October Tigress Can Jam: Marinated Peppers

This month super spicy Kaela at Local Kitchen picked a pepper for the October Tigress Can Jam. I'll admit that I'm a total wimp when it comes to spicy stuff. Add to that a toddler in the house, and it's very rare that I cook with chili peppers. Sweet peppers are nice, but I don't have them all the time. They weren't in my garden this year or last, come to think of it. They don't normally figure into my diet. That's why I love the Can Jam. It makes me think of things I wouldn't normally think of. Like peppers. Next year I'll grow peppers. It was sort of a revelation.

Right after I bought these lovely peppers, I started getting free peppers thrown at me. So, I diced and froze a bunch of green peppers, and have a bunch of little red hot peppers drying (I do use them, sparingly, I just don't like super spicy). I chose these sweet peppers because they were so gorgeous. And so, I happened upon a recipe for marinated peppers in Linda Ziedrich's The Joy of Pickling which sounded perfectly delicious and simple, to boot.

The next day, I opened a fridge jar. They were delicious even though the recipe calls for them to sit for three weeks before eating. Simple, great as antipasto but probably just as good sauteed with some good sausage or on a pizza. And the liquid makes a great salad dressing, Linda says. However, as I stare at them in the cupboard, I keep on wondering about how much oil is in them. The National Center for Preservation has a similar recipe, albeit with a bit more acid (in the form of lemon juice) in it's ratio. I never thought I could can peppers like this, so it seems strange to me. But, this is why I'm growing peppers next year. Have you ever canned peppers this way?

Marinated Sweet Peppers

adapted from Linda Ziedrich's The Joy of Pickling

2 1/4 pounds of bell peppers (cut in thick slices, seeds and membranes removed)

3 cloves of garlic

3 sprigs of fresh herbs, I used lemon thyme

1 cup white vinegar, I used red wine vinegar (7% acidity)

1 1/2 teaspoons of pickling salt

1 cup of olive oil

Put the peppers into a large bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let them stand until they are soft.

Drain the peppers. When they are cool put them into a hot jar, one that you've already place a clove of garlic and a sprig of your herb of choice in.

In a nonreactive pot, heat the vinegar and salt. Once it boils, add the oil. Bring the mixture to a boil again. Pour immediately over peppers to cover. De-bubble, clean and seal lids. Process in boiling water bath for ten minutes. Let sit for three weeks before eating, and once open, store in fridge.

The Heavy Heavy Carrot Apple Chutney Sound

I am on the chutney train, people. I really didn't think this was going to be good while I was cooking it. I thought, damn, I put too much in. Made it too complicated. But lordy, is this good. I don't often eat chutney out of the jar but I am now a convert. And yes, this would be stellar on some good creamy yogurt. Or with some cheese and bread. Sadly, I didn't process these guys in a water bath because I am out of lids. Lidless. Just did a major overhaul of my canning workshop in the basement and lo, things are, well, low. But whatever, this will store in the fridge just fine, and srsly, I did mix it up a bit with a few different recipes, so maybe it's all for the best. I based the measurements on the Ball book's Golden Gossip Chutney, and got some inspiration from all the chutney-tarians out there. A lunch of cookies and chutney is balanced, right?

1 1/2 cups of grated carrot

1 cup of grated apple

1 cup of grated pear

1 finely diced onion

1 finely diced red pepper

1 or 2 minced cloves of garlic

3/4 cup golden sultana raisins

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/8 of a cup of lemon juice, bottled not fresh

1 T grated ginger

1 cinnamon stick

1 T mustard seed

1 t whole cloves

1 t curry powder

Throw it all into your heavy-bottomed pot (heavy-bottomed pots rule the world!) and cook until thick and juices evaporate and you feel like it looks like a good chutney. To water bath, I would process these for 10 minutes if using 8 ounce jars. I truly think it's fine, but don't go blaming me if it's not, cause I never told you it was safe. (But I really think it is: apples, pears, lemon juice, vinegar. Feel free to take issue in the comments.)

Orecchiette with Roasted Red Peppers

Tonight I was at a loss. The kale has been overtaken by cabbage worms. So, lo, in the fridge was a pint of roasted red peppers with garlic in olive oil. While I cooked up a pound of orecchiette, I dumped the peppers in a cast iron skillet to heat and bubble off the water in it. Sliced up the peppers. Drained pasta, tossed it in the pan with the peppers. Into a bowl to greet chopped fresh parsley and generous amounts of grated Pecorino and Parmesan cheeses. Pepper and salt, a honk of bread, and we're off.

Red Peppers

At our local super farm market (Adam's Fairacre Farms) they have a section with produce marked with low prices for quick sale. Sometimes it's packed with great deals, like bags of red peppers for 99 cents. (Digression: my keyboard doesn't seem to have a cent symbol. Is that how the way of the world is going?) So, along with the bag of apples and pears, and ripe bananas, broccoli rabe, and zucchini (which I don't even care for), I took home two bags full of those peppers. Only problem is, I've got to prepare everything. I chopped all the zucchini and froze it for bread at a later date. The broccoli rabe was also frozen for throwing into a nice soup one day. The peppers I roasted on the grill and prepared two ways: one, on the right, is just with garlic and olive oil to keep in the fridge for bread and cheese, or sandwiches, the other, on the left, is a romesco sauce I, no exaggeration, threw together. As I have mentioned, I'm not too keen on recipes and feel my way through things. I liked it just fine. Froze half and kept the rest in the fridge for a quick meal. I was tired and on the tail end of a cold, so here is what I remember:

Romesco Sauce (Sorta)

Filled the food processor half way with roasted red peppers.

Sauteed up two ripe tomatoes with a handful of garlice in some olive oil, then in the processor with the peppers.

A handful of walnuts (almonds or hazelnuts are proper, but all I had was walnuts).

Some nice, cheesy bread crumbs I had in the fridge (made from a batch of croutons gone awry).

Whizzed it up, while pouring a goodly amount (3/4 cup?) of olive oil in;

then a 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar (maybe less?) to finish it off. Salt and pepper, too.

Now I gotta slog through the banana bread I have on deck, and apple and pear sauce...I can't imagine what life must have been like, back in the day, when folks depended on their harvest for their livelihood. A man I was buying used canning jars from said that his mother often said that the worst thing to see in the kitchen was a large basket of vegetables that had to be preserved right away. My word.