Italian Vinegar and Oil Pickled Hot Peppers - And Good Neighbors

A small canning jar, sparkling like sliced yellow sapphires and studded with an occasional sliver of ruby, passed from my neighbor's hands into my grateful ones. I had been gifted a precious jar of Joanna's annual Italian Vinegar and Oil Pickled Hot Peppers. As I've told Joanna often, they are the best doggone pickled peppers that have ever gilded a hoagie!

This year, I got something even better...the recipe! Well, not better than the actual peppers, but the tools to do them myself! 

Serendipitously, there were bags of hot banana peppers available for swap out at my Dillner Family Farms CSA pick up for a couple weeks in a row. Anticipating collecting enough of the firm long yellow peppers for Joanna's recipe, I swapped out zucchini or lettuce or even some potatoes until I had enough peppers for a small batch of my own jarred pickled hot peppers. 

Finally, canning night. Following Joanna's recipe carefully, I brought vinegar, sugar and water to a boil. I'd already prepared the jars, sliced the peppers and readied the garlic, salt and olive oil. The jars were lined up on the counter filled with their colorful contents just waiting. I poured the boiling liquid carefully over the contents of each jar and capped each one securely. 

After a while, I heard the reassuring soft pop of each lid indicating the seal had worked. That made no difference to me really, because I lack confidence in my safe canning abilities (it has been MANY years since I could call myself an accomplished canner) and refrigerated all 4 pints of peppers as soon as they came to room temp. Better safe than sorry, you know!

Have I mentioned before that I have the best neighbors in all of the North Hills? I'd even venture to say in all of the Greater Pittsburgh area! 

Italian Vinegar and Oil Pickled Hot Peppers

• 4-6 C hot banana peppers, cleaned, stem ends cut off, sliced thinly
• 8 large garlic cloves, peeled, stem end cut off and left whole
• 8 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 8 tablespoons good olive oil

• 2 C white vinegar
• 2 C water
• 1 C granulated sugar

• 4 pint jars with rings and lids or 8 half pint jars with rings and lids

In a pot on the stove, boil the lids for the jars for 5 minutes. Remove, dry thoroughly and set aside on a clean, dry cloth. Run the jars and rings through the dishwasher. Have everything ready to go when the jars and rings immediately come out of the dishwasher.

If you're using pint jars, add 2 garlic cloves to each jar along with 2 teaspoons salt and 2 T olive oil. (If using 1/2 pints, use 1 garlic clove, 1 t salt and 1 T olive oil to each jar.) On top of those ingredients, cram the pepper rings as tightly into each jar as possible while still leaving about 1/4-1/2" between the contents and the tops of the jars. 

Pour the boiling vinegar, water, sugar mixture over top contents of each jar, again leaving 1/4-1/2" clearance at the top. Make sure the rims of the jars are squeaky clean and place the lids on top of each jar. Tighten the rings securely and allow the jars to cool to room temperature. Each lid should "pop" as it seals. If not, and I don't trust it, refrigerate the peppers. 

Allow the peppers 3 weeks or so to reach the pickling sweet spot and serve  on sandwiches, in salads, however you enjoy the most!

Easy Asian Spicy Shrimp And (Or) Chicken

Do you have any picky eaters in your house? I do. Yep, it's my husband, Mark. While I adore fish and seafood, Mark's word would be abhor not adore when it comes to things that swim. Not a deal breaking difference for sure, but one that can make meal planning a little difficult sometimes.

A few weeks ago, I came up with a very simple glaze for shrimp on the grill I thought it would be amazing...'thought' being the operative word here. Turned out that the glaze burned off and didn't leave much of the sweetness and tartness of the lovely orange, hot pepper, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger flavors behind. As we used to say in the old days of the sixties, "bummer." 

The glaze/sauce was spot on, but I'd used the wrong cooking method. Fail. Except...what if instead of using it as a glaze, I used it as a sauce? What if I dredged great big beautiful shrimp in cornstarch and egg white and made an Asian Spicy Orange Shrimp dish? I'd love it! Mark wouldn't. 

But. Since the sauce was going on after frying, it could be poured over both shrimp AND crisp chunks of chicken for Asian Spicy Chicken to keep Mark a happy hubby.

Whoa...one sauce, TWO satisfied diners, one happy couple! That might just make it a win win WIN, happily ever after situation. And it was.

Easy Asian Spicy Shrimp And (Or) Chicken

• 1 t fresh orange zest - save the juice to thin your sauce if needed
• 1/4 C orange marmalade
• 1/4 C Frank's Red Hot Sweet Chile Sauce - LOVE this stuff!
• 1 t granulated garlic
• 1/4 t ginger
• 3 T rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 t red pepper flakes

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" chunks
• 12 extra large shrimp - peeled, deveined, tails removed if you wish 
• 2 egg whites - feel free to use egg whites in a carton to make things even easier
• 1/3 C cornstarch
• 1/2 t Kosher salt
• canola oil - enough to come 1 1/2" up the side of a cast iron skillet (or other skillet if you don't own a cast iron one)

First, in a small saucepan, whisk the sauce ingredients together over low heat - orange zest through red pepper flakes - just until the mixture is smooth. Set aside.

In a deep bowl, make the batter by beating the egg whites until frothy, then beating in the cornstarch and salt until you have a smooth, lump free batter. Set aside

Start heating the oil in the skillet to about 350 degrees. When the oil is hot, start battering the chicken first.

Working quickly, add the chicken chunks to the batter. Give them a good stir and one by one take them from the batter, letting excess batter drop back into the batter bowl; carefully add each piece to the hot oil. Be sure allow enough room so each piece of chicken fries evenly. Turn over the pieces as they turn golden and cook on the other side. Remove with a slotted spoon or a spider to a paper towel lined platter.

Now do the same thing with the shrimp. Why do the chicken first? So the picky eater's chicken doesn't taste like shrimp! Not quite enough batter to do the shrimp, too? Make another batch of batter!

Once both proteins are fried to perfection, make a bed of cooked rice (brown in this case) and spoon the sauce over the shrimp and the chicken. 

NOTE: I served steamed red peppers and broccolini with the meal for lots of color and healthy vitamins!

My Very Own Ideal Vodka Infusion For Just My Kind Bloody Mary...Spicy!

Bloody Mary brunches are anything but boring...especially when you start with one helluva vodka infusion. Last week a vacationing friend Facebook tagged me on his local beach bar picture of a vodka infusion. Does Greg know me or what?!

The picture was of a clear, spigoted and lidded glass crock that sat behind the bar. It wasn't immediately discernible what exactly was in the colorful mixture of red, dark green and light green vegetative objects bobbing in what I assumed (confirmed) was vodka. I mistook some of the lighter green spikes for Kosher dill pickle spears. Nope, Greg said...just various shades and types of hot peppers. Which got me to thinking. What would I put into my ideal Bloody Mary vodka infusion? I got to work.

Although that glass crock in the pic was beautiful, I already had a perfectly good large French canning jar that would work just fine for my experimental batch. Dark green jalapenos, bright red serranos and pale green long peppers went into the jar first. I like lots of pepper in a brunchtime Bloody so black peppercorns went in, followed by lots of lemon to brighten up the spiciness, garlic for zip, and yes, zesty Kosher dill pickle spears all made the cut. What an infusion! 

Would this mad mixture work in my leisurely Sunday brunch Bloody Mary? Would it work in a vodka martini? YES!

Here's how to start your own homemade Bloody Mary vodka infusion experiment. Be warned, this one is HOT! Adjust the number and types of peppers to your own personal heat tolerance. I did!

Hot Pepper Horseradish Garlic Black Peppercorn Lemon Dill Vodka 

For Bloody Marys

• 750 ml bottle of vodka - use your fave....with this much ooph being added, you won't be tasting the vodka anyway!
• 6 strips of fresh horseradish root, peeled - use your wide harp-style veggie peeler and cut strips about 3" wide and 4" long
• 4 zesty dill pickle spears - your favorite brand
• 2 dozen black peppercorns 
• 1 long pepper, cut in half lengthwise from the bottom almost to the top - leave the halves connected below the stem
• 2 red serranos, cut the same as above
• 1 large green jalapeno, cut the same as above
• 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed with the flat side of a knife
• 3 strips of lemon peel - NO white pith at all - each about 3" long and 1" wide

Into a jar with a lid large enough to hold everything, add all the solids to the jar and top off with the bottle of vodka. Try to submerge the everything as best you can.

Refrigerate the jar, agitating once a day, for a week. The color will become a beautifully rich yellow and pack quite a punch! Decant the infused vodka by pouring the contents through a large strainer over a bowl with a pouring spout. Press the veggies against the strainer to get out all that precious vodka!

Pour the liquid into a pretty bottle, cap and refrigerate.

The Bloody

• 3 oz. of the vodka infusion
• 8 oz. Original V8 (I use low sodium V8 and add my own salt)
• Kosher salt to taste 

In a 16 oz. glass, combine all the ingredients, add ice to top, stir gently and enjoy! 

NOTE:  I kept the Bloody Mary recipe simple - why muddy the pure flavors of the vodka infusion when I'd gone to such lengths to perfect it? You can add whatever floats your boat and makes your very own Bloody Mary the best you've ever had, JUST the way YOU like it. Worchestershire? Go for it. More lemon or even lime? Why not? Anchovies? Let those little fishies swim in a sea of vodka and tomato! Make it YOUR way!