Five big jars of hot yellow peppers, ready to go into the cellar.About half of the cayennes had already turned red when I harvested on Sunday. I left the green ones out there a while longer to see if they'll also turn. If not, green cayennes are good, too. And the jalapeños could have stayed out to turn red as well, but I didn't want to take a chance on losing them to the cold nights, so I picked 'em green.
I'll be preserving them all the same way. I clean them up, pack them into jars, then pour boiling vinegar in to fill the jars and seal them. I puncture each pepper with a skewer before packing so that the vinegar will flow inside and the air will come out. We did a big crop of cayennes this way four or five years ago and they are delicious. We're just finishing them up now, so this harvest should do for another few years.
You guys do seem to get a great harvest each year. Do you ever trade with the neighbors?
ReplyDeleteI make a Hungarian pickled pepper stuffed with finely shredded cabbage the same way. I pour boiling vinegar with mustard seeds in it over them. It takes a few months to ripen. They are served sliced at right angles to the length and are quite good.
ReplyDeleteYou can dilute your vinegar 1 to 1 with water and the results will still be fine. I'd add about a tablespoon of salt to each liter of brine, also. From there, you can add any other spices or herbs you wish to play with. A whole unpeeled clove of garlic per jar would also be nice.
ReplyDeleteI would give so much to have a jar of these precious peppers! yum!
ReplyDeletestarman, yes, as much as we can. Some neighbors have plums or other fruits that we don't have and they give them away freely, so we try to reciprocate with our veg or jams and jellies.
ReplyDeletekristi, that sounds really tasty!
peter, sounds like real pickling! And good, too. I'll have to try that next time.
michael, if you come to France, you can take one home with you!