It’s a rainy day here in my part of the world and so I’m on a mission to begin stocking up on my favourite condiment, especially for the summer. I’ve been making these for a few years and on a day like today when we’re all still on a bit of a lockdown I’m making some of my favourites.
I’m also reminded of a summer when I went with a staff member on a work trip. We both love spicy food and when we saw a burger with candied jalapeños on the menu of a restaurant we both jumped on it. It was definitely love at first bite, in fact if I recall correctly we had another meal at the same restaurant and requested an extra bowl of these on the side and enjoyed them… well…. like …. CANDY!
We were told that they could be found at grocery stores though I’m not sure which stores exactly since we were never able to track them down. Of course that was all long before lockdown, I’m pretty sure these days I could just about find anything for sale on the internet. Back then I quickly gave up trying to buy them and just simply found a way to make them. This was several years ago and I’ve been making these ever since.
I found them on plenty of sites which I can’t even recall now but the one I’d been following most closely is this one over at Tasty Kitchen. I occurred to me recently that recipes and various internet sites aren’t forever – or at least don’t have to be since sometimes things I’m searching for disappear so just to be cautious against that I’m posting my modified version below, but by all means, go over to Tasty Kitchen and see where my inspiration came from 🙂
I hope you all are staying safe and maintaining distance from others. I know it’s hard, even for me though I’m a bit of an introvert so it’s for sure easier than for some of my extroverted friends…. for you especially, I hope things return to some semblance of normal quickly. And if you’ve been able to get really good at keeping your hands away from your face… make this – It. Is. Delicious. And one bit into your first jar you will wonder how in the world you have lived all these years without them. The sweet and spicy combination is to die for. We put this on burgers, hot dogs and I even often put them on my eggs when having breakfast. They do not disappoint I promise.
Cowboy Candy OR Candied Jalapeños
- 4 – 5 pounds of jalapeños
- 1 – 2 pounds of sweet baby peppers (I buy the multicolour bag)*
- 4 cups cider vinegar
- 8 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 6 teaspoons granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
Start by washing and slicing the peppers, slice off the stem end and discard then place all the slices in a bowl and set aside, this is where it’s it’s really … really good to keep your hands away from your face! Alternatively you can also use plastic gloves if you have, I prefer to just keep my hands away from my face.
Place the vinegar, sugar and spices in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the pepper slices and simmer for 4 minutes. Tasty Kitchen is pretty specific saying ‘exactly 4 minutes’ however, I’ve made these lots of times and give or take a minute or two doesn’t make much difference. I generally simmer for 5 minutes.
Use a slotted spoon and fill sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch with peppers. Turn up the heat on the remaining liquid and boil for 3 -5 minutes. You’re always going to have too much liquid, this boiling creates a syrupy sauce and also reduces the amount of liquid left over.
Ladle liquid into the jars to fill to 1/4 inch, wipe the top of the jars and close. You can simply screw the jars shut and leave in fridge for a couple weeks or you can seal the jars in a water bath and save for later and/or give to friends, cause you know they are going to want a jar or two or three! 🙂
Lastly, you will NOT ever have the exact amount of liquid to peppers to put in jars. I have tried and tried and it never works out. But don’t throw away the extra liquid, put it in a jar and use it for BBQing this summer. The sweet and spicy goes well on all sorts of meats, think chicken breasts on the bbq slathered with this sauce… Mmmmm Mmm.
*Initially I used to make these with only jalapeños but as of late like to add baby sweet peppers to tone down the heat just a little bit and to give them some color. The spiciness definitely infuses the sweet peppers and makes them equally amazing.
Enjoy everyone…. until next time, Bon Appetite
