Pickling Jalapenos

Can you see how big and crisp and fresh these are?

Last month I went to a VERY FANCY dinner, out under the sky at a place called Johnson’s Backyard Garden. It was an event called Outstanding In the Field, where I enjoyed a fabulous meal in wonderful company for free, that I meant to blog about. Sometimes people say to me “Do you ever RUN OUT of things to Blog About?” and It is SO not what is happening! I actually have such an ENORMOUS backlog of things to blog about, that I have HUNDREDS of photos of events and recipes and dishes that I never found the time to blog about in a TIMELY fashion, just sitting in my computer.

Once it is not TIMELY anymore, I feel embarrassed! I wish I got paid $50 a post or something, so that my innate GREED coupled with my DESIRE TO MAKE A LIVING would COMPEL me to write a post everyday, maybe even TWO a day. But if I ever want to get to that point, where I am getting PAID to share my fascinating thoughts, I have to write two posts a day for FREE for, I don’t know, a WHILE. RIght? So let’s get down to business:

"Outstanding In The Field" fancy outdoor dinner table

ANYWAY: While I was at this event, I got to talking to Mrs. Johnson, the wife of Farmer Johnson, and we discussed farming/gardening. And she said something along the lines of, right now we are sending our CSA customers a lot of jalapenos because everything else is either dead or still a seedling. I said in reply, “Oh, you have Jalapenos? Because my crop FAILED this year! I kept the plants alive through September, which is when they are really really prolific, but instead of getting a couple of grocery bags full of Jalapenos, I got ZIP!” And Mrs. Johnson, BLESS HER HEART, said, “Oh just come out here and pick some for free, you can have all you want.”

Because I am EXTREMELY FOND of the word “FREE” ( as I document here! ) I replied, ” Don’t say that unless you really mean it, because I WILL COME.”  And then, after getting over the Flu, I WENT!!

Johnson's Beautiful Crops and Soil

OH. MY. GOD. You should SEE the Johnsons’ farm. The soil, though only a few miles from my house, is entirely different (East Austin is where all the good topsoil is. I live in South Central Austin, and my topsoil alternates between gravel, clay and caliche, and is about 3 inches thick.) The Johnsons’ farm is in the Colorado river alluvial bed, and the topsoil is five feet deep and as dark and rich as chocolate cake. Their plants are all enormous and thriving, the jalapeno bushes were taller than me! THEIR FARM IS AMAZING!!!

Basket of fresh jalapenos being washed in the sink

I picked a basket full of red and green jalapenos in about half an hour. Next day, I pickled them. I usually make two different kinds of jalapeno pickles: Thai and Mexican. The Thai pickles are best as “fresh” pickles, that is to say, never cooked, just packed in Thai pickling solution raw and jammed into the fridge. But you can also pickle them to be shelf stable.

The Mexican Style pickled Jalapenos are pickled with bay leaf, garlic, carrots, and onion, and have a more savory flavor. The basket of peppers I picked made 12 pints of Mexican Jalapenos and 5 pints of Thai jalapenos. Here are the recipes:

Thai Jalapenos

Fill a large canning boiler with water and bring to a boil. Sterilize canning jars (I usually sterilize MORE than I will need, and I base my need on how much I have to put up. In this case, I sterilized 18 jars, and I thought I would need 14.)

Have new canning jar lids and bands that you bought at the store handy. Buy many, you will use them up eventually! I bought 24. In a large pitcher, mix together a quart of white vinegar and a quart of water. Add 4 cups of white sugar.

Then, sit at your table, and slice jalapenos into slices (include seeds) and pack them tightly into sterilized canning jars. When they are full, pour the vinegar, water, and sugar solution over them, leaving a half inch of headroom. (I didn’t do this on one jar and it EXPLODED in the canner. SO don’t forget to leave the headroom or your jars will explode.) Put on the lids and bands, submerge in the still hot water in the canner and boil for fifteen minutes. Remove from canner and let them cool. They are done!

Slicing

If you are only going to make yourself like ONE jar of pickled jalapanos, don’t bother to can them, just follow the instructions up to putting on the lid, and throw them into the icebox and use them right away.

Mexican Jalapenos

These are a little more involved, but so good! Do the jars as above. In addition to many jalapenos, you will need one or two bay leaves per jar, a bunch of carrots, an onion, and a head of garlic.

Peel the carrots and chop them into pieces roughly the size of a jalapeno.

Peel the onion the cut into chunks. Peel the garlic cloves.

Scout investigates the Mexican Style Jalapenos

Into each sterilized jar, put a bay leaf, a carrot, and a clove of garlic. Take the jalapenos, and pierce them with a paring knofe so that the brine will be able to enter their cavities. I usually kind of poke them once near the top and then cut the bottoms in half. pack as many jalapenos as you can into each jar, adding another piece of carrot and some onion chunks as well as peppers. Add another clove of garlic if you have extra. Pack full. Add a teaspoon of salt to each jar.

Mix a quart of white vinegar with a quart of water in a jug or pitcher. Pour over the peppers, and press them down to allow air to escape from the pepper cavities. Leave 1/2 inch of headroom on each jar. Put the lids on and seal them. Process for 15 minutes and then remove and allow to cool.

My Pal Gina who lives in San Francisco asked me: “What do you use pickles jalapenos FOR?” My Mind Broke. What food is NOT improved by the addition of jalapenos? So, I will be doing a series on WHAT TO DO WITH JALAPENOS!

Eighteen pints of pickled jalapenos! ENough to last until next summer and give away too.