It's time to make spicy pickled carrots! My daughter and her sprout showed up at my place today with another freshly picked bag of carrots. Yay! I made several bottles of these last year and they were warmly welcomed by everyone lucky enough to get some. I was excited to get these and get started. This is the first thing I have pickled this year. I have to admit, I had forgotten how a huge pile of carrots ends up making a fairly small batch. And, it's kind of, well...labor intense. I was telling Hubs that I didn't remember it taking so long to peel all those rascally carrots last year. He reminded me that he was the official "peeler" last time around...I think he's telling the truth because I thought I just breezed through it before.
First, I rinsed the carrots in my awesome outdoor sink. Glad I did as they had a few creepy crawlers hanging on to a few of them. I also removed all the frilly lacy tops and added them to the compost pile. (For some reason the chickens turn their beaks up at carrot tops...odd) Then I took them into the house to peel...I would have stayed outside but I think it was 102 degrees in my backyard today. (No, I'm not making that up)
Inside, I trimmed and peeled the fresh and crunchy carrots. I'm pretty sure the chickens were salivating outside the window as they heard the whirr whirr of the carrot peeler. Unlike the tops, they LOVE the actual product. I carefully peel the carrots into a bowl and once again think how happy I am they no longer go down the disposal or into the garbage can. I really do think this stuff. It brings me endless pleasure that there is so little waste coming from my home.
Before I cut and prepare for pickling I give the chickens their treat...
A couple of tips about pickling the carrots and my novice canning experiments in general. I seem to either prepare too many bottles or not enough bottles. I always do what the recipe calls for, but never end up with exactly the right amount. Today I had visions of 6 filled bottles and ended up with 2 quarts and a pint. Ah well...I'm not deterred!
We like spicy around our house and I like this base recipe because you can make them pretty much as spicy as you like. Or, not. Cut back on the red pepper flakes and jalapenos if that's your preference. Just remember you have to do the pickling solution according to the recipe. You know...that pesky botulism thing. When picking carrots out of a garden, I don't have a way to weigh them. Most recipes call for carrots by the poundage...I give it my best guestimate. Which probably explains my troubles with having the right amount of bottles.
Hot Pickled Carrots
4-6 pounds of fresh carrots washed, peeled and cut
Enough jalapeno peppers halved and with seeds to put in each jar (scrape the seeds out for less heat)
Whole cloves
Crushed red pepper flakes
Garlic cloves peeled and lightly crushed (at least one per jar)
5 cups of distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 2/3 cups of granulated white cane sugar
5 TBSP. pickling salt
I recommend sterilizing at least 3 quart jars and 2 pint jars to be safe. Including lids and rings.
After cutting all the carrots you will have a better idea of how many bottles you will be using.
In each jar put 1/2 a jalapeno pepper, 2 to 4 whole cloves, 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. of crushed red pepper and 1 or 2 cloves of lightly crushed garlic.
Tightly pack the carrots in the jars with the above ingredients leaving 1" head space.
In a large pot add the vinegars, sugar and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring until sugar and salt are dissolved.
Carefully pour the hot pickling solution into the jars over the packed carrots and leave 1/2" of headspace.
Add lids and rings and process for 20 minutes. Please adjust time for high altitudes. (Refer to the Ball Blue Book of Canning for processing information) If any of the lids fail to seal you can store these in the refrigerator for 2 months. I have never had a problem with this recipe not processing correctly.
PSA...I was going to buy a big gallon jug of apple cider vinegar at the grocery store. I was reading different labels and realized that on the Heinz brand it actually said apple cider "flavored" vinegar! Say what? I read the ingredients and it's fake apple cider vinegar. No apples were involved. I picked up a smaller glass bottle that said apple cider vinegar and reading the ingredients it has the real deal! I was kind of disgruntled as the labels are almost identical and the word "flavored" was just kind of snuck in on the gallon jug label. So, beware and get the real stuff...! I'm sure many unsuspecting shoppers are not getting what they think they are! And please...only cane sugar people! If it doesn't say "cane sugar" it's probably GMO sugar! Blech...
Kinda proud...
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