Cowboy Candy

It is funny how we plant more or less the same vegetables each year, yet what does well and what does poorly never seems to be the same. Last year, turnips did incredibly well. We also had heaps of broccoli, lots of beans, and tons of brussels sprouts. The year before that it was the squash that went gangbusters but we could not seem to grow basil or radishes. This year, the raspberries, radishes, carrots, onions, lettuce and basil did amazingly well. However, there were also several things that very simply did not grow at all. Half our broccoli bolted super early and the other half never flowered. We did not get a single cauliflower. Our beets and turnips have been terrible and I will be shocked if we get any squash or pumpkins.

The one thing that does seem to grow consistently well from year to year are jalapeno peppers.  And boy are they spicy! We cannot seem to harvest them quickly enough and so some ripen to red on the vine and get even spicier. In the spirit of trying to use our surplus of jalapenos up (one can only eat so many jalapeno poppers), I stumbled upon something called Cowboy Candy.

Recipe: Cowboy Candy

Ingredients

3 pounds Firm, Fresh Jalapeno Peppers, Washed
2 cups Cider Vinegar
6 cups White Granulated Sugar
½ teaspoons Turmeric
½ teaspoons Celery Seed
3 teaspoons Granulated Garlic
1 teaspoon Ground Cayenne Pepper

Preparation Instructions

Remove the stems from all of the jalapeno peppers.  Slice into uniform 1/8-1/4 inch rounds. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring cider vinegar, white sugar, turmeric, celery seed, granulated garlic and cayenne pepper to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pepper slices and simmer for exactly 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers, loading into clean, sterile canning jars to within 1/4 inch of the upper rim of the jar. Turn heat up under the pot with the syrup and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 6 minutes.

Use a ladle to pour the boiling syrup into the jars over the jalapeno slices. Insert a cooking chopstick to the bottom of the jar two or three times to release any trapped pockets of air. Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary. Process in water bath for 10 minutes for pint jars.

This looks like a winner.  We got started tonight and will finish tomorrow afternoon once honey extraction is complete.  I am looking forward to trying these sweet and spicy morsels.