Recipe: Jalapeno Hot Sauce

Tags

gardening, habanero, hot sauce, jalapeno, organic, pepper joe, recipe, vegan

a.k.a. Peppermeister’s Ugly Sauce

Here’s a fairly simple recipe for some very tasty sauce that’s doesn’t have to be scorching (but could easily be corrupted with some hotter chiles).

This recipe is actually inspired by two different Pepper Joe recipes, I like the idea of using carrots to sweeten up the sauce and compliment the really fresh flavor of the jalapenos.  The ratios below will give you over 2 cups of thick sauce, great on burgers, tacos and almost anything else.

Ingredients

• 9-12 medium sized Jalapenos (serranos would work well too)
• 2 carrots (peeled)
• 1 medium size onion
• 6-8 garlic cloves
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Tablespoon black pepper

Directions: Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan.  Cut Jalapenos in half and drop in water for 1 minute.  Remove peppers from water and set aside to cool.  Put roughly chopped carrots, garlic, and onion into water and let simmer on medium heat.  Once vegetables are tender, strain and let cool for a few minutes.  Add all ingredients into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  If sauce is too thick, add filtered water or more vinegar. Pour into jars and refrigerate.

Thanks Pepper Joe!

See you Sunday for “Just the Tip”

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“Just the Tip” Sunday: Flag’em Edition

Tags

chile, chillies, gardening, habanero, jolokia, organic, peppers, plants, seeds

FLAGGED!

Here’s a tip to help you remember which peppers are going to give you the best seeds for saving…

This is my Sport chile plant.  So far, it has yielded over 375 green pods, perfect for pickling.  There are a lot of peppers on this plant and I could easily pluck away all of the best pods before realizing that I have not saved any for collecting seeds.  As stated in a previous post, the best seeds for saving come from mature ripe fruit.  The green pods of the Sport chile would not yield viable seeds for sowing next year, so I will let a few of the biggest, most uniform chiles mature to red.

In order to keep track of which peppers should mature to red, I use a very thin piece of blue painter’s tape and adhere it to the stem of the pod.  Now, I won’t harvest these valuable chiles before they ripen and I’ll have plenty of strong seeds for next year.

Congratulations to EarthlytentHomestead for harvesting 500 pounds of produce this season!  Very inspiring!

Hot Pepper Vocabulary Lesson

Tags

chiles, chili, chilli, chillies, ga, gardening, organic, pepper, vegan

There seems to be some confusion regarding pepper-jargon , so I referred to the chile terminology database at the Chile Pepper Institute in New Mexico to clear up some commonly misused terms.

• Chile – anything consisting of the Capsicum plant or the fruit from the plant. (Referred to as “chilli” in Britain and Australia)
• Chili – a culinary dish consisting of chile powder, beans, tomato and ground beef.
• Capsicum – genus name for chiles.
• Capsaicin – one of the alkaloids in chile that makes it hot.
• Aji – South American term for chile.
• Chipotle – a smoke-dried red jalapeno.

See You Sunday for “Just the Tip”

Want to learn more about the science of chiles?  Check out this article from Australian Geographic: Why Chillies are Hot?

Recipe: Peppermeister’s Asian Beef Tacos

Tags

asian, bulgogi, gardening, korean, marinade, organic, peppers, recipe, spicy, sriracha, tacos

Mmmm... Beefy.

I love tacos.  Not those stale, pre-bent, salty boxed shells that carry with them nothing but the inevitability of shattered dreams (both literally and figuratively).  I like warm, sturdy, soft corn tortillas stuffed with fresh ingredients and the spiciest flesh I can muster.

Check out this video on how to properly warm tortillas.

The flavor bath for this beef is inspired by a Korean Bulgogi, which is a very typical beef marinade that I obviously had to corrupt with spicy peppers, and topped with sweet and creamy coleslaw.

Ingredients

1 – 1 1/2 lbs beef steak (I used London broil, but a skirt steak would be ideal)

4 – 6 finely chopped Thai chile peppers (Kung Pao Hybrids pictured above)

1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 Large garlic cloves

2 small shallots (optional)

1/2 Tablespoon sesame oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1/4 cup Sriracha “Rooster” Sauce (or make your own!)

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

Warm tortillas

Prepared coleslaw

Chopped scallions (optional)

After a 36 hour long marinating marathon.

Directions

I used a really cheap London broil cut which I chose to slice horizontally with a carving knife into 5 thin steaks before marinating, which resulted in some tasty and tender meat.  Combine all ingredients (except tortillas, coleslaw and scallions) in a shallow dish or plastic resealable bag and let marinate for at least 24 hours.  Grill meat until awesome and serve sliced on corn tortillas topped with coleslaw and chopped scallions.

Booya!

“Just the Tip” Sunday: Decision Time

Tags

chile, chilli, gardening, habanero, just the tip, organic, pepper, sport chile, thai

Too little, too late. Jerk plant.

See those beautiful flowers adorning my poblano pepper plants? It’s October and some of my plants think it’s early Summer.  Unfortunately, I cannot allow these flowers to thrive.  Flowers on my pepper plants tell me that more peppers are coming.  As much as I appreciate the gesture, for some of my plants, it’s just too late to expect larger peppers to grow to maturity before the first frost.  Now, these flowers are sucking nutrients from my plants in order to produce fruit that will never be enjoyed.

So, It’s decision time.

The flower picture above belongs to my Ancho 101 poblano plant, that I purchased from Cross Country Nurseries in Stockton, NJ.  Poblano chiles are generally the size of a medium bell pepper, so I know there is no chance that this flower will mature to a full sized chile before temperatures drop.  It’s time to pluck these flowers and any small buds on the plants that produce large fruit.  Doing so will keep the nutrients in your soil directed towards the ripening fruit and will give you quality results.

Want hundreds of peppers? Grow one Sport chile plant.

What about the smaller chiles?

Those flowers directly above are on my Sport chile plant.  Those flowers will live to see another day.  The Sport chile plant produces hundreds of green pods (about 1 1/2 inches long) and I have no doubt those flowers will result in dozens more before the first frost comes and deprives my family of spicy nourishment.  If you have Thai chiles, pequin type or any other small peppers that are showing flowers, you can leave them as they take much less time to mature and you could reasonably expect more chiles from those plants.

Check out this recipe for Lentil and Kidney Bean Chili at FrugalFeeding.

Hot Pepper Communities

Tags

chile, community, gardening, message boards, peppers, seeds, spicy, tips

This is what happens when nobody shares your pepper fervor. Photo Credit: Musiccitycardsandgifts.com

You’re not alone.

Are you looking for other chile-heads that are dying to talk shop and display their pampered pepper plot?  There are a few really great hot pepper communities online to talk about gardening, cooking, showing off, and even trading seeds and plants from all over the world.  You will find tips for growing, cooking, picking, canning, hot sauce recipes and more at the sites I’ve listed below.  For the most part, these message boards require a quick registration and email verification.  These message boards are a great way to keep up your chile IQ, even during the winter months.

Garden Web – This is my favorite hot pepper message board.  The regular posters are very knowledgeable, quick to help and very willing to post pictures and even videos of their gardens.  The site is simple and easy to use.  This board focuses on growing and harvesting chiles.  I have never asked a question that didn’t get answered at Garden Web.

The Hot Pepper – Affectionately know as “THP” by those in the know, The Hot Pepper is a little more overwhelming than Garden Web, but much more thorough as this site focuses on every aspect of spicy food.  The Hot Pepper community is very large and includes members from all over the world.  There are even posts that are dedicated to trading seeds, which is a great way to acquire exotic and rare chile seeds without spending much money.

Here are a few tips for being welcomed into the online world of pepper talk:

• Use the search feature before posting a new topic.  If you think your question or observation may be a common one, there’s a good chance it’s already been discussed on the site.  It’s better to post a question in an old thread, than start a new one.
• A picture says a thousand words.  If you’ve got a plant problem or pepper issue,  just take a picture and post it in the message boards.  Someone else has probably had a similar issue and can hook you up with a solution in no time.  For tips on posting pictures to message boards Click Here.
• Give and take.  Don’t just brag about your garden and expect accolades all around (you will get some accolades).  Be sure to comment on other gardeners’ pics and issues.  Even a novice chile-head might have some info for a seasoned gardener, so try to help when you can.