Pickled Cherry Peppers

Ingredients:

For the brine:

2 pounds fresh, ripe, cherry hot chile peppers
1 gallon water
2 cups of sea or kosher salt

Marinade:

1 cup water
5 cups white vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. dried thyme
10 whole allspice
1 tsp. whole coriander seeds
12 black peppercorns
12 white peppercorns
1 tsp. whole mustard seeds
2 juniper berries
6 whole cloves

Herb Oil Garnish:

4 dried bay leaves
2 whole, unpeeled, garlic cloves (par boiled for 2 minutes)
2 carrots, par boiled for 2 minutes and sliced into 1/8-inch slices

Instructions:
Wash the peppers, trim the stems to a stub and prick each pepper twice with a fork on opposite sides.

Bring the water to a boil, immediately remove it from the heat, and dissolve the salt in it to make a brine. Let it cool.

Combine the washed peppers and the cooled brine in a glass, plastic, stainless steel, or other non reactive container. Place a china plate on top of the peppers to hold them down in the brine. Use two if necessary. Soak the peppers in the brine for a minimum of 12 hours.

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a heavy bottom stainless steel sauce pan. Bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Wash and sterilize 8-12 pint-size canning jars and lids. In each sanitized, hot jar place 1/4 of a dried bay leaf, one garlic clove, several carrot slices, 1/2 of a shallot and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil, then pack the peppers into the jars. Pour marinading liquid into each jar leaving at least 1/2″ of head space from the top of the liquid to the rim.

Use a boiling water bath method to seal the jars and process the peppers for five minutes. Store the jars in a cool, dark place for three to four weeks before using.

Refrigerate unused portions after you’ve opened a jar.

Recipe from www.backwoodshome.com.