Pickled Peppers

Peter Piper picked a peck* of pickled peppers,

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

[An English language nursery rhyme and well-known tongue twister]

*A peck is a unit of dry volume equivalent to 2 gallons (8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints). Four pecks make a bushel.

The hard frost warning we noticed a few days ago got us back out to the garden just time for one last harvest session before everything was done for the year. Included in the bounty was about 1/2 bushel of jalapeno peppers.  

That would be TWO pecks of peppers, Peter!

 The Harvest

Today we processed the jalapenos and ended up with 14 quarts of pickled nacho-slices to add to the 15 quarts we'd processed earlier this fall and another 6 quarts of whole jalapenos.  That's a ridiculous amount of pickled peppers, but I bet we come close to running out by next year's harvest time.

Some of the season's bounty

 My process is simple and, because I never know how many peppers I'm going to be harvesting on any given day, my recipe is by-the-quart.

B M R Pickled Jalapeños

20 Each (approx)  Jalapeno Peppers, Whole, Cleaned and Slit or Sliced

1/2  Each                  Carrot, Sliced

1teaspoon               Dry Chop Garlic

1 Tablespoon          Dry Chop Onion

1 1/2 tablespoons  Salt

1 Cp (approx)         Water

1 Cp (approx)         White, Distilled Vinegar

1.    Pack the quart jar(s) half full of peppers

2.    Add the carrot slices.

3.    Measure the garlic, onion and salt into the jar(s)

4.    Pack the jar(s) full with the remaining peppers.

5.    Fill each jar 1/2 way with vinegar

6.    Fill the rest of the way (to within 1/2" of the top) with water. For whole peppers, poke around to dislodge air bubbles.

7.    Seal loosely with lids and rings

8.    Process in boiling water bath to the shoulder of the jars for 6-7 minutes

9.    Cool.  Make sure lids 'pop"

10.  Store in a cool dark place

Yield: 1 quart