simplest and best tasting fish I have made. I can’t wait to make it again and plan on putting this into my meal rotation ASAP. Long live the simple and fool-proof yet crazy delicious recipes!

Grilled Fish Fillets

Quick Dilly Cucumbers in Vinegar

Quick Dilly Cucumbers in Vinegar are also called quick refrigerator pickles made with fresh cucumbers and a homemade brine. You won’t believe how crunchy and perfect these pickles are.

I have loved pickles for as long as I can remember, and making simple homemade pickles is one of my favorite treats. I know that homemade pickles might sound fussy but they are literally just cucumbers in vinegar. I LOVE this recipe. It makes a flavorful crunchy pickle that can be eaten almost right away but gets even better if you let them sit overnight.

Homemade fridge pickles are something that my grandma has been making for years and years (her refrigerator pickle recipe is here), and this recipes is a whole lot like it.  The only difference is that you bring the brine to a boil before pouring it over your cucumbers. This does a few things. It heats up the spices and as they soak in the hot water they steep their flavor into the liquid. This also helps the salt to dissolve easily. These cucumbers aren’t cooked in the brine though (like pickles that you can and are shelf stable), which means they stay extra crispy and crunchy.  This recipe only takes about 5 minutes to make and it does have a little waiting time, but that’s it. Once you make it, you are going to be whipping up a batch of homemade pickles every week. You just can’t get simpler than cucumbers in vinegar that only get better with time.

I like to make a batch of these for parties where I’d normally serve pickles, for instance if I’m planning on hamburgers or pulled pork sandwiches. It’s so fun to have people try a simple homemade pickle for the first time because they are SO good. I can’t wait for you to make these yourself.

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Unique Ideas for Cooking Baked Potatoes (oven, instant pot, slow cooker and more!)

Great ideas for cooking baked potatoes in the slow cooker, oven, and instant pot so that no matter what, you are going to have awesome baked potatoes.

Long live perfectly cooked baked potatoes. It’s one of the simplest side dishes to make for just about any dinner and they are easy enough to turn into a main course of their own. Baked potatoes are one of those recipes that sound simple, but I’m always wondering if there’s a different/better/faster way to do it. So today I’m sharing with you how to bake, slow cook, and pressure cook a “baked potato” and the pros and cons of each method. Now you’ll be able to have baked potatoes no matter the time or tools you have in your kitchen!

I wanted to distinguish the difference between small to medium potatoes and large potatoes. Small to medium potatoes are generally the ones that come in a 10-20 pound bag. A small to medium potato will weigh between 5 and 8 ounces and will be a little longer than the palm of your hand. Large baking potatoes, often sold individually or marked as “baking potatoes”, will generally weigh 8-12 ounces and will be the size of your whole hand, palm to fingertip. The size of your potatoes doesn’t matter much – it’s consistency that matters when it comes to baking multiple potatoes at once. Big or small, it’s always best to find potatoes of a similar size to cook for your meal. That way, no matter the cooking method, they are all done at about the same time. If I have a mix of large and small potatoes, I’ll often cut my largest ones in half so that they are closer to the smaller ones in size.

Now onto the cooking methods for “baked” potatoes!

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The Best Oven Baked Chicken Leg Quarters

The Best Baked Chicken Leg Quarters made by simply roasting chicken leg quarters brushed with butter and seasoned at a low temperature for an hour and then raising the temperature at the end to crisp the skin.

I can’t wait for you all to make this super simple baked chicken leg quarter recipe because it’s simple, fool-proof, and the end result is simply delicious. Here’s why this recipe is awesome: you start with a simple and inexpensive cut of meat (I paid $.99 a pound for these) and you turn them into something amazing by seasoning them well and cooking them low and slow in the oven. After they bake for an hour, you crank up the oven heat, remove the foil they’ve been under, and let that skin get crisp and delicious.

When you are willing to buy and cook with the cuts of meat that seem like they take a little more time to make, you end up paying less and having a better tasting meal in the end. The skin and bones work their magic on the chicken meat. I know boneless skinless chicken breast is all the rage, but I’m here to convert you to chicken leg quarters (because you all already know my love of chicken legs). What I like about this meal, too, is that it is a set-it-and-forget-it meal. It’ll take you about 5 minutes to prep the chicken leg quarters for the oven and then you just let them cook. It’s a really hands-off recipe, which means you can be busy living life instead of being in the kitchen.

This recipe is great served with so many things. You can serve it with my favorite berry spinach salad and baked potatoes, you could serve it with any number of roasted veggies and potatoes au gratin, or you could keep it light and serve it with any of these 8 pasta salad recipes with a side of our favorite quick refrigerator pickles and some seasonal fruit. So many great options to pair with this simple chicken recipe.

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M&M’s Skillet Cookie Recipe

Warm and gooey skillet cookie recipe made with butter and brown sugar and topped with M&M’s – perfect with a scoop of ice cream.

This is the first skillet cookie to hit the blog and I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to get you a really simple skillet cookie recipe. I love these things! They are the easiest, most fun, casual but pretty dessert around. They are essentially a giant cookie that you make and bake all in the same skillet. The edges crisp up like a normal cookie but the middle stays soft and gooey, kind of like a chocolate lava cake.

The best part is adding a scoop of ice cream to the top of the skillet cookie after it comes out of the oven and letting it get soft on the hot cookie. I like this dessert because it’s casual. I just scoop the ice cream in a pile in the middle of the cookie and pass out spoons and we all dig in. This is a great recipe for a night in with the family or a girls night. If you aren’t into sharing a dessert, you can dish the skillet cookie up into individual bowls. It’s a bit messy, but it still tastes great.

I love using M&M’s when it comes to fun desserts because they are so bright and colorful and it’s pretty fun to use seasonally colored candies at the appropriate time of year. Who doesn’t love bright festive M&M’s in their cookies?!

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