I’m not going to lie to you, this week’s recipe test did not go so well. Sadly, it would seem preserving is not my forte. Too bad, I was already planning to giveaway preserves as my go to hostess gifts from now on and imagining basking in the praise of appreciative friends and family. Luckily there’s an entire section on this site devoted to hostess gift ideas so I don’t have to show up empty handed.
OK, so Marinated Red Bell Peppers. The ingredients are simple: peppers, lemon juice, white wine vinegar…well wait just a minute there! White WINE vinegar, you mean not pure white vinegar like I used? Oh! Well I suppose that changes everything now doesn’t it? Yes, that’s right. Mistake number one: used wrong vinegar.
Remaining ingredients: olive oil, fresh garlic and salt. As I said, there’s nothing complex about the ingredients, as long as you read them right. Sigh.
Step one of this recipe was actually quite fun and interesting. I had to char the peppers under the broiler. That’s right, I used my broiler again but this time I was ready thanks to a tip from khawrysh after my chicken incident. I suffocated my fire alarm with a plastic bag and elastic until my charring adventures were over. Worked like a charm.
Charring requires no distractions but was quite easy, it take about 20 minutes or so. Then you remove the pepper skins. I was fascinated at how they literally slipped off (no, it doesn’t take much). While I was doing this I brought my marinade along with a large pot of water (for scalding jars and softening flanges) to a boil.
Next I scalded my jars by dipping them in boiling water then I filled them with the peppers and marinade and screwed on the lids. Easy breezy so far, time to “process the peppers in a boiling water bath.”
Mistake number two and three, thought I had to submerge the jars in the boiling water. My biggest pot was not big enough. I tried laying the jars on their sides, still no luck. I decided to call my expert mom. She was perplexed, she doesn’t remember having to submerge the jars and no, they should definitely not be on their sides. Whoops!
Mistake number four, I was to bring the water to a boil but then turn off the heat. My peppers by now had been boiling for 15 minutes in various positions other than upright. I removed them from the pot and immediately knew my peppers were not OK. The oil had separated from the rest of my marinade and was sitting on top. Not very pretty, definitely not gift worthy as you can see. And my personal taste-test results? Very vinegary (didn’t even put T. up to it, though he might have actually liked it since he loves vinegar).
Alas, I think I did so many things wrong in this recipe that it warrants a do over. Any preserving veterans out there with tips? I could absolutely use them to avoid future disasters!
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