Hot and Sweet Pickled Peppers

July 24, 2012

Hot and sweet pickled peppers are the perfect way to use up extra summer produce. Depending on your heat tolerance, you may want to start off with a relatively mild pepper like jalapenos or banana peppers and move on to serranos or something a bit hotter. Pickled peppers are delicious in a sandwich, atop nachos, or even blended with cream cheese.

Ingredients:

6 pounds hot peppers

6 garlic cloves

3 cups sugar

2 2/3 cups white vinegar, 5%% acidity

2 2/3 cups water

3 3/4 teaspoons pickling salt

Directions:

Wash peppers and slice into rings. You can remove core and seeds or leave them intact. In a large saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar, water and pickling salt. Bring to a boil. Add sliced peppers and return to a boil. Remove from heat.

Place a clove of garlic in each hot, sterilized pint jar. Use tongs to immediately fill jars with hot peppers. Fill jars with remaining liquid leaving 1/2-inch head space. Carefully run a nonmetallic utensil down inside of jars to remove trapped air bubbles.

Wipe jar tops and threads clean. Place hot lids on jars and screw bands on firmly. Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.