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Post by macmex on Aug 13, 2017 19:33:36 GMT -6
I'm growing Chile Rayado (about 7 plants), Murupi Amarela (3 plants) and about 5 plants of Frank's Thai Hot. I got Frank's Thai Hot transplanted into the garden very late, in late July. But it's an early producer and is already forming green pods. Chile Rayado is looking GREAT. This is my personal favorite. But you're right, a couple plants produce a whole lot of peppers. I'll probably have 10 times the peppers that I need by frost. But I'll be happy and feel rich about it! Chile Rayado is just starting to form pods. But they're small. I got it out late too. But it's looking very healthy. I just have to keep some cowpeas from mugging it.
George
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Post by glen on Aug 13, 2017 23:20:28 GMT -6
Thats great to hear that people like chile peppers. I slowed down my chile pepper growing many years ago after I divorced my Thai wife back in 1996. But, I used to grow a lot of chile peppers because my wife at the time ate a lot of them and used them a lot in her cooking. I became accustomed to eating hot food as well although I never was an addict like Thai folks are. At any rate, here in Panama they do not eat hot peppers or spicey food much at all. We have a common chile pepper that grows here that is sweet. Its a very small pepper but it looks dangerous on the plant. They are just as sweet as any bell pepper. The plants get huge and will live for several years if cared for. I still enjoy growing chile peppers so this year I planted some chumbo, or, habinero peppers from some peppers I bought in the market. There are 2 plants and they are just covered over in nice round peppers. I am cutting them in quarters and trying to dry them. I really don't know what I will do with them since even the slightest hint of heat in food around here will get me in loads of trouble. I have no practical use for chile peppers here unfortuneately. But, habinero peppers have a very distinct flavor. Kind of a sneaky kind of hot that hits ya a momento later after it gets in your mouth. There is another chile that I have experience with called Scotch Bonnet. Its just an orange or yellow colored habinero actually but it has a different back taste. I like em both the same. There are many different variety's of the habinero style chile's and I am sure they are all delicious. I can grow em. I just can't use em.
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Post by glen on Aug 15, 2017 9:32:48 GMT -6
Habinero pepper is an acquired taste. I am currently trying to dry some. I doubt I will use it very often in the kitchen. Be careful handling them. Wear rubber gloves and wash hands after touching them.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 24, 2017 15:36:23 GMT -6
I had people at the Farmers' Market buy habaneros from me so they can grind them into a paste that they apply to fruit trees to keep squirrels and raccoons from climbing the trees to steal fruit. I believe they said they made the paste using Vaseline petroleum jelly as the base, then they heated it slightly and added the ground habaneros. (Be very careful if you try that because habanero juice will burn your hands for days.)
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Post by john on Aug 24, 2017 15:46:38 GMT -6
That is a great idea to use vaseline and hot peppers together. I bet it would be a good treatment for keeping voles from girdling fruit trees during the winter too. Just apply it at the soil line and up about 6".
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 26, 2017 9:10:42 GMT -6
Bon,
Do you have a recipe you could share for the taquitos you make?
All I grew this year, were Bell peppers. I've got 6 of the biggest ones I've ever seen sitting on my kitchen table. I'll dice them up and freeze them. Then, this Winter, I'll fry them with potatoes and onions.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 26, 2017 9:33:23 GMT -6
Bon,
I'm going to put a recipe here that I made up out of my head one Christmas about 10 years ago. I was fooling around with lots of different cream cheese dips and decided to experiment with hot peppers, onions, salt, and garlic. Here's what I came up with.
I named it "Sneaky Dog" because it's hot and very spicy, but it's so good that you just keep coming back all day and trying one more bite. By evening, it has sneaked up and bitten you pretty good.
You can 'tweak' it by adding pickled tabasco peppers, or any other of your favorite pickled hot peppers... Because of this, I 'tweak' it a bit every year, adding a different type of pepper and noting the results in my cookbook for posterity.
It only has a few basic ingredients and takes only a few minutes to prepare, but is best if not eaten for about one week, so I always make it way ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator for a few days to allow the flavors to meld. I just now made a fresh batch to serve this weekend at a family get together.
The ingredients:
1 CUP OF PICKLED JALAPENO PEPPERS (DICED, DRAINED, AND DE-SEEDED) 2 CLOVES OF FRESH GARLIC (MINCED) 1/2 OF A LARGE, sweet YELLOW ONION (MINCED) A SMALL HANDFUL OF PECANS (CHOPPED FINE) A PINCH OF SALT TO TASTE 2 PACKETS OF CREAM CHEESE (8 OUNCES EACH)
The spread looks more appealing if you hand process the ingredients and add them to the cream cheese, but tastes better if you use a blender to puree the ingredients and add the cream cheese. So, lately, I've been cheating and using a blender.
I just chop it until it looks like mush, then add it to room temperature cream cheese, using a nonreactive dish (glass or stainless steel).
I mix it really well with a potato masher, then cover it, date it, and set it in the refrigerator to age for a few days. It never lasts much more than a week before it's gone, so I don't know the shelf life?
I also mix it 50/50 with mayonnaise to make sandwich spread for roast beef sandwiches on New Year's Eve, so it has more than one use during the Holidays and it's a good way to get rid of a few hot peppers.
Be aware, "Once you've made this to serve at a family get together, they'll expect you to do it every time."
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 26, 2017 9:46:52 GMT -6
To make pickled peppers for my "Sneaky Dog" recipe, I just pack a wide mouth fruit canning jar full of hot jalapeno peppers, prick them with a knife, pour apple cider vinegar over the top of them until the jar is 1/2 an inch from being full, then add sea salt or any kind of pickling salt until the vinegar is saturated. That will take nearly a 1/4 cup of salt per quart jar of peppers.
I don't seal the jars, I just screw the rings on loosely and set them in a cool dark place to pickle and ferment. As the vinegar works its way into the hollow peppers, you may need to add more vinegar to bring the fluid level back above the peppers. After about 3 weeks to one month, they'll be ready to place in the refrigerator. Or, you can just leave them out on the table to serve. They last longer in refrigeration.
To use them in my Sneaky Dog recipe, I just remove the seeds and stems, then put them through the food processor.
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Post by macmex on Oct 27, 2017 6:28:09 GMT -6
Last night I worked until I just couldn't anymore, harvesting stuff from the garden. We've already had one frost. I was sure we'd have another last night, but we didn't. We will tonight! Anyway, I only grew three plants of Murupi Amarela, the habanero relative, from Brazil, which I like so much. Each plant was so loaded that I could barely carry it to the shed and dump it in a corner. I need to glean those peppers and dry them. They do dry easily, even without de-seeding them. I can't possibly use that many peppers. But I hate to grow fewer than 6 plants, just for the sake of preserving the genetic depth of my stock. This year I lost a couple plants when I first transplanted.
This is just one plant. I left a trail of yellow peppers out the garden, across the pasture and all the way to the tool shed. It was fun to watch a hen try to eat one as other poultry egged her on by trying to steal it!
Today I need to bring in my Frank's Thai Hot and Chili Rayado.
Glen, whenever you send seed up to Oklahoma, would you mind sending me a little seed of that local sweet pepper you mentioned? I'd love to try it.
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Post by glen on Oct 27, 2017 17:06:43 GMT -6
George, I was in the Supermarket today and saw larger sweet chili's for sale. I am going to get some tomorrow to extract the seed and yes, I will send you some seed. I will also include some of the sweet chili's that I have in the yard but they are not as nice as what I saw today in the store. Larger is better. I know this from experience. The small ones are just too small and are a pain the arskey to use in the kitchen. They are an inch or less in length. The sweet peppers I saw in the store were just beautiful red and were about 2 or 3 inches long and a little fat. They look like they should be seriously hot but they are just as smooth and sweet as they can be. Its amazing what the Panamanians have been able to do with the sweet chili peppers. I have not seen them anywhere else. I am having trouble right now growing jalepeno and sweet chili's. The rain brings with it virus, especially damping off. Many of my seedlings have died. I need to replant. But, I wanted to say that since my climate is so severe, the smaller chili's are so much easier to try and grow than any of the larger type peppers. I even sometimes grow bird pepper. Bird pepper is not easy to get started but once you get them going they take care of themselves. Just let the birds eat em. Thats what they are for. And, they are extremely beautiful plants.
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Post by glen on Nov 18, 2017 17:22:29 GMT -6
Bon. Or, Ron. I am in need of an easy to make hot sauce recipe. That I could use with jalepeno's or any hot pepper like habinero. If you have one can you post here on this thread? Right now, I have a bumper crop of habinero. I only have 2 plants but they refuse to stop producing loads of peppers and I can't think of a better way to use them than in a hot sauce. I will also have a large jalepeno crop coming in about a month. Jalepeno's don't dry well so a hot sauce is probably a good way to use them.
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Post by glen on Nov 18, 2017 18:07:56 GMT -6
This is an easy to make recipe I found online.
8 habenero's sliced and de-seeded. 1 cup of water 2 tbsp olive oil 4 cups of vinegar 20 garlic cloves 1 small onion chopped 8 tbsp sugar 3 tsp salsa worshestire half cup lime juice 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp salt
preheat oven to 425 degree's. set peppers halved on baking sheet. Coat with oil. Bake for 15 minutes or until peppers are blistering. heat large pot and simmer all other ingrediants for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the roasted pepper and simmer for 5 more minutes. Puree everything. Simmer this stuff for another 5 to 10 minutes. Straining is optional. this is supposed to be a table sauce, kind of thin. If you want a thicker sauce use some carrots. Fill some sauce bottles or jars with this stuff. Yield is about 5 cups. Supposed to last at least a month if kept in the fridge. This should be a real hot sauce for beginners. Habenero peppers are not the hottest peppers on the planet but they do need to be respected because they are plenty hot for the average human being.
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Post by macmex on Nov 18, 2017 22:01:27 GMT -6
Glen, Personally I distinguish between hot sauce and salsa, when I'm making or using the stuff. Here's a basic salsa which we often make:
Basic Salsa
Ingredients: 2 lb. Green husk tomato (tomatillo) or substitute regular tomatoes 2 cloves of garlic salt to taste cilantro to taste (preferably fresh) ½ cup water 1 habanero pepper or other hot peppers to taste ½ medium onion
Options: You can use a chicken bullion cube in place of some or all of the salt. This gives the salsa a different flavor. You can leave out the cilantro or vary the amount of garlic
1. Cube the tomatoes and onion. Mince the garlic. 2. Cut the pepper(s) at least in half 3. Add all ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil 4. Boil about 5 minutes 5. Let cool (This is important! If you try to blend things hot you, and your kitchen will be wearing salsa!) 6. Blend 7. Enjoy!
When I have a WHOLE LOT of habaneros, or similar hot peppers, then I often make, what I call, magma. It's a hot sauce which is not all that usable straight out of the jar. It's so hot that it is too easy to overdo it. But I love it as a concentrated source of hot pepper heat and flavor. I add about an eighth of a teaspoon to a large bowl of, otherwise bland, soup and come up with a fantastic taste treat. Also, I can add a whole teaspoon of it to a pint of canned tomato puree, along with a bit of garlic, and ... bingo! I have a pint of really delicious hot sauce, which is easier to apply to eggs or other foods.
Magma 1) Nip of the stem ends of as many habaneros, tabasco peppers, or other hot types and place the pods in a sauce pan 2) Add about a cup of apple cider vinegar and two teaspoons of salt to the quart of packed peppers 3) Place a lid on the pod and simmer on low, over a low flame, until all the peppers are good and soft. (Use good ventilation) 4) Cool (Important to do this) to room temperature 5) Blend the entire mess in a food processor or blender, until it is liquefied 6) Bottle it up. Store in the fridge or can it for long term.
George
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Post by glen on Nov 19, 2017 20:18:17 GMT -6
George, I am intriqued by the salsa recipe you shared. Today I experimented and made the magma sauce shown in the recipe above. I did not let the mixture go to room temperature before pureeing it. Then I thru it back on the stove and simmered it a bit more. I don't know if I have a decent hot sauce or not at this time. I used less vinegar than my internet recipe called for. I also used less garlic cloves and halved a few of the other ingredients. I still have a yield of about 28 oz of magma sauce. The color of the sauce is kind of darkened by the worshestire sauce and also the fact that the peppers were burned some in the oven when they were being roasted. The peppers were not all red when used either. Some were half red. I do not believe that this sauce will be something that a beginner hot sauce user would eat much of. Even though I have eaten hot food all my life I am still a beginner. I will just use this sauce sparingly. Hot foods, especially jalepeno's, upset my stomach. I have found that if I drink some bittermelon juice after consuming too much hot food, that it really helps me out. Thanx for the sauce recipe. I will have to use pear tomato's as a substitute for the tomatillo's.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 20, 2017 4:56:52 GMT -6
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