Thursday, September 16, 2010

Pickled Peppers

Cue up the Peter Piper jokes, 'cause here come my pickled peppers.

Last year's crop of green peppers were eenie-beenie little things -- maybe golf ball size, if that.

But this year? This year our peppers have been amazing. Big as a softball. See?


We've had lots of them, and they're still going strong.
Kahuna is a sucker for anything pickled. So pickled peppers it is.
Here's a wonderful recipe I unearthed from the depths of my file drawers. It's from an ancient issue of Cooking Light, back when home-grown peppers were merely a twinkle in Kahuna's eye.

PICKLED PEPPERS

4 large bell peppers, either red, green, yellow, or any combination (about 2 lbs. total)
2 c. water
1/2 c. sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar or white vinegar
1/4 c. honey
1 t. black peppercorns
4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 c. sliced onion (about 2 small)
Slice up peppers, lengthwise, into strips about 1 inch wide; discard stems and seeds. Set aside.
In medium saucepan, heat water, vinegar, honey, peppercorns, and garlic until boiling. Add peppers and onions and return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and continue cooking for 20 minutes, or until peppers are very tender. (I cooked mine about 30 minutes.) Let cool, and pack into jars or plastic containers. Refrigerate. Serve with a slotted spoon.
I've made several batches of this, and what we didn't eat, I popped into the freezer. 'Twill be a wonderful reminder of warmer days come February.
So how about you? Any surprise successes in your garden this year?
NOTE: I'm entering this recipe in the Grow Your Own food roundup, held this month at Girlichef's blog.

Labels:

14 Comments:

Blogger Farm Girl said...

Your bell peppers are gorgeous! Now that it is a bit cooler I am hoping our will grow bigger, all summer they would get so big and then cook on the vine.
My only surprises this year are the squash beetles. I have never had them or even seen them before and they destroyed my squash and my pumpkins. I think it is going to be the end of organic. It is war!

September 16, 2010 at 4:06 PM  
Blogger Lynn said...

Oh, I'm so sorry about your squash beetles, Farm Girl. I don't think I've ever seen them, either, and hope I don't. That's so disappointing, to have something like that spoil your crop.

September 16, 2010 at 4:11 PM  
Blogger ~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Sounds good! My hubby has a stuffed bell pepper tonight for dinner! ♥

September 16, 2010 at 4:54 PM  
Blogger Carpool Queen said...

No garden for me - I dont' have a fence and have too many deer. BUT, I do live within twenty minutes of the Farmer's Market and I've been canning up a storm. I made bread and butter pickles over the weekend and they are delicious.

September 16, 2010 at 5:14 PM  
Blogger Vee said...

Hi! The best successes were not in my own garden, they were in my sister's and she's sharing the bounty. Lovely to meet you. It's always fun to meet a "new-to-me" blogger!

September 16, 2010 at 5:47 PM  
Blogger Flat Creek Farm said...

Oh darn, I was all ready with Peter Piper... ;) So jealous you had big peppers. I'm hoping for a few biggies before frost hits. They've all been smallish and oddly shaped, but good. This recipe sounds so delicious! Thanks for sharing. Oh, and our phenomenal veggie this year - Armenian cucumbers. Who knew? And the Okra plants are about 7 foot tall.. kid you not! -Tammy

September 16, 2010 at 6:46 PM  
Blogger Joanne said...

I do have that damn rhyme stuck in my head now :P I love peppers and even more than THAT, I love them pickled! This recipe sounds great!

September 16, 2010 at 7:00 PM  
Anonymous Faith said...

Wow, do your peppers look amazing! Sounds like they make up for last year's crop. Pickling them is a great idea!

September 17, 2010 at 4:11 AM  
Blogger DarcyLee said...

I'm so glad your peppers did so well this year! We only planted tomatoes and basil this past spring and they did pretty good. I've given away many tomatoes to my daughters, but I also like to slowly roast them with some olive oil along with a head of garlic and freeze them. And, there's nothing like a fried green tomato.

September 17, 2010 at 6:26 AM  
Blogger Mimi said...

I've been so busy getting my children off to school, that shamefully,I have totally negelected the last of my garden bounty.
Mimi

September 22, 2010 at 8:43 AM  
Anonymous Juliana said...

I never had pickled peppers...you got my mouth watering just to look at them :-)

September 22, 2010 at 11:29 AM  
Blogger Pam said...

Your peppers are great! Wish they were that size here this year. The recipe sounds really good, a must try!

September 23, 2010 at 5:02 AM  
Blogger Heather S-G said...

I've never pickled sweet peppers before...I'm going to have to try it, your recipe sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for submitting it to GYO this month =)

September 26, 2010 at 3:59 PM  
Blogger Bonnie said...

My garden peppers are smaller not big and beautiful like yours. Maybe it's not hot, hot summers. What a wonderful relish.

I love my tomatoes but I have just about given up growing bell peppers.

October 2, 2010 at 6:19 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home