Tricolor Pickled Peppers (Page 911)

RECIPE #1277

• Date: Saturday, July 23, 2011 -- 4pm
• Location: East Lansing, MI
• Kitchen: Our House
• Dining Companion: Matty
• Recipe Rating: B
  

Since I already had all my canning supplies out to make Raspberry Jam a few weeks back, I decided to go ahead and make these pickled peppers as well. I started by roasting 9 pounds of red, yellow, and orange peppers in batches under the broiler. I let them steam in a covered bowl until they were cool, and then peeled the peppers. Note: peeling 9 pounds of roasted peppers is not that fun. I then sterilized canning jars in my boiling water canner. I boiled white balsamic vinegar, water, sugar, canning salt, garlic cloves, and black peppercorns. I layered peppers in the sterilized jars, then put in garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs. I filled the jars with the vinegar mixture, then sealed and processed the jars in the boiling water canner. I let the peppers stand for a week so the flavors could develop. These pickled peppers were pretty tasty. They had the texture and background flavor of typical canned roasted peppers, but the white balsamic vinegar added a unique flavor to them. We have lots of jars of these peppers -- they will make a fun sandwich topping for months to come!

The recipe in The Book is almost the same as this one, but the one in The Book calls for half as much canning salt.

Only 16 recipes left to go!

This was the last recipe in the Relishes, Chutneys, Pickles, and Preserves section of The Book! I had never really done any canning before I started this project, so this section was a great adventure for me. It turns out I love canning! And even more than that, I love having homemade jams, pickles, preserves, etc... I will definitely continue to put my canning supplies to good use after this project is over!

In no particular order, my five favorite recipes from this section were as follows:

• Concord Grape Jam -- This recipe required peeling a lot of grapes, but it was worth it. Yum! This was by far the best grape jam I have ever eaten. We flew through the jars of jam that this recipe produced, and I have been missing the grape jam ever since.
• Plum Butter -- These plum preserves were silky smooth and delicious! The addition of vanilla complemented the plum flavor wonderfully. One jar of this got pushed to the back of the cupboard and I didn't discover it until a year later. What a wonderful surprise, finding a jar of delicious preserves!
  
• Strawberry Jam -- This was the very first thing I ever canned! It was a couple years after I started this project when I finally purchased a boiling water canner, and braved this recipe. I distinctly remember making this jam in my special gentleman's Boston apartment on a warm spring day. I couldn't have been more delighted with myself when I tasted the fruits of my labor. I had learned to can!
• Apple Butter -- This recipe claimed it would make four jars of apple butter, but it only made one. It was a sad, sad thing since this apple butter was very tasty! A perfect fall recipe.
  
• Bread-and-Butter Pickles -- I hadn't really realized before starting this project how easy it is to pickle things. The Book has lots of pickled recipes though, so now pickling has become second nature. Of all the pickled items in The Book, this recipe was my favorite. These pickles came out flavorful and crunchy, with just the right amount of sweetness.
  

And just like that, another section is finished! It's hard for me to believe how close I am to the end: 14 sections complete, 7 sections left to finish! It's crazy!!