Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Pretty Pickled Peppers


You don't want to know how long these have been in my fridge, but i think they get better with time.  Isn't pickling... like a fine wine?  Ok... June 13th.  And i'm sure my mother is asking "of what year?"  I had everything ready to go for this post, then i had my nasty fall and never got around to posting this.  I just re-discovered a jar of these in my refrigerator and was surprised at how tasty they were and i thought i should share with you!

As a kid i thoroughly loved raw green bell peppers.  Then, at 7, i had my tonsils removed and, ever since, you couldn't pay me to eat a bell pepper.  Whether green, orange, yellow, red or purple - i won't get near them with a 10 foot pole.  Then, on the evening of Tuesday, February 22, 2011, the stars must have aligned in a way that amazed me... i watched a little boy eat a baby orange bell pepper, and you could see how much he enjoyed it, while at the same time it emitted an aroma that i thought was so fresh.  I got up and got one of those same orange peppers, and LOVED it!  In fact, i ate two more -- one yellow and one red, and the entire time i kept thinking "i can't wait to call mom and tell her that i now eat bell peppers, albeit, not green"!

So now that i love these little sweeties, i'm finding a lot of goodies to incorporate them in, but the first thing is some pickled sweet peppers...



Ingredients:
  • Mixed baby peppers (whatever colors you like)  
  • 1-1/2 c. white taragon vinegar
  • 2 T. pickling spices
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • herbs are optional (dill, taragon, almost anything)
Wash the peppers and stick each one with a fork so that they don't pop or burst when you boil them.Place the uncooked peppers in a pot of boiling water for just a few minutes.  You don't want them too soft; it's nice if they have a little snap when you bite into it.
Remove the peppers from the pot of boiling water and let them cool.
Meantime, boil the vinegar, pickling spice and sugar for about 5 minutes or until the sugar is completely dissolved. 
Stack the peppers in a canning jar any way you like.  I lined mine all vertically and alternated colors.
Pour the cooked vinegar mixture over the peppers to fill the jars.


 Voila! 

3 comments:

  1. Delicious, beautiful, perfect for a bread and butter gift! All this and easy too. What more?

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are just beautiful...a bonus that they're tasty! I think they'll be a lovely addition to our Thanksgiving :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rhonda, i was also thinking a great gift to bring for the holidays! I'm also making jam which makes a great gift!

    Shawn, i bet they nicely offset all the sweet foods during thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete