Tasty Tuesday Pickled Peppers!

My trusty beta reader, Mellanie Szereto, sent Unrivaled back to me yesterday. I'll give it another read-through and then I'll start publishing it. If the process is anything like it was the last time, it'll probably pop up on ARE as a pdf first. Will keep you posted!

In the meantime, if your peppers need picking and pickling, here's my pickled peppers recipe. This year, I tried adding alum for the first time, so I wanted to taste them before I posted the recipe. My original recipe made peppers that were kinda soft, and adding the alum does give them a bit more crunch. According to the label on the alum bottle, you can soak whatever you're pickling in alum diluted in water, then rinse before starting the pickling process. I'm going to try that today. Will let you know if there's any difference.

Pickled Peppers

 

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup water
1 1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 cups peppers (I mix jalapenos with sweet banana peppers, but I've also added okra and the occasional cucumber)
1 tsp alum

Directions

1. Rinse the peppers and cut large banana peppers in half. I stab through the jalapenos with a knife, especially the big ones, otherwise, I leave them whole. You can cut the caps off if you like, but I never do. 
2. Wash and sterilize a 1 quart wide-mouth jar. Keep it hot by filling it up with boiling water and let it set until you're ready to use it. 
3. Combine liquid and spices (omitting the alum) together in a 3 quart saucepan and bring to a boil. 
4. Add peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Add 1 tsp alum to the empty jar, then put in the peppers and as much liquid as it takes to fill the jar to within 1/4 inch of the top. 
6. Pour boiling water over a new lid, then put it on the jar and screw the band on until tight. 
7. Allow to cool. Listen for the lid to pop, which lets you know that the lid has sealed. If it doesn't seal, just stick the jar in the fridge. The pickles will still be good; they just won't keep for years! It's best to wait a couple of weeks to let the flavors mingle before you eat them. 
8. Refrigerate after opening.

This is one of those "unapproved" heirloom recipes that doesn't call for processing the jars in a boiling water bath after you fill them with the pickles. You can do that if you like--I believe a 5-10 minute boiling time is recommended--but my mother never processed any of her pickles, and I'm pretty sure none of us died from eating them.