Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) fresh, blemish-free hot peppers of the kind you prefer
- 1 cup (250 ml) white wine vinegar
- A bay leaf, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons sea salt or kosher salt (or other salt without additives)
- An onion, peeled and finely sliced (optional)
- Gloves
- Olive oil (see note)
- Enough fairly small jars (I prefer 250 ml, or half pint) with lids to contain your peppers, cleaned and sterilized
Preparation:
Begin by putting on your gloves. I didn't when I made these a few years ago, and the hot pepper oil got under my fingernails. My finger tips were so sore I couldn't type for several days -- not good for a writer -- and I also had to be very careful about what parts of me I touched in the bathroom. Not fun.Once you have donned your gloves, wash the peppers and pat them dry. Next, stem them, split them open lenghtwise, seed them, and rib them.
Put the vinegar, salt, bay leaf, and onion (if you are using it) in a pot over a brisk flame. Add the peppers and heat until the vinegar comes to a boil. Boil the peppers for 3-5 minutes, stirring them about gently. Drain them and dry them -- I lined a cookie sheet with paper towels and heated them in a slow oven for about 10 minutes. Pack the peppers in your clean jars and fill them with olive oil, shaking the jars and tapping at their sides to dislodge air bubbles.
Seal the jars, and put them on a rack in a sterilizer (or a large pot) with cold water to cover. Bring the pot to a boil and simmer the peppers for 20 minutes to sterilize them. Let the pot cool, and when you can safely dip a hand into the water remove the jars. Check the seals of the lids, and put the jars in a cool dark place. They'll be ready in a couple of weeks, and will keep for a year.
Yield: several jars of hot peppers canned in oil.
Note: while I like the flavor of olive oil in my peppers, I don't use the best oil here, because they peppers will mask the finer nuances of the oil.
