Spicy pickled carrots you’ll love

Guess who didn’t have his act together last week and should have posted a Mexican food recipe for Cinco de Mayo?

So I’ll do that this week. There was a restaurant

There was a restaurant in Montrose called La Jaliscience a long time ago. It was one of my favorites until it closed down suddenly.

The name roughly translates to “the food of Jalisco” which is a state in Mexico.

We gringos called the restaurant ”Jolly Science” because…we’re gringos. Gringos who love Mexican food.

In addition to the chips and salsa, this restaurant also brought a bowl of pickled vegetables called verduras en escabeche, or pickled veggies.

Basically it’s vinegar and spices with cut up jalapeños and other veggies. My favorites were always the carrots. If you’re a pickled carrot lover you might want to give this a try. I added a lot more jalapeños than this recipe called for because dad loves them.

You can find all kinds of recipes for verduras en escabeche, but this one in particular focuses on the carrots.

This was the dumbest recipe ever and I changed it so much that it’s not even the same recipe. So I’m just going to tell you what I did. I didn’t think it sounded like nearly enough liquid for the amount of carrots so I doubled the vinegar and water. I added about 10 jalapeños.

I used already-sliced carrots from the grocery store. Don’t do that. Buy whole carrots and slice them yourself. Mine were too thin and they overcooked. I will slice them in between a quarter inch and a half inch next time I make it. Here’s what I used.

Zanahorias en Escabeche (Spicy Pickled Carrots)

10 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds

1 onion, sliced 8 jalapeños, sliced into

8 jalapeños, sliced into rounds

2 chiles de arbol, torn into pieces

3 bay leaves

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 tablespoon whole peppercorns

4 cups white vinegar

2 cups water

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 heaping tablespoon of Mexican oregano

In a large saucepan heat the vinegar and water on medium and add two tablespoons salt and 2 tablespoons sugar. Once the sugar and salt have dissolved add the peppercorns, bay leaves and onions. Stir well and cook for two minutes.

Add the carrots, jalapeños and chile de arbol. Taste for salt. Remove from heat and let steep for at least 10 minutes. Transfer the escabeche to a glass mason jar and refrigerate for a few hours. It will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks.

Salsa Verde

1 pound tomatillos

1 or 2 serrano peppers

2 garlic cloves

½ cup cilantro leaves

½ cup diced white onion

1 tablespoon lime juice salt to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Rinse, dry tomatillos. Spread out on baking sheet lined with foil. Roast 15 minutes or until the tomatillos start to brown and are cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a blender or food processor. Add the garlic, cilantro, onion, lime juice and salt. Pulse until it reaches your desired consistency. Keeps refrigerated for about a week.