Pied Beauty

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Jalapenos en Escabeche

There was a time (and I didn't think it was that long ago) when you'd be just as likely to encounter a dish of escabeche with crackers or tortillas as the ubiquitous chips and salsa, at any local Mexican restaurant worthy of the name.  "En escabeche" means pickled in Spanish -- these vegetables are lightly sauteed and then pickled with spices in white vinegar.  Everyone had their favorite -- I always liked the carrots best.

I've taken advantage of the great jalapeno crop to mix up this retro Mexican favorite.  It's based on a recipe I found on the Homesick Texan blog, but feel free to add or subtract ingredients as desired.  A mix of red and green jalapenos would be pretty, but I didn't want to wait for them to ripen that long.  Lisa's recipe is made to be kept in the refrigerator, for as long as a month.  If you process in a boiling water bath for 10-15 minutes after sealing the jars, it should last longer.  Once opened, though, use within 2-4 weeks.  Cheers!

No comments:

Post a Comment