Pickeld Jalapenos

I know I tend to find a lot of wrongs with most packaged foods and then I avoid it. I go looking for others brand of the same packaged foods without some of the chemicals. Sometimes I end up finding it and sometimes I cannot. What am I talking about? Pickled Jalapenos of course. I have been buying pickled jalapenos for a long time and on this particular visit for some strange reason I read the ingredients list on the brand that I usually buy(which I forget now!) and was shocked to put it dramatically or mildly surprised to say the truth.

The pickled jalapenos had yellow #5 food coloring. I am not really sure why jalapeno peppers should look yellow but here we are. It was also very surprising that most brands of pickled jalapenos also had yellow coloring added to them. Then I chanced upon one brand, which had used turmeric instead for the yellow color. Needless to say that is what I bought. I will leave it to the reader to figure out the brands that don't have or have colors in them.

Anyway this summer I planted about 6 jalapeno plants which did not disappoint. They produced prodigally all during summer. I tried several recipes with jalapenos and most all of them turned out pretty good. The thing about jalapenos is once you get the seeds and the ribs out and when they are sauteed a bit in oil they become miraculously sweet.

When we harvested a mound of jalapenos, around the same time my store bought pickled jalapenos ran out. It was time to make some picked jalapenos. It was actually quite a simple process. Nothing complicated. If you add a little bit less of the sugar or salt you'd still be fine. The taste on the other hand was fresh and one of the best pickled jalapenos I have ever tasted.

Cut the jalapenos into rounds and set aside. Boil water in pot large enough for all of the chilies with the garlic cloves and the liquid and bring it to a boil.
Add the salt and sugar and let them dissolve completely.
Add the chopped jalapenos into the water and press it in so all the peppers are immersed. Turn off the heat. Get the sterilized glass bottles ready.
Use tongs to place the peppers into the bottles. Pour the vinegar liquid and top it off. Refrigerate it and is ready for use almost immediately but curing for a couple more days would make it a bit more mild.

The toughest in all of this is the cutting jalapenos. Wearing gloves is a very good idea. I did not and my hand burned for a day afterwards. The recipe I used was from this site called Simply Scratch - Easy Home jalapenos.

Pickled Jalapenos
Preparation Time:15 minutes
Cooking Time:25 minutes
Ingredients

1. 6 cups of chopped jalapenos
2. 4 cups of distilled vinegar
3. 2 cups of filtered water
4. 4 cloves of garlic
5. 3 tbsp of sugar
6. 2 tbsp of salt
7. Note:for every cup of peppers you need a cup of liquid or even 1 1/2 is fine. If you feel you do not have enough liquid you can always add more 2/3 cups of vinegar and 1/3 cup of water.

Method

1. Slice the jalapenos as thin or thick as you want.
2. In a non reactive pot big enough to hold all the liquid and peppers, add the garlic,vinegar and water and let it come to a boil.
3. Add the salt and sugar and let it dissolve.
4. Add in the sliced peppers and press it so all of the pepper are completely submerged. Turn of the heat and let it sit till the liquid comes to room temperature.
5. If more liquid is required boil liquid in the ratio 2/3 vinegar to 1/3 water. Add it to the peppers.
6. Get the bottles to store the jalapenos ready. Boil water in a pot big enough to hold the bottles, add the bottles and let them sit for a minute or two and take them out.
7. Use tongs and remove the peppers and add them to the bottles. Pour the vinegar over on top of them. Refrigerate.
8. The peppers could be slightly spicy the first couple of days. They get milder as they stay in the liquid longer and cure.
   

Add pickled jalapenos on sandwiches, salads, omelet and anything else that you want to spice up.

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