Pickled peppers

We've actually made several batches of pickled jalapeños now, but I've been horribly remiss in not posting the recipe sooner. There are a few recipes of ours, particularly the tortilla chicken, that use pickled jalapeño, and it seemed like a no-brainer to try our hand at pickling them ourselves. Plus, we were so bemused at the thought of making our own "peck of pickled peppers"; mind you, I did discover that the traditional unit "peck" is actually 8 quarts. We'll just have to quadruple the recipe then! 

Recipe

from The Joy of PicklingMakes 4 pints8 small garlic cloves8 whole allspice berries16 whole black peppercorns2 small Mediterranean bay leaves, torn in half2 pounds small, fleshy fresh hot peppers, each slit twice lengthwise, stems trimmed to about 1/4"2 cups cider vinegar, white wine vinegar or distilled white vinegar2 cups water4 tsp pickling salt1/4 cup olive oilDivid the garlic, allspice, peppercorns and pieces of bay leaf among 4 pint mason jars. Add the hot peppers. In a saucepan, bring vinegar, water and salt to a boil. Pour the hot liquid over the peppers, leaving slightly more than 1/2" headspace, and then pour 1 tbsp olive oil into each jar. Close the jars with two-piece caps. Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Store cooled jars in cool, dry dark place for at least 3 weeks before eating the peppers. Once open, store it in the refrigerator.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: For a couple of the jars, David added twice as many garlic cloves (not surprisingly).3 weeks later...they have a great flavour, just the right amount of heat. A touch of sweetness from the cider vinegar makes for a lovely garnish on many of our dishes. David noted that the peppers are a bit soft. Not sure how to crisp them up, although I understand including grape or sour cherry leaves can help keep dill pickles firm, so perhaps they can be used here as well. They also made a fun Christmas gift, owing to their appropriately festive colours (and tastiness!).