Today I had one of those “Duh” moments in life. Jeff and Max and I are huge fans of pickled jalapenos. Jeff loves them on pizza, finely chopped in his burritos, or the standard American form, scooped up with a plate of nachos, and I love to add them as a garnish for soups. Neither of us likes, however, when they are mushy, and the brand they carry at the co-op is terrible. As I rarely shop elsewhere, we unfortunately go without our pickled jalapeno fix more often than not.
I have canned jalapenos in the past, and was sad to discover that they also turned out mushy. Because of this, I have given little thought to any DIY approach as of late. The “Duh” moment came when I realized I could make them as a refrigerator pickle. In this manner, they spend less time in the heat thereby retaining their crunch. Ah ha!
The “Duh” moment came together as a little vision. I have a couple of these glass jars that are normally used to store nuts, but one of them had been empty for a few weeks alone on the counter looking silly. Then I came across a sale on fresh jalapenos and suddenly had a vision of them floating in the empty jar in brine as a refrigerator pickle. A little on-line research proved my idea was possible, and this is what appeared on my porch!
Note: I took this photo on the front porch as the morning sun was coming up with the hope that perhaps the heat of the jalapenos would appease the kitchen gods, and they in turn, would speak to the sun god to bring Minnesota a little more heat on this first day of Spring!
I followed David Lebovitz’ recipe mostly, but added two white onions and five cloves of garlic. This recipe fits my jar, but it may not fit yours. The Purple Foodie directed me to a Michael Rulman hint to size brine to the container. He suggests packing the jar with whatever you plan to pickle and then fill it with water. Dump the water out into a measuring container, and then remove half of it. Replace the water removed with vinegar. So smart!
Pickled Jalapenos
- 1 pound fresh jalapeno peppers, sliced
- 2 medium white onions, sliced
- 2 3/4 cups water
- 2 3/4 cups vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
Directions:
Pack the jar with onions, garlic and jalapenos. Bring the water, vinegar, sugar, salt, coriander seeds and peppercorns to a simmer in a non-reactive pan. Allow the mixture to simmer for about five minutes. Pour it over the veggies, cover and let cool on the counter. Once the mixture is cooled it can be moved to the fridge. It sounds like these are better after a few days rest and can be kept for many weeks.
Vegetarian Perspective 