a peck of pickled peppers (yep, I went there)

I know the recipes are coming fast and hard, but I'm seriously backed up. When I have more than five drafts waiting I start to feel anxious about it. On the one hand, it's good for me to have a reserve. By 5:00 pm it's already too dark to take pictures (and I refuse to use the flash), so I'm missing dishes I might otherwise like to share. But I rarely use recipes in my cooking, and the further I get from the day I made something, the more likely it is that I'll forget how I made it. So I've decided to get them out now so I can move on to something else.

For now I want to return to the end of the season, when I celebrated/mourned the uprooting of my garden with a preservation bonanza.


I made four kinds of pickled peppers that day -- two vinegar varieties, one cultured, and one with smoked mozzarella. That last was an experiment that ended with surprisingly good results.

I used two kinds of peppers for these pickles. Peppers go fast and cheap at the end of the season, so at the end of October I wiped out one farmer of every last Fool-You pepper he had. This pepper looks like a slightly large jalapeno, but it's sweet instead of spicy. I also took all of his cherry peppers, which are one of my favorites.

What can you do with pickled peppers? Well, they're good alongside cheese and crackers, and I like to mince them up with potatoes and onions to serve with eggs. And there's always the "right out of the jar" option, which is my favorite.

Basic Pickled Peppers (with optional smoked mozzarella)

1 lb. sweet peppers

2 1/2 c. water

2 1/2 c. white wine vinegar

1/4 c. unrefined sugar

3 T. unrefined salt

4 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

handful of dry red chiles

2 T. coriander seeds

2 T. cumin seeds

optional: 3/4 lb. smoked mozzarella, cubed

Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisk, then turn off the heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

Cut a slit in each pepper, or slice them into strips if they're very large. Combine with the garlic and dry chiles and pack into two quart jars. Add 1 bay leaf and 1 T. each of coriander and cumin to each jar. Pour the cooled brine over the pepper. Seal and refrigerate for two weeks before eating.

(Optional: After the pickles are completely chilled, remove to a large bowl and distribute the cheese evenly. Return to the jar and enjoy after two weeks.)

Cultured Sweet Peppers

1 lb. sweet peppers

4 garlic cloves

2 T. peppercorns

filtered water and unrefined salt, as needed

Cut a slit in each pepper, or slice them into strips if they're very large. Pack into two quart jars. Add a tablespoon of peppercorns to each jar. Cover completely with filtered water, measuring by the cup. For each cup, add a scant tablespoon of unrefined salt. You may also add a tablespoon of whey to each jar

(obtained by straining yogurt), to encourage probiotic activity.

Seal and culture at room temperature for at least three weeks, then refrigerate. Enjoy!