Peter Piper Picked

We could hardly help but have this phrase reverberating through our heads yesterday as we stripped and removed pepper plants.  We harvested about 30 red peppers from 5 plants, and once removed still have three plants that remain with a few peppers starting that will provide some fresh for us through the fall.  We then picked a full half bushel of jalapeños!  What to do with all of these peppers??

This year we decided to try canning them so we began with charring the red peppers and a portion of the jalapeños on the grill.  Once charred we gently peeled the skins but not too carefully leaving some of the beautiful char flavor for the can.  Then B read that when canning peppers it was best to use their natural juices so we were also careful when we peeled them to keep them over the bowl that we had them in to collect any drippings.  We then dredged them in vinegar and put the portions into jars that we then topped with the natural juices and pressure canned at ten pounds for sixty minutes.  The jalapeños that we roasted were also dredged and went whole into cans to be used later, once the tomatoes finish, in salsa.

Then we took the remaining jalapeños, sliced them jarred them and topped them with boiling pickling liquid.  The proportions for the liquid are consistent measures. 2 1/2 C vinegar, 2 1/2 C water, & 2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar.  Then the quarts were water bath canned for 20 minutes.  As the capsaicin from the peppers getting air born in our kitchen can lead to hours or days of coughing in our household, we decided to do all of the prep work for the jalapeños outside on the porch.  This was a great decision and something that I highly recommend!

This left us with 3 1/2 quarts of roasted red peppers, 7 quarts of pickled jalapeños, and 1 quart of roasted whole jalapeños.  Yesterday Peter Piper Picked & Prepped Peppers three ways!