Pickled Jalapeno Slices with Tomatillas & Garlic

This is my first time pickling anything. I figured I would go for something I love, which is hot peppers. I could bring my own jars of it to restaurants if I could. I love really spicy food. We always have a jar kicking around the house & this week the Jalapenos were dirt cheap. So I figured, let's try to pickle some this weekend.

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE 4 PINTS

2.5 lbs of Jalapeno Chilies
3 Tomatillas - husks removed

4 cups of Cider Vinegar

1 cup of water

2 Tbsp of Honey

1.5 Tbsp of Kosher Salt

4 Cloves of Peeled Garlic

Peppercorns

1. Prepare your jars for canning while you get your food ingredients ready.

2. Cut the chilies into 1/8" slices. Roughly what I have in the picture. Or what you would find in the supermarket jars. Cut your Tomatilla slices the same width & throw everything into a colander. Rinse when done. DON'T REMOVE ALL THE SEEDS, some yes, but not all. Definitely get rid of the brown rotten seeds.

3. Use a stainless steel pot to boil your vinegar mix in. Stainless steel is non reactive & won't lead to funny coloured pickles.

4. Add  your vinegar, water, salt & honey in the pot & bring it to a  rolling boil. Don't use any utensils but a wood spoon if you feel you need to stir your pot.

5. Peel your garlic & get a few peppercorns per jar ready while waiting.

6. When the vinegar is ready, get your jars out & pack them with peppers. I mean PACK THEM. (I loosely packed mine & now all my peppers are floating at the top of my jars.) Live & learn I guess.

7. Use a chopstick to remove any air bubbles from the jars before your lid them & seal them.  Make sure you have about 1" of head space in the top of the jars when you ladle the hot vinegar mix in. Make sure when sealing them, you seal them fingertip tight.

8. Return the jars to the waterbath canner. Boil the jars for 10 minutes. Make sure they are completely covered in water. Process as usual & remove to a counter & allow to sit.

9. After about 1 hr, check to make sure the lids have sealed properly. If the lid wiggles up & down it hasn't sealed. Do not reprocess. Put it in the fridge as soon as it cools down. Label & leave the rest for future use.
** Future use for these will be my house, tomorrow, for NACHOS**