Pickled Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers
Pickled Hot Hungarian Wax Peppers
Note: these peppers must be refrigerated as they are not processed. Please read relevant information http://foodsafety.cas.psu.edu for how long they can and should be stored. This site also has some good recipes and instructions for processing foods.
I use Hungarian Wax peppers. When picked from the garden, I fill one sink full of water with a few drops of soap and 1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach. I wash the peppers in this solution and then rinse them at least three times in fresh cold water.
Stem and seed peppers. I have found that a stiff vegetable peeler / corer works nicely but a thin paring knife will also work well to remove seeds. Slice peppers into rings. You might want to wear rubber gloves.
The Juice -- one batch:
4 cups of red wine vinegar with a minimum of 5% acidity.
3 cups of water
2 cups of regular olive oil (not light nor extra virgin)
1/2 cups of pickling salt (dissolves easily and does not cloud - nice taste, too)
1 head of garlic -- mince all cloves
1/8 cup Italian spice mix or oregano (Sam's club has this in bulk at reasonable prices)
1 or more Habanero peppers or "hotter" peppers with seeds - minced (optional)
1 tbsp hot red chile pepper powder (I prefer Indian red chile pepper powder available from Indian grocery stores or Wegman's)
This one batch of juice is enough for about 3 or 4 gallon buckets of peppers that will be cut into rings. Mix enough juice accordingly.
Mix all together and let stand for 4 hours stirring occasionally. Cold pack in sterilized jars and make sure all peppers are submerged in vinegar solution -- oil will rise to the top so leave enough room. Refrigerate immediately. See the site above for information on cold packing, use of oil in recipes and timeframe for use of product.
Pepper Relish
For 3 or 4 gallon buckets of peppers, instead of cutting them into rings, I stemmed and seeded them and pulse-chopped them in a food processor. Also included was one large, sweet onion and several jalapeño peppers also pulse chopped. Since the relish is more dense than rings, I can make 1/2 batch of The Juice for 3 to 4 gallons of peppers. After the whole batch is mixed in The Juice, place into sterilized jars and refrigerate immediately.