We have had quite a few jalapeños in my CSA box the past couple of weeks, so I decided to try pickling some.

• 2-3 lbs jalapeño peppers
• 2 large cloves garlic, sliced
• 3-4 c. cider vinegar
• 1 T. honey
• 1-2 t. pickling salt
• 3-4 T. olive oil
• 2 T. mixed pickling spices

Wearing latex gloves, I sliced all my jalapeños into rings slightly thinner than 1/4″.  I ended up with about 5 c. sliced peppers.     I rinsed these in a colander and didn’t feel bad about any seeds I lost in the process.

I sterilized 3 pint jars by boiling them and their lid rings and caps.  After removing the jars from the pot of boiling water, I set them on the counter and put 8 peppercorns and 4 slices of garlic cloves in each jar.

I had to create my own “mixed pickling spices”.  I combined:

• 1/2 cinnamon stick, broken
• 3 bay leaves, broken
• 2 t. black peppercorns
• 1 T. whole mustard seeds
• 2 t. whole fennel seeds
• 1/4 t. allspice (ground, because I didn’t have 1 t. whole)
• 1 t. whole cloves
• 2 t. whole coriander seeds

I wrapped 2 T. of this mixture in cheesecloth, and saved the rest in a jar for future use.

The cheesecloth bundle got placed in a sauce pan with the cider vinegar, honey and salt.  After it was boiling, I added the peppers and brought it back to a simmer.

At this point I  transferred the jalapeños with a slotted spoon into the prepared pickle jars, discarded the cheesecloth bundle, then poured the hot liquid over the peppers, leaving about 1/2″ of space at the top.  I added 1 1/2 t. olive oil to the top of each jar and sealed each jar with the sterile two piece caps.  Then I boiled these jars for 10 minutes, before storing them.

The recipe I saw said to store these for 3 weeks in a cool dark place before opening, and then refrigerate after opening.  I’ll let you know how they turned out in a couple of weeks.