Pickled Cherry Peppers

We had a pretty good garden haul this summer. The tomato plant was a travesty and a tragedy; I had high hopes but I caught chipmunks, on more than one occasion, stealing the tomatoes. And honestly, I don't blame them. They were deliciously sweet San Marzanos and difficult to resist. But, we had some nice cucumbers, loads of herbs, a handful of carrots, and we had enjoyed a decent number of sugar snap peas and snow peas before the plant died while we were in Asia. Our pepper plants in particular were good producers, especially the cherry pepper plant. There were so many peppers that were way too heavy for the branches so I had to really reinforce the plant so it wouldn't topple over.

I waited for a few of the cherry peppers to turn red and then picked the bulk of them with the intention of pickling them in a way that would make them a delicious, spicy, acidic accompaniment to meals and sandwiches.

Ingredients:
1½ lbs. cherry peppers
1½ cups water
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, smashed
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon mustard seeds

Making pickles is super easy. You just make a brine and pour it over whatever you want to pickle and then wait for the flavors to penetrate.

Slice the cherry peppers and pack them into jars. You could leave them whole, but I like how the spice gets out into the brine and they're much easier to use and eat if they're pre-sliced.

Combine the water, vinegar, salt, sugar, garlic, peppercorns, and mustard seeds in a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat to dissolve the sugar and salt.

Let the brine cool for 10 minutes before pouring over the cherry peppers. Close up the jars and leave in the fridge to pickle for 3 days.

I think that because my peppers were garden fresh, they maintained a really delicious crisp texture. It was also almost like a game eating them because some were unbearably hot and gave me hiccups. The brine is mostly salty, slightly sour, and that little bit of brown sugar just enhances that floral, fruity quality of the peppers.

So far, the peppers have made an appearance at the table with grilled chicken, burgers, and spaghetti & meatballs.

Here's the recipe page: