Please keep a pretty pile of pickled peppers perched in your fridge for periodic use in your culinary practices.

Last summer, I had planned to grow my own pickling cucumbers and “pickle” for the first time. It never happened. I placed a few small cucumber plants in my garden just before I traveled to Greece for two weeks. Though we had a pal watering for us, those poor little babies dried up and perished from neglect. The failure solidified my plans to make it work this coming summer.

While waiting for the summer sun, I’ve tried my hand at some quick, refrigerator pickling. I’ve always loved the floppy, pickled jalapeno slices often found on sloppy Mexican food – perched atop a heaping plate of nachos or sliding down the sides of a cheesy wet burrito. Fast (but lighter) Mexican fare is a weeknight staple at our house and I decided that home-pickled jalapenos would be a welcome accoutrement.

When I first prepared the jar pictured above, I didn’t have pickling spices on hand. I knew that the salty brine was key and I hoped that the spices added were flexible. I tossed in a few garlic cloves, whole black peppercorns and whole coriander (mainly because they resembled mustard seeds that are often used in pickling – my exceptionally scientific method of spice selection!)

I have had the jar of pickled peppers on hand for months and have not only been pleased when I remember that I have jalapenos at my disposal but have also found uses for a splashes of the spicy brine. Since my recipe is more “free form,” I’ll point you to a few sites for directions that can be properly followed:

Basic Pickled Peppers from Food in Jars that requires actual pickling.
A bit more complex but delicious looking  recipe on David Lebovitz’ blog.
Quick and easy refrigerator jalapeno pickled peppers.