As mentioned in a previous post, my in-laws are currently staying with me and my father-in-law really enjoys going to the market. He likes to buy things in great quantity. Recently when he had the feeling that the price of potatoes and onions was going to go up, he started to stockpile kilos and kilos of them. This was stressful because I had to rearrange my entire pantry to accommodate them but also, with enough potatoes and onions to feed a small army, I began to question if there was a timeline for when they may leave! We have staples to last well into fall.. When he came home with 6 kilos (13.2 pounds!) of green ‘sivri’ peppers I got to pickling.

Father-in-Law’s Garlicky Pickled Green Peppers

Ingredients

1 kilo or roughly 2 pounds of medium to spicy green peppers -washed with the stems nipped.

6 cups distilled white vinegar

2  cups distilled water

1 head of garlic -bulbs smashed

4 tablespoons pickling salt or kosher salt

3 tablespoons mustard seeds -any color

3 tablespoons celery seed

3 tablespoons black peppercorns

2 tablespoons chili flakes -or more depending on desired heat level.

Feel free to play around with any herbs like dill, marjoram, savory or oregano. My mother-in-law always adds herbs to her pickled green peppers, so I added a Turkish pickling  herb colloquially called the Tarhana herb.

Method

Pack the peppers in a sterilized jar along with the mustard seeds, black peppercorns, celery seeds, chili flakes and herbs. Be sure to layer in the smashed garlic bulbs. I had some red chili peppers in my freezer that needed to be rotated out, so I added them as well.

In a pot bring to a boil the vinegar, water and salt. Boil until the salt dissolves.

Pour the brine into the jar, if necessary weight the peppers below the brine.

Wait about a week and then enjoy!