Last summer, along with our abundance of fresh basil, we had a ridiculous abundance of jalapeños. Like pounds and pounds of them. Even though these are food group in Hub's world, he can only eat so many and the three of us can only eat so much grilled salsa. So I googled a way to preserve some of those peppers. And you know Google never disappoints. Jalapeño jelly came up as a suggestion and although it would have been wonderful, I was way. too. lazy for that. So pickled jalapeños it was.
I have to be honest though, I haven't actually tried these. Not on their own at least, but I do use them for cooking things like my Spanish rice and grilled salsa (in the winter). I use these whenever diced chilies are called for in a recipe. Hubs also eats them as a late night snack and they serve as a condiment in nearly every Mexican inspired dish he eats (enchiladas, tacos, burritos, nachos, etc., etc.). Spicy things are his additional food group--mine is sour cream.
Although David suggests only keeping these a few weeks in the refrigerator or canning them for long term preservation, we have had them in the fridge for several months without any problems. I would have canned them, but I don't have a pressure canner, so I figured I would keep them until they went bad and so far that hasn't happened. Of course, you want to use your best judgment and if they look bad/smell bad/taste bad--out they go!
Pickled Peppers ~ from David Lebovitz
1 pound fresh jalapeno peppers, washed
2 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups vinegar (I used white distilled as well as white wine vinegar)
3 tablespoons sugar (they were a little sweeter than Hubby would have preferred, so next year I will probably do half this amount)
3 tablespoons coarse salt, such as kosher
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
1. Poke each pepper two to three times with a sharp paring knife or fork and place them in a large glass preserving jar.
2. In a large non-reactive saucepan, bring the other ingredients to a boil and stirring until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and pour the liquid over the peppers. Place the lid loosely on the jar and let cool. Once cool, refrigerate for at least a week before using, if possible. Hubs didn't of course.
Enjoy on their own or in your favorite spicy dish.
1 comment:
Totally late to the party, but wanted you to know that based on the vinegar ratio in the recipe this would be safe to water bath can. And if you don't have an official canner you can do that in any big pot. I did some as well (just in a water/vinegar brine, nothing added) and I think half pints were like 10 minutes and pints like 15 or 20. I have no doubt google would tell you that too!
Heather
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