Mr. Suburble and I are big Ceasar aficianados. He makes a Caesar that cannot be beat. I’m sure that if I twisted his arm a little, he’d share it on the blog. Maybe I’ll see if I can get it on here this week!
The thing is, you cannot make a Mr. Suburble Ceasar without a pickled bean (or three). And this year, I decided – what the heck, I’ve got mason jars tumbling out of the cupboard already – let’s make some!
I planted beans in my garden this year. They focused mainly on global domination, and less on producing beans. So I had to take some of Grandma Gardener’s bounty. Who can’t grow beans? I’m told that they’re one of the easiest crops! Sigh.
I like my pickled beans to be a little bit spicy. I chopped up some hot red peppers in the food processor. Of course, I very carefully removed their seeds first. And don’t touch your face, or your eyes, or your lips or anything you are very fond of after you’ve handled hot pepper seeds. Even though I thought I had been extremely cautious with the peppers, I ended up having that awful moment where my eyes were streaming with tears and Lila was making concerned faces. Don’t touch your eyes, people! I’m serious.
I also added some sliced sweet red peppers to the mix and heated up my pot full of pickling goodness.
And then the bubbling hot beans were poured into the happily waiting jars.
I know that you’re going to laugh at my canning set-up. The trouble is, Grandma Gardener has instilled in me a fear of canning on my glass top stove. Even though I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t crack my stovetop, I don’t want to have to make the call to Mr. Suburble at work, “Hey hon… so… I might have completely destroyed the stove while I was trying to pickle something. But think of all of the money we saved by canning!”
Errrm… yeah. That probably wouldn’t go over very well.
So I can out on my patio. On my green Coleman stove. Powered by little green propane tanks.
Efficiency is in the eye of the beholder.
After the cans made that satisfying “Pop!” , they were left to cool for a day. Upon seeing my jars of beans flecked with red, I was eager to have a cold Caesar made by my hunky husband. And happily, they’re delicious and the perfect amount of spiciness!
If you want to try your hand at making these spicy little morsels, follow the recipe below:
- 4 lbs of green beans
- 2 large sweet red peppers, sliced thinly
- 6-8 spicy red peppers, chopped (or put through food processor)
- 3 cups white vinegar
- 3 cups water
- 3 tbsp pickling salt
- Peppercorns
- 3 tsp dill seed
- 6-12 cloves garlic
- 6 bay leaves
- In a large saucepan, combine the water, vinegar, and pickling salt and bring to a boil. Add the peppers (both hot and sweet) and the beans to the hot liquid and return to a boil. Remove from heat.
- In the sanitized mason jars, add the dill seed, bay leaf, 1-2 garlic cloves, and 3-5 peppercorns.
- Using a jar funnel, spoon the bean mixture into the jars.
- Top off the jars with the hot liquid, making sure to cover the vegetables, leaving only a 1/2 inch of headspace.
- Put on the hot, sanitized lids and screw on the rings to finger-tight.
- Prepare in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Do not count time until the water has returned to a rolling boil.
- Remove jars carefully from hot water bath (using a jar lifter or a jar holder) and leave them to cool undisturbed for 24 hours.
- Check the seals of the jars - seals should not be flexible, but should be curved downward. Jars that are not sealed properly must be stored in the fridge and used immediately.
- Sealed jars should be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 12 months.
- Always be sure to follow instructions of your hot water canner. Jars should be sanitized (the dishwasher works well for this) and hot when prepared food is being packed into them. Jars and rings should be sanitized in boiling water - follow directions according to manufacturer's instructions.
We’ll be putting more stuff in jars! Don’t miss a word of it!
(I know…. how many jars do I own already!?!?)
Follow along!
27 comments
Marilyn
WOW, Tara, you are the food preservation queen! These look absolutely delicious! 😀
Tara
Oh, I am in a big canning phase right now – it’s pretty obvious. I just have to do it to quiet my inner Ma Ingalls. If I was a better gardener, oh man…. we’d need a preserves cupboard.
Amy of while wearing heels
I can’t grow anything so I would happily and without regret take anyone’s abundance of beans :). I love that you took your pickling to the patio. I’d hate to see a similar situation like your growing light happen with your stove :). Your pictures look beautiful.
Tara
Thank you, Amy! My beans were a giant failure (well, when it comes to growing beans – they were very happy to grow vines that tried to take over the entire garden!) – I’ll have to try again next year! But yes, I still can on the patio. I’m sure my neighbours think I’m nuts! 🙂
Dani @ lifeovereasy
Those look delicious, and beautiful too! And how great that they were fresh from a garden!
Tara
I know! It made me feel like I was a self-sustainable woman (which I’m not) as I made them! 🙂
Mel
The beans look delish but I’m intrigues do you mean Caesar as in a salad? If not mr s must share!
Tara
OOohhhh…. A Caesar is what we Canadians call a Bloody Mary – except it’s not truly a Bloody Mary, because it’s made with Clamato (tomato and clam cocktail) instead of just tomato juice.
So it’s a drink. A boozy one (though it’s very good as a virgin drink as well).
But there’s got to be a way to use these beans in a salad. You’ve intrigued ME, Miss Melly! 🙂
Danni@SiloHillFarm
I”m thinking those would be perfect with bloody mary’s!
Tara
Danni – you’ll have to share with me what a traditional Bloody Mary is made with so I can compare it to our Caesar recipe. I think that only difference is the clam juice.
And yes, they’re very yummy in drinks!
Inspire Me Heather
Thanks for your pickled beans recipe – they look sooo good!
Tara
Oh, they ARE so good. I surprised myself. (What’s better is that I surprised Mr. Suburble. He was skeptical, to say the least!)
Kathryn
hmm, pickled beans. Have never tried them. May need to! Thanks for sharing!
Tara
What-what-whaaaat!?!?!? You have to try pickled beans. They’re delicious. Do you like pickled carrots or asparagus? These are a staple in our refrigerator.
Let me know if you get a chance to try them! 🙂
Tasha
Oh my! I love Caesars myself. Never tried one with Pickled Beans though, Sounds yummy! I recently tried a Caesar with pickled Asparagus! Oh my word! It was to die for!
Tara
Tasha – if you like pickled asparagus, you’ll love pickled beans. They’re so delicious. They’ve become a must-have for us!
Tasha
Mmmm can’t wait to try them out! You’re making my mouth water! LOL 🙂
Kadie
Ooooo I love love love pickled green beans! My mom used to pickle carrots too. Great now I’m totally craving some, I think I might have to try out your recipe!
Tara
Let me know if you do, Kadie! I so want to try pickled carrots (and onions).
I’d be popping into the fridge all day if I had that many pickled lovelies in there! 🙂
Shauna @ Satori Design for Living
These look so yummy! The last thing I canned was pickled jalapeno carrots and they were a hit. May have to try these too!
Tara
Oh Shauna, I think I’m going to need the recipe for that. Is it on your blog? They sound fantastic!
Jen
I’m planning on making dill pickles this weekend…but these beans look delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Tara
Do you have a good dill pickle recipe? I’d love it if you did! 🙂
Anne@DesignDreams
Wow look how ambitious you are! I’d rather try and build a house than pickle something. LOL! I once spent 5 hours preparing a recipe and canning it and wound up with 4 little jars of green tomato salsa that never got eaten. No, no more canning!!! 🙂
Tara
I love it! I get SO nervous when I can/preserve things. All of that work, and cooking, and preparing, and what if it doesn’t work out? I admit – I was a bit daunted the very first time I canned anything. Now I feel a teensy bit better, but even making these beans scared me a bit.
I DO want to try making my own salsa though. Did you guys not like it? Or was it just that you forgot you had it?
Anne@DesignDreams
No I knew it was there. It just didn’t taste all that great. 😛 LOL
Tara
That’s what I worry about, too. I don’t want to put all that effort into salsa, and then end up buying a jar of the grocery store stuff because I think mine is gross. 😉