Daddy's Pickled Jalapenos

My daughter saw this contest and wanted to share our jalapeno recipe for it. She does a lot of helping when we start canning every year, measuring most of the ingredients, mixing and processing as much as she can. For this batch, we had actually stripped our jalapeno bushes of peppers so we could pull them up and plant something else so thats why there is no amount for the jalapenos. We try to adjust the brine according to the amount of peppers we have to keep the ratio about the same. So here goes...

Ingredients:

Jalapenos (as many as you have)

garlic (1 clove per jar)

Brine:

1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar

1 ½ cups white vinegar

1 cup water

½ cup salt

4 tablespoons sugar

Tools:

Knife

Cutting board

Large pot

Wooden spoon

Colander

Water-bath canner

Half-pint jars with rings

New canning jar lids

Wide mouth funnel

First things first, get your canner going. Water takes a long time to boil so fill the canner with water and turn it on. An easy way to prep the jars for your canning fun is to place the open jars, no rings or lids, into the canner rack and leave them in the canner while the water comes to a boil. Then they will be ready when you are ready to fill them.

Alternatively, instead of leaving the jars in your canner while it heats, you can rinse your jars in hot water and set them upside down on a rack until you are ready to fill them. (This is what we do for this recipe since it’s easier to fill the jars with jalapenos before starting the brine.

Set the rings aside so you can get to them easily.

Put the new canning jar lids, one for each jar you have prepared, gasket sides facing, into a small pot. Cover the lids with water and let them come to a simmer on the stove. Once they are hot, turn the burner off and let them sit until you are ready to use them.

Now, on to the good stuff…

Collect all the jalapenos you want to pickle. Wash them, then cut off the stem ends. Slice jalapenos to desired thickness with a knife or a mandolin. Daddy likes them on the thinner side.

Note: Jalapenos can burn the skin. You may want to wear gloves while working with them.

Once the jalapenos are sliced, pack them tightly into jars. We like to use half-pint jars for ours. Now you should know how many jars you have filled with jalapenos. We ended up with 7 half-pints.

We add garlic to each jar. Depending on the size of the clove, you may have to cut the cloves into smaller pieces. This year we had huge cloves of garlic after smashing them and peeling them, we sliced them each into 2 to 3 sections. If the cloves had been smaller we would not have sliced them after smashing and peeling them.

Put a clove, or a piece of a clove, into each jar. This can be adjusted for either more or less garlic, depending on how much garlic you like. We like garlic so a big piece goes in each jar for us.

Now we will make the brine. It gets measured directly into a medium pot since it has to come to a simmer before we pour it over the jalapenos.

Pour 1 ½ cups each of apple cider vinegar and white vinegar into the pot. Then add 1 cup of water. Turn the pot on to start heating while you add the salt and sugar. Stir it as it heats until the salt and sugar have dissolved completely. Once dissolved, the brine should be hot enough to pour over your jalapenos.

Using the wide mouth funnel, carefully pour brine into each jar, leaving ½-inch of headspace in the top of each jar. Place a new lid on top of each jar and use a ring to secure each lid to each jar.

Carefully load your canner rack, starting on opposite sides to prevent tilting. If your water has not yet started boiling, you can let the jalapenos sit in the canner but don’t start timing until the water is boiling. Once the water is boiling in the canner (steam will be coming out from under the lid) process for 15 minutes.

Carefully remove the jars after processing and set them on a heatproof surface or a towel set on the counter to cool. Remember to remove the jars from opposite sides of the canner rack as well so that it doesn’t tip while taking the jars out. Allow the jars to cool completely then rinse them off so that they are clean when they go on your shelf.

Enjoy!! Daddy likes his best with nachos!