They are called Copper Pickles I think, because you wait until the cucumbers are fully matured and copper colored on the skins. The seeds and skins are removed, then I think the pickle was put into alum or lime to firm. The brine was sweet-sour, not too many spices, sort of a bread and butter flavor, and the cucumber was mixed with a generous amount of sliced onions. The brine had a lot of tumeric, and the pickles came out a bright yellow color.

My grandmother always called them "Slipper Jacks" -- where or how this came about, I have NO idea.

"SLIPPERY JACKS" PICKLES

7 lg. yellow cucumbers
1 1/2 c. vinegar
Cold water

Peel and slice cucumbers or cut into lengthwise pieces, put into a large bowl or kettle, pour a handful of salt on them. Let stand overnight.
In morning, drain in colander, put cucumbers back into kettle, cover with water and vinegar, let come to boil and drain. 3 c. vinegar 3 tsp. mustard seed 3/4 tsp. turmeric

Place the above ingredients in a kettle, let come to a rolling boil, add the drained cucumbers, cover pan, let simmer until cucumbers are glassy, or until you can put a toothpick through easily, watch carefully. When they can be done, they will be nice and tender. Put in jars and seal. Makes 3 pints.

NOTE: Do not use too much turmeric as it is poison and only used to keep as well as it makes pickles look pretty. A little does not hurt anything, but too much would make pickles taste bitter.

The recipe you give above is sort of along the lines of what I remember, except that the pickles were quite sweet. I have some cucumbers which are turning yellow now, so I might just experiment with them, and modify the recipe with some sugar and some onions. I know mustard seed was in the original recipe, and I think it had some celery seed as well, along with the tumeric.

I think, in terms of the food safety issue, I would just use straight vinegar for the brine, not diluted with water. I'm pretty paranoid about poisioning someone with botulism, so I usually acidify most everything I can by putting about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of citric acid per quart as well, which works out fine, I like things nice and sour anyway.

Slippery Jacks' Pickles

from Grit magazine
8 large, very ripe cucumbers
1/2 cup salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 T. mustard seed
1 T. celery seed
1 T. Mixed whole spices
3 1/2 cups cider vinegar
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

Pare and slice cucumbers lengthwise into 4 or 5 inch lengths. Remove seeds.
Sprinkle with salt and let stand 24 hours.
Place salted cucumbers in colander, drain one hour.
In large cooking pot boil sugar, spices and vinegar 5 minutes.
Add cukes and simmer 20-25 minutes.
Pack into hot jars and seal at once.
Recipe submitted by E.T. on 7/12/99

you'll note that neither recipe is processed.... you'll want to either process them or put in fridge as soon as they cool ... I have no idea how long to process (BWB)... but I'm sure someone else can advise

now about that Detroit radio guy -- it's Bob Allison on WNZK AM (for 46 years and now on the internet, too). He lists the Slippery Jack Pickles in his Cookbook #13, but it's not among the free recipes I found.

Since you're from Detroit -- this must be a local delicacy!!

kay

Nancy

Bob Allison -- oh, what a blast from the past -- he was sort of a minor local celebrity in Detroit in the 1960's and 1970's -- had some kind of home improvement call in show on radio, was a spokesperson in commercials for several home improvement companies, and hosted "Bowling for Dollars" local game show bowling competition thing. Wow, I feel old -- but really, I was a little kid when those programs were on the air.

Dennis
SE Michigan

'Slippery Jims' -- probably pretty much the same thing.

"Slippery Jims"

Yield 6 pints

8-10 large ripe yellow cucumbers
1 cup canning salt
2 quarts water
3 Tablespoons Alum
7 cups sugar
1 quart white vinegar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 ounce stick cinnamon

Pare and slice cucumbers lengthwise. Remove seeds and cut into 1x3-inch pieces. Place cucumbers and salt in a large bowl and cover with water. Let stand overnight. Drain; return cucumbers to bowl. Boil water with alum in in a large saucepan. Pour over cucumbers and let stand 1 hour. Drain and chill cucumbers in ice cold water.

Prepare syrup by combining sugar, vinegar and water in a large kettle. Tie cloves and cinnamon in a cheesecloth bag and add to kettle; boil 3 minutes. Add cucumbers and simmer until liquid is clear, about 10 minutes. Pack in hot jars and seal.

*** No processing time is given.

*** Unsure if you cover the salted cukes with an un measured amount of water to cover them and then boil the 2 quarts of water with the alum or if you cover the salted cukes with the 2 quarts of water and when you drain them, save that water to boil with the alum for the next step.

Regarding the Slippery Jims Recipe posted by berrybusy, You add salt to the cukes, then add water to cover them. Next day drain and discard water. Boil alum with the 2 qts water called for. Follow rest of recipe. BWB for 10 min.

Regarding the first recipe for Slippery Jacks posted by Kayskats and the concern about water in the brine. You mix the 1 1/2 c. vinegar in cold water to cover cukes. Boil as directed and drain. Then mix the 3 c. vinegar, 3 tsp. mustard seeds, and 3/4 tsp. turmeric mentioned in recipe directions. That's the brine you pack your pickles in. No water added. No sugar either, so very tart pickles!