Peck A Pickled Pepper...
Pickling is a simple and basic process that, once you understand the fundamentals, will allow you to pickle almost anything. While some of the more common pickled foods are cucumbers, pearl onions, and cauliflower, this quick and simple method can be used for ginger, banana peppers, and even eggs.
To pickle something entails preserving food in a brine or vinegar mixture. While what composes the solution can be changed to make it spicy, sweet, or flavored, the basics are the same. If using a brine, then you will need a strongly salted water solution that can have other seasonings as well. Using vinegars with salt and other flavorful items like black peppercorns, garlic, or dill is also a common use for a pickling solution. By placing food in an acidic and salted mixture, you greatly minimize the risk of bacteria growing in the jar, which seems to be a fear on most people's minds when approaching pickling.
But fear not, because you can easily put these worries aside. In terms of sterilization and safety, if you are going to store your products for longer than two weeks and/or outside of the refrigerator, then it's necessary to follow the proper safety precautions and sterilize the jars first before storing the contents inside. It's also a safe and good idea to run the jars through the dishwasher right before you use them so that they are clean, or you can place them in boiling water for about ten minutes (just remove them carefully with tongs). Alternatively, you can try placing them in the oven at 350 degrees for about ten minutes on a baking sheet, then placing the contents inside.
These quick-pickle recipes are meant to encourage you to try pickling at home with whatever leftover ingredients you have from either your garden or just in your kitchen. They make great additions to sandwiches, dips, cocktails, or as garnishes — of course, it depends on what you're actually pickling.
Sweet, tangy, spicy, salty, sour — pickles are bite-sized powerhouses of flavor. Since this recipe calls for a quick pickling process...
— Molly Aronica
A couple of years ago, I was driving from Atlanta to San Francisco and kept walking into gas stations with big jars of pickled eggs...
— Jordan Pervere
If you're a fan of ginger, then you know about the sweet and mild flavor of the pink pickled ginger that accompanies your sushi...
— Allison Beck
Spicy Pickled Watermelon Rind with Ginger and Lime
With big, fat watermelons currently bursting out of gardens, this classic Southern summertime preserve is a real mouthful that mellows over time...
— Valaer Murray
Use these spicy peppers chopped up in guacamole, with scrambled eggs, on top of tacos, or in sandwiches...
— Yasmin Fahr
I first came across pickled cherries at a restaurant in New York City last year and have been curious to experiment with making them at home ever since...
— Maryse Chevriere