A Peck of Pickled Peppers

My banana pepper plants have been rather prolific and for this I am grateful.  As most of you who are regular visitors to this little space already know,  I went a little overboard in planting.  I have a tendency to overdo things and this was no exception.

Spending so many years living in an apartment with zero outdoor space, I may have gone a little crazy when I realized that I could grow some of my own food.  This had been a goal of mine for a very long time (growing food, not going crazy... that ship has sailed).  
I am fascinated by the entire process of planting a seed, taking care of it and watching it grow into something that will actually feed you. 

The very first time I had a banana pepper was on a pizza, my Freshman year in college.  A small group of us had descended on the pizza place next to campus.  We were there under the pretense of "studying", I'm sure.  There were pool tables, dart boards (which I became quite skillful at playing), air hockey tables; all the things one thinks of when looking for an appropriate place to "study".
Anyhow, there we were and one of the guys went to order our pizza and when the waitress came to the table to set it down in front of us, I noticed that it had peppers on it.  Not wanting to draw any attention to myself, I dug right in but in my head was this little voice shouting "are you nuts?!".

I was under the impression back then, and I'm not sure why, that banana peppers were so hot they would peel the skin off of the roof of your mouth.  Happily surprised that my mouth did not ignite into a ball of flames, there was no turning back.  Thus began the love of banana peppers. Of course, I rarely ate a pizza without them after that.  They were on sandwiches, mixed into tuna fish,  often plucked right from the jar and popped into my mouth.  However, having crossed the threshold into my 40's, my stomach will not always tolerate such shenanigans these days.

I still eat them on pizza. An Italian cold cut sandwich is nothing without them, chop them up into a good bowl of pasta to transform it into something even better.  Charred on the grill, they are a smoky side to any grilled meat. Banana peppers even give egg salad a kick on the days you need a little something extra. 

Pickled peppers are the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, just barely there heat and the right amount of crunch.  They are one of the easiest things to pickle, as you can see from the recipe below.  It takes very little time and the peppers can go from plant to jar in well under an hour at the languid pace that comes with steamy summer days.

Pickled Banana Peppers

6 medium banana peppers, sliced into rings (roughly 1/2 pound)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup tarragon vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
pinch turmeric


Sterilize 4 half-pint jars, lids and rings by immersing them in a large pot of simmering water.  Leave in hot water until ready to assemble.

In a medium sauce pot, combine all ingredients, except banana peppers, and bring to a boil.

Remove jars from water and place banana peppers inside.

Pour pickling brine over peppers, leaving 1/4- 1/2 inch space from top of jar.  Wipe off any brine that may have spilled on rim or side of jar.  Place lid on and tighten ring.  Set on counter to cool.  Jars should "pop" as they cool, sealing themselves.  One of mine did not, so I lowered it into simmering water for about 6 - 8 minutes until it did.  If you need to do this, make sure water level is 1 inch above top of jar for it to seal properly.

You can test them by pressing on the lid.  It should not make a "popping" sound when you press it.  If it does, you can either seal it by processing it in a water bath, or keep it in the refrigerator and use first.

In a Pickle...

In the Midwest, and certainly other parts of the country, the end of summer marks canning season at it's height.  This is when the air smells of ripe tomatoes being "put up",  jars of preserves and jams lining the kitchen counter like a glass army of winter provisions...  cabinets and cellars receive the summer's bounty before colder temperatures bring the first frost.

Canning may be a lost art form in other parts of the country,  but if you're near an agricultural area you are very familiar with the process.

My step-dad & I used to do this as a two man operation...   It was a bit of an elaborate set-up.  There were two stoves working simultaneously, I was at one cooking the fruit and he was at the other sterilizing jars.
We'd meet at the halfway point for the hand off: 
He'd sterilize the jars,  bring them to me piping hot,  I'd fill them and put the lids on then take them back out to him to process and seal.  We ran our operation like a well-oiled machine (he IS German, so there's really no other acceptable way).

Bread and butter pickles have always been my favorite.  They are sweet and yet have a little bite from the vinegar and they remind me of my Grandfather, they were his favorite too.  I sometimes feel obligated to "Chef" it up a bit,  but at the end of the day I'm just a girl from Ohio and the simple, familiar things are what I crave.

For this recipe,  I used Kirby cucumbers that I bought at the farmer's market.  
The beauty of this is there are few hard & fast rules, but if you chose to use a different cucumber, make sure it is a pickling cucumber.

Bread & Butter Pickles

• 6 medium Kirby cucumbers, about 7 lbs.
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 3/4 c. salt
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 c. sugar
• 2 c. white vinegar
• 2 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1 c. water
• ice cubes
• 4 tbsp. pickling spice blend
• 1 1/2 tsp. turmeric

Pickling Spice

• 6 tbsp. mustard seeds
• 3 tbsp. celery seeds
• 2 tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp. whole allspice
• 4 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorn
• 1/4 tsp. green peppercorn

1.  Slice cucumbers into rounds,  the easiest and fastest way to do this is with either a food processor or a mandoline.   I have an inexpensive Japanese style mandoline that I use and it works perfectly.  A mandoline or food processor will ensure that the slices are uniform and you'll be done in a fraction of the time it takes to slice everything with a knife.

2. Combine sliced cucumbers, sliced onions and crushed garlic with salt in large bowl and toss to coat evenly with the salt.  Cover with ice cubes and let stand.  The purpose of this is to pull some of the moisture out of the cucumbers.  The salt will leach the liquid out of the cucumbers and onions helping them to retain a crunchy texture.  They can stand anywhere from 3 hours to overnight,  but patience is not a virtue I possess, so 6 hours was my limit. 

3. Sterilize your jars and lids and let them sit in the hot water until you are ready to go. You could take them out and let them drain if you like, but I was told to just leave them in the hot water until I am ready to fill them, so that's what I do.

4. Drain the cucumbers and rinse if you like.  Discard the garlic.  (Salt & I are very good friends, so I chose not to rinse mine, but if you two aren't as close perhaps you'd care to rinse some of the salt off before you proceed).

5.  Combine the vinegars, water, sugar, turmeric and pickling spices in a large pot.  Bring to a boil,  then add in cucumbers and onions.  Return to a boil and then shut off.  Do not boil the cucumbers, get the liquid back up to the boiling point and then immediately turn off the heat.

6. Ladle pickles into glass jars, leaving about a 1/2" space on top and put the lids on.  Do not tighten the lids to the point that the air can't escape from the jar, but tighten enough that water won't go pouring into your pickles.

7. Carefully lower them into the pot and process.  I had a few different sized jars, so I pulled the smaller ones out at 10 minutes and left the large ones in for another 5 or 10 minutes after that.  If you do not have special "canning" tongs that are coated with rubber, make sure to wrap a dish towel around your metal tongs when removing the jars from the hot water.  (don't take a chance on chipping or cracking the glass).

8. Leave them to cool on the counter, step back and swell with pride at your creation.