Getting Pickled

Was motivated today to do something with the Peppers, Bottles and Jars that needed to be merged into something so I picked enough Tabasco Peppers to fill a 5 Ounces Shaker Top Bottle; 74 Peppers, some Caribbean Reds, Datils and Okra. Added them to yesterday’s picking. The result was a Shaker Top of Tabascos, 2 Jars of Quick Pickled Okra with Datil Peppers and one jar of Quick Pickle Caribbean Reds.

A few days ago I filled 2 Shaker Bottles with Datils and Lemon Drops. Had to sort out Peppers that’d fit the Neck of the Bottle. The resulting “Pepper Sauce” is damn good stuff if you like Heat and Vinegar on Greens and Beans as is common in the South.

It wasn’t until moving South that I paid attention to Peppers when I tried the condiment that appears on many if not most sit-down Southern-Style cookeries, specifically “Sport Pepper Sauce”. You discover quickly that consuming, preserving and giving away does not prevent you from having lots more Peppers needing to be consumed, preserved and given away. Peppers in Jam. Peppers in Mac and Cheese, Spaghetti, Turkey Noodle Soup, almost anything you can sauté and so on.

How’d it start? Making a tall bottle of Datils in White Vinegar that’s still in use years later with regular additions of Vinegar until Pepper change then starting all over again OR it might have been a decision to add Peppers to the soon to be a traditional Cranberry Sauce we’d made a year earlier. Worked for us.

Quick Pickling is a bit more involved; Vinegar, Water and Salt brought to a boil than poured over the vegetable in a jar. We add, Garlic, Pickling Spice or Peppers or some of each or not.

Front Row, Left to Right:
- Quick Pickled Cucumbers with Garlic and Pickling Spice
- Quick Pickled Caribbean Red Pepper with Pickling Spice
- Quick Pickled Okra with Datil Pepper, Garlic and Pickling Spice
- Quick Pickled Okra with Datil Pepper and Pickling Spice
Back Row, Left to Right:
- Quick Pickled Cucumbers with Datil Pepper, Garlic and Pickling Spice in two small jars
- Multi-Color Tabasco Pepper Sauce (Distilled White Vinegar)
- Lemon Drop Pepper Sauce (Red Wine Vinegar)
- Datil Pepper Sauce (Red Wine Vinegar)
- Tabasco Pepper Sauce (Distilled White Vinegar)
- Quick Pickled Okra with Datil Pepper and Pickling Spice