Sirens scream outside on Watling Street, closer, more hysterical, each minute. As the waxing moon (the people) meets revolutionary Uranus in the England chart, deprived Kilburn with it’s transient population of immigrants and flat dwellers remains a surprising haven of calm during the London Riots. But tonight, who knows?
Today I decide to preserve peppers, one of my favourite vegetables. I have a box of peppers, red, green and yellow leftover from Camp Bestival.
Roast the whole peppers in an oiled tray in the oven until the skin is bursting, approximately 40 minutes.
Remove and let cool enough to handle.
Strip off the shiny skin and remove the seeds and stem. Do not rinse under cold water. You want to keep the flavour and the juice.
Dip each pepper in a bowl of good (Maille) red wine vinegar.
Layer in another bowl. Sprinkle with sea salt on each layer.
Rinse jars and lids in hot soapy water. Rinse well.
Pour some of the vinegar into the bottom of the jar.
Layer the peppers, removing any stray seeds, until you have a half inch gap from the top of the jar.
Run a butter knife around the inside of the jar, removing as many bubbles as possible. The liquid level may drop.
Then top up the jar with olive oil, leaving a small gap before you screw on the lid.
Gerry Snape
August 9, 2011 at 8:22 pmnothing more to say than….yummmm
Lisa
August 10, 2011 at 2:19 amHow long do they keep? And is the majority of the jar filled with vinegar or olive oil? I do love using roasted peppers and this would be much more economical that buying them all the time.
Helen
August 10, 2011 at 8:17 amAnd so pretty! Bet they look great on the shelf. I think about these things…
theundergroundrestaurant
August 10, 2011 at 8:41 amLisa, They should keep forever but once opened, keep in the fridge.
The jar is mostly vinegar/pepper juice with about an inch of oil. I guess this makes a vinaigrette.
They taste great.
Do keep an eye on the liquid levels. I screwed up on my brined vine leaves as I didn't properly get all the bubbles out(which affects the liquid levels) and in the heat, I didn't recheck the liquid levels so that it dropped below the top of the vine leaves and went mouldy.
This was partly because I kept them in food grade plastic rather than clear glass so I couldn't see what was happening. I'm still learning on the canning front!
Helen and Gerry….gorgeous eh? and taste so good. I find shop bought roasted peppers too acidic.
GG
August 10, 2011 at 2:30 pmThese look so beautiful, your first photo looks like a jar of fire. I'll definitely have a go at them. I've been looking for some good pickles and canned recipes. GG
James
August 11, 2011 at 11:34 pmThey look great! Could you mix in a couple of mild chilli peppers or would they spoil the flavour?