Tag Archives: summer colds

Pickled Jalapeno Recipe

This recipe is based on the one in Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich but I’ve changed the spices to match my own tastes.  I wanted pickled peppers like the ones I buy in jars in the Mexican section of the grocery store and these absolutely hit the spot. The main difference is that canning them at home gives you a softer finished pickle which some people might not like as much.  The ones in the store can be almost crunchy at times.  I don’t personally like them crunchy so these are perfect for me.  If you want a crunchier pickle you can add pickling lime but I’m not going to advise on how to do that since my one experience using pickling lime disgusted me beyond belief.  The taste of these peppers is tangy, hot, with just a little garlic flavor.  I suggest eating large quantities of them with huge blocks of cheese.

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Pickled Jalapeno Recipe

Serving Size: yields about 4 pint jars

Pickled Jalapeno Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs jalapenos (whole or sliced in rounds)
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
  • 4 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 4 cups water
  • 3 Tbsp canning salt (or pure sea salt with zero additives)
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions

  1. In a nonreactive sauce pan mix the vinegar, water, and salt and bring to a boil. At the same time put your jars in the water canner to boil until you need them.
  2. Wash the peppers and trim the stems to about 1/4" or cut all the peppers into rounds discarding the stem ends. If using whole peppers slit them twice lengthwise.
  3. Divide the spices between the jars evenly and fill each jar with as many peppers as you can fit without cramming them.
  4. Fill each jar with brine. Shake the jars a little and tap (gently) on counter top to bring air bubbles to the surface. Top up with more brine if needed leaving 1/2" headspace.
  5. Pour 1 Tbsp olive oil into each jar. Wipe the rims carefully with a clean damp cloth. Fit the jars with two piece lids.
  6. Process in the boiling water bath for 10 minutes.*
  7. Let the peppers cure for 3 weeks in a cool, dry, dark place before opening.

Notes

*I have not included the basic steps for boiling water bath canning here. I assume you already know them. If you are new to canning then please check out this link for how to can foods using the boiling water bath method here: Intro To Canning

How much brine you need is going to depend on the size of your peppers and whether you leave them whole or slice them. You may have some left over and that's fine.

If you are working with a large amount of peppers it may be more useful to follow this guideline: add to each jar 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/8 tsp peppercorns, and 1 Tbsp olive oil.

At the time of this writing I canned 12 lbs of jalapenos and ended up with 28 pints of pickles. I did a mix of whole and sliced peppers. I mention this to illustrate that yields can only be given in approximations here.

https://stitchandboots.com/2011/09/08/pickled-jalapeno-recipe/

Cabbage Garlic Soup Recipe for a Summer Cold

Getting summer colds is the pits.  Just when you think you’re out of the woods you get smacked in the head with congestion, headaches, a sore throat, and low energy.  As everyone knows, you can’t cure a cold.  The strategy should always be to lessen the symptoms and the duration of the cold as much as possible.  So when I woke up at 4am three nights ago with all the symptoms of a cold coming on suddenly, I immediately took a bunch of nasty-huge multi vitamins meant to boost the immune system (the ones I use are “Wellvitamins” and I only use them when coming down with something because they’re very expensive) and I drink lots of elderberry syrup, water, and sometimes I make up some ginger and honey tea or sage and honey tea.

That’s all well and good, but if you feed yourself crap while doing all the other good things you should be doing, it’s like shooting yourself in the foot.  First thing you should do when you feel like you’re coming down with any kind of cold or flu is make soup.  I believe that all soups have healing powers, even the cheesy ones, but if you’re getting sick I’d like to recommend making a vegetable soup full of vitamin C, garlic, and cayenne pepper.  Like this cabbage and garlic soup I’m sharing here.

Cabbage is full of vitamin A, C, calcium, and potassium.  Tomatoes are full of vitamin A (!!!), vitamin C, and (you guessed it) potassium.  Potatoes are full of vitamin C and more Potassium than cabbage and tomatoes combined.  Carrots don’t have much vitamin C to speak of but as everyone knows they are crammed with vitamin A and what many people may not know is that they are also quite rich in potassium.  All the ingredients in this soup will fill you with vitamins and minerals.  The navy beans are rich in calcium, phosphorous, and more potassium than any body could need.

The garlic (there’s a lot of it in this soup) is great for boosting the immune system and cayenne pepper is great for purifying your blood and helping it circulate better.  In addition to that, the cayenne will help loosen phlegm which will help clear your sinuses.

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Cabbage Garlic Soup Recipe for a Summer Cold

10 servings

Cabbage Garlic Soup Recipe for a Summer Cold

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 quarts of water (more if needed)
  • 1 cup navy beans, uncooked
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 4 carrots, chopped med
  • 1/2 head cabbage, chopped
  • 3 med. potatoes, diced med
  • 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (or 1 quart of home canned)
  • 12 cloves garlic, pressed or minced fine
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne
  • 1 1/2 tsp oregano

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot on med/high heat and add the onion and bay leaves. Saute until the onions lightly brown.
  2. Add the water, beans, and salt. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down to med/low and cook until beans are tender. The time may vary, for me it was about one hour. Be sure to check on them and stir them while cooking.
  3. Add everything else into the pot and turn heat back up to med/high. At this point it should be soupy but the amount of water you need may vary depending on how much of it cooked off while cooking the beans. All the vegetables should be completely covered with broth.
  4. Bring the soup back to a boil and then turn the heat down a little and let it cook until all the vegetables are tender. Probably about 30 minutes.

Notes

This soup makes 10 servings. I don’t make small batches of soup because we eat it for leftovers and sometimes freeze it. You can easily halve this recipe. I used 12 cloves of garlic but you can use more. Do it! The next time I make this soup I plan to increase the garlic up to an entire head. Once the soup is cooked through it doesn’t seem very garlicky.

Play with the amount of cayenne. A very little can be really hot so go cautiously. It should be hot enough to make you sweat a little and make your nose run after you eat it. It should not be so hot that it’s painful to eat and burns a hole in your eye socket. Unless you like pain like that, I won’t judge.

If you are inexperienced making soups I suggest you read my soup philosophy post- it will help you understand soups better and give you the confidence to play with them.

https://stitchandboots.com/2011/06/18/cabbage-garlic-soup-recipe-for-a-summer-cold-2/