Here's a fun little exercise in recipe adaptation. I started by wanting to try these pickled chilis, from Ruhlman's blog, via Michael Symon, but I had three issues with using chili peppers in it: first, the assortment of chili peppers available to me easily and cheaply is very limited, both in style and color. I can get Anaheims, jalapenos, serranos, poblanos, and habaneros easily. Three of those are green, and the only one with interesting colors is the habanero, which is way out of my heat range..

And speaking of heat range, I did a mental calculation about how spicy a bunch of peppers, complete with seeds and ribs, soaking in vinegar for two weeks, would end up being. And my conclusion was that they were probably going to be too hot for me, and definitely would be too hot for Cathy, unless I limited the pepper selection even further, which kind of defeats the purpose.

The third, and related problem, is again the seeds and ribs. These are meant to be pulled out, sliced or chopped, and used as a condiment, accent, garnish, etc. If I had to seed and rib every one of these when I wanted to use them, I'd get irritated quickly and leave them in the fridge to rot.

Luckily, there is one solution to all three problems. Miniature sweet bell peppers. They're colorful, they have no heat to them at all, and they have almost no seeds. Snip off the top and the rest is ready to go. And Costco happens to sell a bag of them for about three bucks that will fill my jar with a good half dozen left over.

For the most part, I follow the Symon recipe faithfully, but I do make a couple of modifications. So here's what you'll need:

• sherry vinegar
• red wine vinegar
  
• sugar
• salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 4 sprigs of marjoram
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon sriracha or other hot sauce
  

The method is great, and I used it without modification. Fill your jar with peppers, then fill the remaining space in the jar with water. Pour off and measure the water, and you know how much liquid you need. For my jar, that's about four cups.

Replace half the water with sherry vinegar. Here's where I deviate slightly. I need two cups of vinegar. The only place nearby I can find sherry vinegar is Whole Foods, who sells a bottle that is about one and three quarter cups for SEVEN FUCKING DOLLARS. Unfortunately, after tasting the result, the sherry vinegar is really key to the final flavor. But instead of buying two seven dollar bottles of vinegar, I buy one, and pad the rest of the volume out with the red wine vinegar I always keep on hand. If you can get more sherry vinegar for less where you live, or if you're a hedge fund manager or celebrity chef, feel free to skip this step.

For the sugar and salt, add two tablespoons of each for every three cups of liquid. Which, for my four cups of liquid, is an incredibly awkward two tablespoons and two teaspoons of each, but these are well worth the extra math and dirtying of measuring spoons.

Add all the seasonings into the liquid, bring to a boil, then drop the heat and simmer for ten minutes. If you don't have a vent hood, this will make your home smell like boiling vinegar. So be prepared for that, since Mister Fancy Pants Baldy Head Symon fails to mention proper ventilation.

Let the liquid cool for a minute or so, then pour it into the jar, stuffing the herbs and garlic and such down into the jar. Seal it up and stash it in the fridge. Leave it for two weeks. This is the toughest part, because you will want them now, but you really should give them the full two weeks. Mine ends up a bit murkier from Symon's. It may be the sriracha I add to make up for the heat lost by not using fresh chilis.

Here's something else Symon's recipe doesn't mention - as the liquid cools, you'll lose about an inch from the top of the jar due to thermal compression. After the first night, I crack the jar open and top it off with cold water, just so all the peppers stay submerged for the full duration.

When they're done, here's what you get:

Slice them, mince them, eat them whole. They're really good on fish, or on some form of grilled meat sandwich. They also make, from one who knows, a good first refrigerator pickling project, because it's just as easy as standard pickled cucumbers, but the final result is a lot more exotic, and something you cannot buy in the store.