Daryll

I used 3 parts distilled white vinegar to one part water, with a couple teaspoons of minced garlic, a couple teaspoons of black pepper corns and a teaspoon of sea salt. I then sliced all my peppers and put them in the jars with the other ingredients.

Bruce

daryll

I've been pickling Jalapenos, Serranos, and doing the hot carrots for a few years now.

I've been told they're pretty damn good eats.

Here's my recipe:

You may can(preserve) if you want, but I just fill up one of those big gallon jars with a lid.

2:1 ratio water to white vinegar(so, maybe 8:4 cups each)

A couple palmfuls of dried mexican oregano(crush in palm)

A couple of palmfuls of coriander seeds -whole(easily harvested when your cilantro goes to seed)

a quarter to half cup salt(any salt will do, but pickling salt won't get cloudy after awhile like regular salt does).

Heat this up just to boiling in a pan, remove from heat.

In a large stock pot, heat up plenty of water and salt to boiling.

Take 1 to 1 and one half pounds at a time of jalapenos and/or serranos and blanch them for 4-5 minutes with the lid on. After blanching, use a strainer or spider to remove from water and immediately put in ice bath to shock. continue this process with the remainder of peppers.

Sometimes I'll even throw in a couple handfuls of habaneros.

After peppers are finished, I'll take about the same amount of carrots sliced on the bias 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and do the blanching and shocking with them.

Now add about 8-10 large cloves of garlic(peeled) and 1 large or 2 small brown onions, halved and sliced to your other vegetables(no need to blanch the onions or garlic)

Throw in jar, pour pickling mixture to 1/2 inch from top, put lid on. Leave on counter for a couple to a few days. Put in fridge after that--- they'll be good now, but even better a couple weeks from now. Will last months in the fridge-- I'm still eating the ones I had from last years harvest in December.

If you want hot cucumbers, chunk them up and throw them in-- no blanching. Zucchini and squash also.

If you just want pickled peppers and no veggies, the recipe is the same.

As far as cayenne is concerned, I didn't care for them pickled. You don't have to dehydrate them--- just dry them naturally. It takes awhile, but use the summer heat. When nice and dry, grind away or leave whole until you need to grind more. They'll stay fresher this way.

Experiment a little. Blanching less will give more crispness. Try a 2-3 minute blanch. That's what the ice bath is for though-- to stop the cooking process. If you're not shocking with the ice bath, then I can see why they're mushy.

My Mom told me they used to add grape leaves to pickle cucumbers to keep crispness. I've never done it that way though. If I make dill pickles, I just go down to Walmart and pick up some Mrs. Wages Quick Process pickling mix...lol.

Blanching serves a few purposes. Cleaning the veggies, is one of course, but just as (maybe more) importantly, it deactivates enzymes that will cause the product's color and texture to deteriorate over time.

That being said, I Quickle (Quick Pickle) more often than not. Meaning that I make small batchs for use with a single meal or a series of meals. For this I never blanch, just rinse really well, slice, pour over hot pickling liquid, and cover. It keeps everything really crispy. For example, last week, I Quickled some red onions in red wine vinegar, sugar, and salt to put on some Carnitas Tacos along with Queso Fresco and Cilantro. Ummm, Delicioso!

For long term storage or usage goes though, your product will go downhill quickly if you don't inhibit those enzymes. And as WooHoo said, you absolutely MUST shock the product to avoid the mush. If you reduce the blanch time too much, you can actually stimulate the enzymes - rather than deactivate them.

PJ

I've noticed SOME chiles just don't have the heat level when they're not allowed to ripen to red(or final color). Jalapenos and serranos I don't see that much difference in heat, flavor yes.

When I've picked cayennes and chile de arboles grean and ate raw, they didn't even come close to a raw Jalapeno even. Let them ripen though and they got some kick.

I would think that the waxy peppers hold onto their crisp a bit better.

Maybe I'll try an experiment this year and blanch the carrots but leave the Jalapenos and Serranos raw. The carrots HAVE to be blanched--- you want them "toothsome." Not crunchy.

4-5 minutes isn't blanching, it's cooking. You can blanch/shock at 30-60 seconds for crisper pickles, but you probably should boil the filled jars for 3-4 minutes (depending on the heat of the pickling liquid when added) to kill off more microbes.

Cookery .
a.
to scald briefly and then drain, as peaches or almonds to facilitate removal of skins, or as rice or macaroni to separate the grains or strands.
b.
to scald or parboil (meat or vegetables) so as to whiten, remove the odor, prepare for cooking by other means, etc.

Don't knock my way until you try it. I've been told my hot carrots are better than the taco shops that are on every street corner here in San Diego. The peppers have the crisp of a pepper that you would pull out of a #10 can of whole Jalapenos from Mexico that you might find at Costco.

But yes, you're right. Logic tells one that blanching less will tend to lead to more crisp

Bruce:

The only time I ever peel the skins is when I fire roast. And sometimes I don't even do that if it's a slight char on smaller chiles like jalapenos, serranos, and habs. and I want to obtain a more rustic and caramelized result.