Pickling for Dummies

So, even after the squash and zucchini soup, we still had a lot of vegetables. A lot. John loves pickles, and all things pickled, so he pickled some cucumbers, bell peppers, and onions for some burgers we made to go with the soup.

You can pickle almost any kind of food. Kate has even pickled grapes before. Those were good, but very tart. Almost all home-pickled things I’ve eaten have been quite tart.

This recipe is no exception. Tart, sour, pickled. If it’s too tart for you, I’d recommend draining the veggies a bit before you eat them, or eating them sparingly. But if you’re like me, you’ll just pile them all on, because they’re so good.

This is a pickling recipe that goes with a chicken rillette recipe we make sometimes. It’s pretty quick for a pickling recipe, and it has a lot of great flavor to it with the garlic and thyme. So John just used the veggies we had and made it work.

It was delicious! Perfect on our bison and grass-fed beef burgers with arugula and pepperjack cheese. This recipe made a lot, so be prepared to eat a lot of tart veggies if you make it. We used the veggies later on some arugala for a side salad, and on a hummus wrap.

Pickled Peppers with Shallots and Thyme

From Bon Appetit

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound sweet or mild mini bell peppers, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, seeded
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced, separated into rings
• 2 cups white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 5 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• Pinch of coarse kosher salt

PREPARATION

1. Place peppers and shallots in medium bowl.
2. Mix vinegar and next 6 ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Remove brine from heat; carefully pour over peppers and shallots. Cover bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Uncover; cool to room temperature. Transfer to quart-size jar, pressing peppers into brine. Cover; chill at least 4 hours and up to 10 days.