Gardinara Recipe Needed

I've got a bumper crop of serrano peppers and I want to make some gardinara. Does anyone have a recipe that they would like to share?

Mr. Z -

Although I do not ever use a recipe, but more of a general this&that kind of approach, check halfway down this page for my general approach. Under that recipe, I gave a few subnotes on how I do it. It's easy as pie, and better than anything jarred (cooked) and soaked in soybean oil - which is pretty much all shelf stable store brands. If you wanna swap jars with me, I'm game, but my peppers haven't come in yet.

A search for "giardiniera" will find you more recipes, including this one.

I found a recipe on the internet that was very similar to the one posted in the linked thread. I used that as a guideline and put up a test batch today. I'll report back in a week or so once it's "ripe".

This is an old one of mine which I naturally based on Al's. Sub away w/your serrano's instead of dried chile flakes, or use both.

1/2 red pepper, brunoise
3 celery stalks, thin dice on bias
1 plum tomato, sm dice
2 tbs small capers
1 tbs caper juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried chile flakes
1/2 lemon squeezed
1/3 c olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients well.

I reported making a batch in that older thread seebee linked earlier. I actually made 2 batches, both failures.

The first was far, far, way-far too salty. Rinse the veggies very well after salting.

The second batch was an unfortunate mix of two shortcomings summing to failure. I somehow overdid the vinegar and the batch was too tart. I also wound up purchasing the spiciest serranos ever to sprout and the batch was absolutely firey. The combination was something like Wishbone Italian Insanity Hotsauce with V3VeggieChunk Technology. It was kind of interesting but not giardiniera and certainly not worth the real estate in the fridge to keep it around.

Both batches demonstrated one positive aspect: The texture of the homemade giard is superior to the canned stuff. I should give it another go because both of my failed batch recipes are easily fixed. The problem is that it takes a couple weeks to know if it worked so the gratification is long delayed.

If anyone has interest in trying, Seebee's hot giardiniera is available at The Brown Sack for those who ask.

Serrano
Scotch Bonnet
Habanero
Garlic
Tiny bit of carrot
Tiny bit of cauliflower
Tiny, tiny bit of celery
Basil
Evoo
Plain ol white vinegar

The flavor profile I go for is evoo, heavy garlic, and decent heat without altering the salt profile of whatever it's added to. I find that most jarred giardiniera is WAAAAAAY too salty. Anyway, try it, maybe you like it, maybe not. Just ask for seebee's giardiniera if you're game.

I haven't really tried any of it yet, but it has gotten rave reviews from my csa guy's customers ( he throws me the veggies, I brew the giardiniera, and get a few dollars plus a good three/four jars for myself.) More than a few have asked for multiple more jars already. I did learn one thing this year...Scotch bonnets are definitely a cool pepper. Never really worked with them before. I bit into one, and it snuck up on me like 15 seconds after. SIZZLIN. Different from the habanero in that I find that habaneros are an immediate, "hit you like a Mack truck" kind of heat. The Scotch Bonnet seemed to last much longer than the habanero. Anyway, the proportions in the giardiniera aren't 1:1:1 for the peppers. More like 5 serrano to 1 habanero to 1 scotch bonnet, so it's not gonna blow you out of the water.