Spicy Dill Pickles

Before summer's deluge of rain destroyed my cucumber crop, I canned about a dozen pints of pickles.  Ever since I bought a pint of spicy pickles at the farmer's market, I've been trying to replicate the recipe.  I think I've finally gotten it right after tinkering with a few batches last summer.   The trick is that I prefer my cucumbers sliced vs. in spears, and the vinegar brine can break down thin slices of cucumber and make them mushy which is just not appealing.  That's where pickle crisp can save the day.  

Since I like to flavor my pickles with heat vs. a homemade pickling spice, I take a shortcut and use Ball's Kosher Dill Pickle mix and add hot peppers to the brine.  Here's what works for me and my preference for a kick of heat.  As long as you keep the basic brine recipe the same, you can play with your add-ins trying garlic, any pepper variety, or both.   I do find that fresh peppers add the most flavor vs. dried peppers.

Courtney's Spicy Dill Pickles
 
-  3 1/2 lbs (about 14 small to medium) pickling cucumbers, sliced to between 1/8" to 1/4" thick, or speared, your preference
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup white vinegar (5% acidity) - 1/4 cup Ball Kosher Dill Pickle Mix (found in the canning aisle of your grocery store)-  2 tsp. crushed red pepper, assorted hot peppers (habanero, jalapeño, Serrano, etc.) pierced several times each with a sharp knife.   You can also use dried peppers, but they will yield a milder heat.
- Approx. 4 pint or 2 quart jars, prepared for canning.


Steps:
1.  Combine water, vinegar, and Ball Kosher Dill Pickle Mix in a medium saucepan. Heat to a boil. 
2.  Put 1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper in each sterilized pint jar or 1 tsp. in each quart jar.  Pack cucumbers into hot jars, then insert 1-2 hot peppers per jar.  
3.  Pour brine over cucumbers, leaving 1/2" headspace.
4.  Seal jars with lids, then process pint jars 10 minutes for pints, 15 minutes for quarts.  Turn heat off canner after initial time, remove lid from pot, and let the jars rest 5 min. before removing from the canner.
5. Allow pickles to cure 3-4 weeks before you try them.   This will allow the heat from the hot peppers to permeate the jars.

Enjoy!


 
 

Cherry Pepper Relish a.k.a. Lenny's Hot Pepper Relish

I’ve aspired to knock-off Lenny’s Subs Hot Pepper Relish ever since I enjoyed my first #5 sub combo.  Of course, first, I had to plant some cherry pepper plants.   We planted in late April and I've been waiting all summer for these peppers to ripen.   This weekend, it was finally time!   I decided to give the following recipe a try after adapting it from one I found online.  The ingredients below can be doubled, tripled, etc. depending on your cherry pepper crop.   I only had enough to yield one half-pint jar.

Cherry Pepper Relish:

2 cups of diced red cherry peppers

1 heaping tablespoon of canning salt

1 cup of white vinegar

Several tablespoons of white sugar

1 half-pint jar, sterilized

Notes: 

Two cups of diced peppers requires about a dozen cherry peppers, depending on their size.  Discard the stems and cores of the peppers, keeping as many seeds as desired.    The sugar isn’t essential to the recipe (and isn't in the Lenny's version) but will temper the heat of the peppers, so add as little or as much (up to a half a cup) as you like.

Steps:

1. Combine the diced peppers and the salt in a small saucepan, combining well to distribute the salt.   Let the mixture sit for at least one hour.
2.  Add vinegar and sugar (if using) and bring the mixture to a simmer.  
3. Cook on low about 20 minutes, or until the relish is at your desired consistency.
4. Cool and store in the fridge to use within a few weeks, or to preserve, ladle the relish into the hot jar, leaving ¼” headspace.
5. Process the jar in a water bath canner for 10 minutes, allowing the jar to cool in the water bath for 5 minutes after the burner is turned off.   Let the jar sit on the counter for 24 hours and check for a seal. 

The Results:

We tried this relish on burgers tonight.   It had just the right amount of heat for me and was close enough to the Lenny's version that I'd have to taste them side by side to tell the difference..   I will definitely make this again when the rest of my cherry peppers ripen!