Pickled Peppers

It was too nice to stay home and work on Saturday so we decided to go to the Farmer's Market in down town Jacksonville.  I needed some peppers for a new recipe that I was going to try.  As always, I get carried away at the Market and wanted something new.  Let's go for some different peppers.

 Aside from the regular bell peppers that I recognized, the large table was filled with baskets of dark green Poblano or chili peppers and I was told that they were rather mild and great for stuffing because of their thick walls.

Some of the Poblanos were turning dark red and some had a brownish hint.  I told the attendant that I wanted one and my husband said that he wanted one also.  One pepper, not a basket full.

I had already selected Vidalia onions and I asked the attendant to use the same bag.

Deem of my surprise when I got home and found a bag full of peppers.  Oh, my goodness!  What am I going to do?

Green bell peppers can be cut up and put in the freezer without fuzz or muss but  what about the Poblanos?  What would you do?

I made a concoction of 4 parts of white vinegar and 2 parts of water, added 1 tbs of sea salt and a pinch or two of sugar and brought it to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes.  I also added minced dried parsley.

Before I started operating on the peppers, I put on my Latex gloves (in case the peppers were too hot to handle and burn my hands).

I rinsed the peppers, cut them in half, removed the seeds and sliced them.  I filled jars with the peppers and in the large jar with the colorful Poblanos, I added sliced Vidalia onions.  Finally, I poured the vinegar solution over the peppers and sealed them (but not too tight).

The water bath:  To be on the safe side, I gave the jars a water bath.  I don't have a special pot for this, so I covered the bottom of my large enameled pot with a dishtowel and wrapped the jars in wash rags to keep them from rattling against each other in the pot.

I was concerned about breakage but the vinegar was warm in the jars and I inserted the jars into the pot filled with water that was heating up on the stove.  No sudden temperature changes were to occur.

I filled the pot with water so that it would cover the tops of the jars and let it come to a gentle boil and to simmer for 10 minutes.  I let the jars cool in the pot and later store the jars on a shelf in the cabinet

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