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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 15, 2018 18:19:30 GMT -6
Anyone who has any ideas of how to put peppers to good use, please reply.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 15, 2018 18:23:59 GMT -6
This week, I've been busy making lots of sriracha sauce, so I thought that would be a good start for another pepper topic platform.
Here's my basic recipe:
Ingredients for about 1 1/2 cups Sriracha: 1 1/2 lbs of red jalapenos and red serranos, stems removed 4 cloves of garlic, peeled 3 Tbsp light brown sugar 1 Tbsp Kosher salt 1/3 cup water
***1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar*** (To be added after a 3 to 5 day fermentation period, depending on the weather and the time to reach the final fermentation stage).
Here is the web address to a step by step, comprehensive, and very easy to follow video on how to prepare it. You'll have to copy / paste the web address to your browser, the video would not let me copy the URL:
allrecipes.com/video/3965/how-to-make-homemade-sriracha-sauce/?internalSource=picture_play&referringId=235276&referringContentType=recipe
I'll post a few photos on the following pages as they develop. Anyone having any good ideas of how to put peppers to good use, please share your recipes and thoughts with us.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 15, 2018 18:30:10 GMT -6
Here are a few photos of what I ended up with. My only regret is that I didn't have more peppers. Oh, well... I guess I can always plant more next year. Here is a photo of the pepper pulp during the 3-day fermentation process. Our kitchen smelled wonderful for all of those 3 days. It's hard to beat the aroma of freshly ground hot peppers as they meld with freshly minced garlic from George's garden. You know you've got some hot peppers on hand when your tomatoes look like they just want to get out of the cooking pot... Wow! Those were some hot peppers! If tomatoes could speak, this one would be crying, "HELP!!!" The final stage; reducing the fermented, strained, and reblended pepper stock. Now, all I need is a non-reactive bottle or jar to store this in, and maybe a few fried eggs... Tonight, I reap the reward for my week-long effort. Somehow, homemade Sriracha sauce always tastes better than store bought.
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Post by macmex on Dec 18, 2018 6:16:56 GMT -6
I almost always grow more hot peppers than I can use. They are just so beautiful and easy to grow. I usually try to plant some right up front, where I enter the garden. This is because it brings me such pleasure to see them when I'm in the garden.
One of my favorite things to do with excess hot peppers is to make something I call "Magma." It's not for human consumption, per se, but rather an ingredient for making hot sauce or tasty stews and soups. What I do is remove the stems of the excess hot peppers. If they're large, I may cut them up into smaller pieces, but most of the time I don't bother. I place them in a pot and add some vinegar and salt. Then I cover it and heat until the peppers are obviously cooked. It's obvious because at this point almost everyone in the house has run, gasping for air, out the door and into the yard.
At this point I usually take a break, outdoors, as well.
Later, when the peppers have actually cooled to room temperature, I grind them up in a food processor. Our food processor died, so now I'm using a blender. The resulting paste is hotter than anything I would care to eat. (Keep in mind that most peppers I grow are comparable to habaneros in heat.) Still, it is wonderful to have on hand. To make a quart of hot sauce I just take a quart of tomato paste (our home produced paste is a bit more watery than store bought) and place it in a pot on the stove. I drop in some cloves of garlic and add salt to taste and bring it all to a boil. Then, after it has cooled, I run it through the food processor again. This produces a superb hot sauce, just right for my taste. The open jar of magma is kept in the fridge.
When I make soups or stews I add, perhaps 1/2 teaspoon of magma to a crock pot full of soup or stew. This gives the food a nice spicy flavor, without flaming anyone in the family.
Magma is a great way to stash some "summer heat" for use during the long cold winter!
This is a picture of Chile Rayado, one of the hot peppers I grow and maintain. It looks like a jalepeño but almost without exception is MUCH hotter. It also has a wonderful smokey hot flavor.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Dec 22, 2018 7:25:32 GMT -6
George,
It's 3 days 'til Christmas. That means it's time for another big batch of "Sneaky Dog" (My homemade, Christmas cream cheese and pepper party spread). This stuff is awesome on a Ritz cracker around the Holidays. I only make it once per year, so it always seems 'special' to see it on the table.
I'm working on a double batch this year, so I'm grinding 32 ounces of well-drained, pickled jalapeno peppers, a generous pinch of sea salt, one whole yellow onion, one cup of minced pecans, and 5 or 6 cloves of garlic. This afternoon, I'll be adding that to 4 packages of softened cream cheese. (A package of cream cheese weighs 8 ounces). So, this recipe will have 32 ounces of cream cheese in it, for a total of about a half gallon of finished product.
I figure, about Sunday afternoon, I'll be needing a kitchen laboratory pepper connoisseur to give it a taste test. Maybe, I'll remember to bring some to Church with me, so you can give it a try.
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Post by john on Jan 16, 2019 6:33:56 GMT -6
A simple way to keep some pepper for winter use is to slice them up as if you were going to be cooking with them. Then put them in a zip-loc freezer bag and place in the freezer. (no blanching needed) They will freeze up and you can use them all winter in any dish that you like to cook with peppers. I like to use them in most vegetable medleys. They work great for fajitas or sausage with peppers and onions. You won't even know that they were frozen! I usually do some hot peppers too. They are great to add in any dish you are looking for a little heat in, like chili or an omelete (my favorite hot pepper variety for freezing is the Rezha Macedonian from Baker Creek, it has great flavor)
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Post by macmex on Feb 10, 2019 5:28:05 GMT -6
That's probably this pepper, which I try to grow every year.
My brother in NJ purchased plants from ChilePlants.com in 2012. I think this business is also known as Cross Country Nursery. I was visiting my brother and his family that fall, after he had planted a dedicated garden with just habanero type peppers. We went down the rows and I got to taste them each (gingerly). This was my favorite. It was called Ají Yellow #2. I'm glad to see they're offering it again this year, it's an outstanding little pepper.
It's quite prolific. Being very closely related to habanero, it's also quite hot. Originally I was under the impression that it was supposed to be somewhat less hot than an habanero, and I couldn't understand why it seemed so hot to me, when I tried to eat them raw. Later I discovered that they are hotter than that. They're at least as hot as an habanero. Some people on the Internet, who have done taste tests, have commented that "the effect" of this pepper is more than what it's rated at.
Also, be aware, that "Ají" usually refers to a kind of pepper from a completely different species. That pepper is no where near as hot as this one. After some investigation, I've started calling it Murupi Amarela, as it best fits the description of that pepper. I have noticed, however, that some companies which list Murupi Amarela show images of it which are not as bright yellow as what I grow. So, this may yet be an unsolved mystery. I know, that wherever it's grown, it's NOT called "Ají Yellow #2." Conceivably, it might be called "Ají," as that's a general term for "pepper," in some places. But "yellow #2" is in English.
Here's another link, where they offer seeds to Murupi Amarela. Pepperseeds.eu/ Murupi Amarela
Anyway, Bon, if you'd like seed, I can mail you some.
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Post by glen on Feb 12, 2019 23:16:16 GMT -6
I enjoyed reading thru this thread. Very nice. I have been growing Tam Jalepeno's for the last 18 months or so. I have em growing now and have been growing them pretty much year round. I do not have access to seeds here so seed saving is important. However, I have been having a hard time getting my Tam Jalepeno seeds to germinate. I am going to try again. I made sure and let the peppers ripen to very red. I then split the peppers and have them drying on a plate. Is there anything special I have to do to get decent seeds? I have never had a problem until I started saving seeds from the Tam Jalepeno. I still have a few of the original seeds that Ron sent me left over that have kept me going, but eventually I will have no seed if this failed seed saving keeps going. Oh, I make pickled jalepeno rings out of the tam jalepeno's. Tam Jalepeno's are supposed to be sweet. Mine are medium heat. Jalepeno's aren't hot compared to for example, habenero's, but they are spicey. My Tam jalepeno's are medium or mild, compared to regular jalepeno's. Latino's say they are hot. When I make the pickled rings, I use the vinegar just as much as eating the rings. I get much more use out of Tam Jalepeno's since I can eat more of em. I really don't feel the need to bother growing habenero peppers any longer. They are just too hot for my needs. Also, I can buy dried ground habenero at the grocery store for 30 cents if I want to. The Tam Jalepeno's are special. I can't buy em. So, I have a real need to grow em. Oh, If you got any suggestions for better jalepeno seed saving I would appreciate that.
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Post by glen on Feb 12, 2019 23:31:18 GMT -6
Oh, I found some dried ground Korean red pepper powder at the Chinese grocery last weekend. It is the real deal. I bought a lb bag of this pepper powder. Yes, it is a little expensive but a lb will last me a year. I use it to make Kimchee. If you have not made kimchee before or tried kimchee, it is worth making and trying. It is basically Asian Saur Kraut. You can find basic recipes online. The most common recipe uses Napa cabbage. You cut this cabbage up and salt it down. Let it sit over night. Then add your Korean red pepper, garlic, ginger root, Leeks, mustard green, fish sauce. Mix it up. Let it ferment for a week on the counter, then put it in the fridge. Eat it by itself or with rice. Fermented foods are extremely healthy to eat every day. Saur Kraut included. Now, this pepper powder, if you buy the right type, is very red and gives the kimchee a very nice color. It is mild pepper powder, and can be used generously in stir fry's and in other recipes. It has a very nice flavor. It would be good in chili or in a pot of beans or in many recipes. The fact that it is not overly hot is a plus for some of us. When you visit an oriental grocery store you will notice a variety of different types of dried peppers. They are different and are used for a variety of different purposes. You might have to ask the woman who runs the place to help you get what you are looking for. But, for example, cheyenne pepper powder is much hotter than Korean red pepper powder and that type is just too hot for Kimchee. Korean red pepper is beautiful and is used to add a wonderful color to the kimchee without so much heat that the average person could not eat it. You can try kimchee by buying a small jar in the supermarket in the USA. Many grocers do sell it. If you like it, it is very practical to make your own but it does take a bit of trial and error to figure out a workable recipe. Kimchee is very addicting. Korean people eat it every day of their lives.
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Post by glen on Feb 14, 2019 10:31:57 GMT -6
Thanx for sharing Bon. My taste changes as time goes on but for the moment I am into jalepeno's myself. I have a big bowl of jalepeno's in a bowl in the kitchen right now that were just picked. I will just slice them up and cover em with vinegar with salt and a little sugar and maybe some garlic and ginger and then heat the jar in the micro-wave for 10 minutes. Then I let the jalepeno rings age for about 2 weeks before eating. We have very limited seeds for sale here because gardening is not popular so we have to save seeds and I do not have much variety of pepper seeds now. Oh, Panamanians do not eat hot spices so our choice of hot pepper seeds is extremely limited. They don't even sell Mexican chili powder in the grocery store here. One thing I always took for granted in the USA is the availability of different types of seed that you can order by mail. When you live over-sea's, ordering anything by mail is prohibitively expensive. So, you do with out. By the way, I never thought of growing paprika. Good idea.
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Post by macmex on Feb 15, 2019 6:12:49 GMT -6
One of the professors, where I work, traveled to Eastern Europe a couple of years ago. He returned bearing stories about the wonders of paprika, and, after a bit, he gave me a couple of tubes of paprika paste, which he brought home (quite an honor). I've been amazed at the wonderful flavor paprika adds to soups and stews! It's like all the flavor, minus the heat, of a good hot pepper. Sometime I'll have to try growing some.
Glen, if you ever want seed for a specific kind of pepper, make it known on Green Country Seed Savers. We'll figure a way to get it to you.
Here's a link to a blog I recently did on hot peppers and growing your own hot sauce .
We LOVE Kimchi! When I was in seminary, back in the early 80s, we had Korean neighbors on either side of us. One would often greet me with a forkful of kimchi. The first time I accepted a bite, I wondered if it wasn't some kind of a prank. But after a couple tastes, I was hooked. Kimchi is great stuff!
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Post by glen on Apr 12, 2019 11:35:34 GMT -6
Hi George, I didn't see this post. Thanx for the offer of hot pepper seeds. I will take you up on this offer in the future. I am having problems with my jalepeno pepper seeds right now. I can't seem to get any to germinate. Its an on-going problem. All the seeds that I am saving don't want to germinate. I am allowing them to ripen fully on the bush before cutting the peppers and removing the seeds to dry further. Still no luck. I had been using the original seeds that Ron sent me but those are almost gone and now I am having trouble even getting those seeds to germinate. I have no idea what is wrong. Oh, also, someone has sent me seed from Texas. I sent them some AfricanX okra and the nice lady(Danita) has sent me some pepper seed. She said she sent Thai hot and also tobasco peppers so I am waiting for those to reach me. I have not grown either of these variety's. However, they sound like variety's I can use. I like to make hot sauce and also to soak the peppers in vinegar. I also like to dry hot peppers to use later.
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Post by macmex on Apr 13, 2019 5:30:17 GMT -6
I wonder if the heat doesn't cause the peppers to set fruit with sterile seed. The other day I was reading about how certain intra species crosses produce peppers, but sterile seed. The seed Ron sent you would be getting old now, and in your climate, it would rapidly lose viability.
There are at least two versions of Thai Hot out there. That's not counting Frank's Thai Hot, which I grow (and named). They're small and very hot, nice peppers. The one I grew in the early 80s had peppers about the size of a sparrow egg and small, mounding bushes.
Tabasco is a c. frutescen pepper rather than c. annum like Jalapeño or Thai Hot. It's really hot, but I sure love it. It's super productive here. Here, the plants get over 4' tall.
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Post by glen on Apr 15, 2019 18:46:08 GMT -6
Something is going on with the jalepeno's. I will try and grow more very soon. I am having problems with several different types of seeds. Peppermint, Romaine lettuce, parsley, are not germinating either. When I plant more jalepeno I will try fresher seeds. I still have 7 jalepeno plants outside from last October that somehow survived the dry season. Some died but these 7 survived. In fact, one is from last May! Most die from root rot later in the season that they are grown. I have not received the seed that Danita sent me yet. I do not know which variety's she sent except that she said it is Thai hot and Tobasco. Those are beautiful plants in the foto's by the way. I am looking forward to trialing the seed. Those have to be good soaked in some vinegar! I also have something called bird peppers. Bird peppers come in many different forms. I have a plant outside now that is a year old and the plant is about 4 feet tall. Peppers are similar to what you are growing in the foto except the green peppers are greener. Funny thing is that this pepper I have has really benign peppers. Meaning, not very hot. I found mine growing wild on a fence. Most peppers that I find here are mild, bird pepper or not. With the exception of habenero or chumbo peppers. Chumbo is the Panamanian name for them. Almost no one uses them here either.
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Post by glen on Apr 23, 2019 19:06:25 GMT -6
I just got lots of different pepper seeds in the mail sent by Danita in Texas. Thank you so much Danita! I now have Thai hot, Cheyenne, tobasco, Italion peperoncini, Aroz con pollo. All these variety's are interesting. However, probably the most interesting is the Arroz con Pollo which is a Cuban variety of a Habenero or C Chinense I do believe is the species. I need to double check it. This habenero type produces a pepper that is rich in flavor but not hot. Just to be sure I will plant this one in pots and keep it away from the other pepper variety's. I don't want any hanky panky going on so I get good seed in the future.
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