Miss Jo's San Francisco

MISS JO AND JEFF HAVE SOME NEW MOVES IN THE KITCHEN, thanks to the man behind Miss Jo and his appetite for things pickled and spicy.

Jeff started pickling about six months ago, while in the midst of back-to-back “Sopranos” reruns. It seemed like every episode had Tony Soprano asking his family or fellow mobsters to pass the “vinegar peppers”—- thinly sliced red bell peppers pickled in white vinegar and black peppercorns. In one episode, Uncle Junior, under house arrest, got a little weepy when there were no hot vinegar peppers in the cupboard.

Nothing beats having freshly pickled peppers on sandwiches and hamburgers; in salads, soup and pasta and on the side with pork or beef. Jeff also has pickled habañeros, jalapeños, serraños— really any pepper Miss Jo brings home from her wanderings in the Mission District. Pickling veggies works too. In the fridge, there are now newly pickled cucumbers, with a little dill added, from their weekly subscription farm box. The crisp, tart cukes are going on Fourth of July burgers. Next in line for pickling: green beans with dill from this week’s farm box.

In the process of pickling, Miss Jo and Jeff are also shaving a little money off their grocery bill, saving around $5 for every jar they put up. Home pickling also means less ozone-killing greenhouse gases are emitted since there’s no commercial food manufacturing and transportation involved. For taste and wholesomeness, there’s nothing better than eating freshly pickled produce.

The whole process takes minutes and can be done in small amounts, even one jar. “If you pickle in the morning, it’ll be ready to eat at lunch,” Jeff says. Another tip: save the vinegar after you eat all the peppers. Zoom the liquid with peppercorns in a blender and, voila, there’s spicy vinegar for salad dressing !

PICKLING RECIPE:

–Using reusable canning jars to fit your pickling project, measure into a saucepan the amount of white vinegar needed to cover the peppers or veggies.

– To the vinegar, add 10 whole black peppercorns per jar and a wee, wee pinch of salt. Bring liquid to a boil.

-- Place sliced peppers in the jars (with seeds and white membrane removed). For the tiny orange habañeros, Jeff keeps them whole with stems removed.

– Pour the boiled vinegar over the veggies, leaving a 1/4-inch of space below the jar rim.

– Carefully put lids on tightly and a seal will form within 30 minutes.

– When cool, put jars in the fridge. You will eat their contents well before they turn bad.

– Wash and reuse jars.