Our Favorite Pickled Peppers

Something you may not know about me is that I love pickled everything but I am deathly allergic to cucumbers. I make pickles by the gallon at our house but I am never able to eat them. My family, however, is overjoyed with our fresh garden cucumbers and homemade pickles. The last of the pickles are carefully rationed and there’s often some negotiation over who gets to drink the “pickle juice”.

I love pickled ginger with just about everything and pickled beets in a summer salad. I will eat my body weight in pickled red onions, if you let me, and will have the healthiest gut around.

In our kitchen, we often have “bits and bobs”, as my grandmother used to say, of offerings from our garden. A little of this and a little of that. Last year we decided to make a “mixed pickle”. When friends came over for an impromptu BBQ, I put it out on a charcuterie board. A friend called it “Fiesta Peppers” because of the colors and the name just stuck.

Pickled Fiesta Peppers

Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

2 cups water

2 T sugar

1 T pickling salt

4 T of Straw Hat Farm Pickling Spice

8 cloves garlic

2-3 cups mixed peppers (serrano, jalapeño, banana peppers)

1 cup sliced white onions

1 cup peeled and sliced carrots

To make brine, add water and vinegar to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Add sugar and salt and stir to dissolve. When ready, remove from heat to cool to room temperature.

Place sliced onions, carrots and garlic in the bottom of two clean quart jars. Add 2 T of pickling spice to each jar. Then add peppers, working carefully to pack them in. Add another Tablespoon of pickling spice, if desired. Ladle the brine into the jars, leaving ½ inch head space. Press the contents down into the jar so that everything is covered with brine. Cool to room temperature and seal with a lid. Best if eaten in about 2 weeks.