Pickled peppers

A peck is a unit of measurement that refers to a quarter of a bushel. As a bushel is typically 37.24 quarts, a peck would be 9.310 quarts, or roughly 2.25 gallons worth of peppers.. As a bushel of peppers weighs around 30 pounds, a peck is about 7.5 pounds of peppers. There.. Now you know.

Oh, and also, Pierre Poivre was a real person. He was a one-armed French botanist responsible for breaking up the Dutch East India Spice Company in the late 1700's. As poivre in French is pepper, and piper in Latin is pepper, and pepper (or peper) in English was a common surname referring to merchants of the spice trade, the evolution of this children's tongue twister just kinda begins to make sense.

Speaking of the Dutch, the word pickle comes from the Dutch word, pekel, meaning brine.

Here are some pickling tips to help you get the best out of those peppers you're about to pickle!

· Always use pickling salt. Iodized salt contains an agent that can darken your pickles, and cause cloudiness in your brine.

· Use white vinegar with at least 5% acidity. (not necessary for quick pickling; or minute pickling)

· Only use soft water. Hard water can lower brine acidity, possibly impacting food safety.

· When using spices, use whole spices. Powdered spices can cause cloudiness in brine.

· When packing into containers, use ceramic or glass. Be sure to avoid copper, iron, brass and zinc - in your containers and utensils as they may react with the acidity.

I hope you enjoy the pickled peppers recipes below! We always have at least a couple jars of pickled peppers hanging around our house. Sweet or Spicy, the vinegary crispness of the pickled pepper goes great with almost any cuisine (like Latin & Italian) or meal! Especially Chicken Scarpariello, with a sweet and tangy pan sauce from pickled cherry peppers! Buon Appetito!