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Habaneros - What to do with this years crop?


FoodMan

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I recommend extreme caution in how many peppers one uses for this infusion.  Herbacidal made some Habanero vodka a while back that had to be dispensed with an eye dropper when it was done.  It practically made the tomato juice start to bubble and smoke when you put it in the glass. :blink:

I assumed that warning people about Habaneros was akin to warning them about standing on the oven door. I suggested three Habs per liter of vodka. That seems about right for my non-suicidal chile-head friends. Habs do wander all over the heat spectrum and your milage will vary. What ratio of Habs to vodka did Herbacidal use?

Jim

I think it was about that, but I've asked Herb to step in an answer this question himself. You're right that the heat does vary pretty wildly. The ones he used must have been pretty damn hot because the resulting vodka was pretty scary stuff. We ended up diluting it down with more plain vodka.

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

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Invest in a couple cases of beer (or bottles of wine if your friends swing that way) and invite the buddies over.  Drink heavily until someone accepts your dare to eat the entire bowl, then be entertained when recollecting the experience thereafter.

I like this idea the best, although not for any culinary value it possesses.

But as options with actual relevance to food, I do like the hot sauce and sorbet ideas.

The most memorable thing I had at Philadelphia's Studiokitchen was black pepper sorbet, mainly because I liked the particular taste displayed in a different context.

Methinks a habanero sorbet might be good next to a chocolate pastry option.

Also, I'm too lazy to check if anyone suggested a habanero-chocolate dessert yet, perhaps a habanero-chocolate souffle/mousse?

As far as vodka, I did use 3 quartered habanero peppers for my vodka.

Because the insides were exposed to the vodka directly, they increased the spiciness level.

Methinks if you used 3 uncut habaneros you might have a more moderate effect. The other peson's experiment might say otherwise.

Herb aka "herbacidal"

Tom is not my friend.

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Yeah, I sliced them up as well myself. The direct exposure of the seeds and ribs to the alcohol probably greatly increased the heat level.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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  • 1 year later...

Hi Everyone =)

Well after eatting one of my nice new chili's off my chili plant and having already realised they weren't the mild ones the label they had from the garden centre said, I mentioned this to my best friend Tug (who also posts here :P) and she was like well what do they look like.. so i explained.. she showed me a picture and yep they looked like mine.. and well they were habaneros..yes the hottest chili's ever

Now i was ready for a batch of mild chilis that if i couldnt use them all could share with my brother who is a chili freak, but well even he doesnt want that many.

My question is.. anyone have any recipes for either preserving them till i can use them, recipes i can use them in that may dull the HEAT.. or just recipes of any kinda LMAO

I have about 30 chilis sitting here to use, thats after giving some away.. and then there are about another 20 on the (2) plants i have waiting to rippen and well there are more flowers.. so some more will be arriving soon LMAO

HELP!!! :P

gallery_42182_2410_90155.jpg<-- thats just 5 of my chilis LMAO :P

Edited by Girl-from-mars (log)
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hot hot hot! :biggrin:

Peter: You're a spy

Harry: I'm not a spy, I'm a shepherd

Peter: Ah! You're a shepherd's pie!

- The Goons

live well, laugh often, love much

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I recently found myself with a mess of habaneros and a whole glut of lemons and made marmalade. The stuff is wonderful. Not terribly hot, but enough heat to be a wonderful foil for brie or on a toasted bagel with cream cheese.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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Similar to the marmalade, I made several jars of candied habaneros last summer with peppers that were too spicy for me to use them in much -- and I like spicy food -- but had amazing flavor. Both the peppers and the syrup are interesting to play with (the syrup is a terrific sweetener for ice cream) -- and for one of the jars, I candied habaneros and pineapple together, and have used some of the result in a fruitcake.

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My cousin, who lived in SoCal and had a habanero plant (tree?) at the time, once told me a story about making habanero bread. Apparently, the recipe called for pureeing the peppers before combining them with the dough. Well, he (or his wife, I forget) missed the part about pureeing them with water. This resulted in creating a capsaicin aerosol in the blender, which was released when the lid was removed. Both of them had to evacuate the house, suffering symptoms much like that of people hit with pepper spray.

Also, he brought some of the peppers with him when he visited once. I took the tiniest nibble off the very tip of one (small enough that I certainly got no pith or seeds), and my mouth was on fire for at least a half-hour.

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Hi Everyone =)

Well after eatting one of my nice new chili's off my chili plant and having already realised they weren't the mild ones the label they had from the garden centre said, I mentioned this to my best friend Tug (who also posts here :P) and she was like well what do they look like.. so i explained.. she showed me a picture and yep they looked like mine.. and well they were habaneros..yes the hottest chili's ever

Now i was ready for a batch of mild chilis that if i couldnt use them all could share with my brother who is a chili freak, but well even he doesnt want that many.

My question is.. anyone have any recipes for either preserving them till i can use them, recipes i can use them in that may dull the HEAT.. or just recipes of any kinda LMAO

I have about 30 chilis sitting here to use, thats after giving some away.. and then there are about another 20 on the (2) plants i have waiting to rippen and well there are more flowers.. so some more will be arriving soon LMAO

HELP!!! :P

gallery_42182_2410_90155.jpg<-- thats just 5 of my chilis LMAO :P

Can you please mail some to me???? :hmmm:

You can pickle them ........this take the heat away so your left with flavor.

Or take the seeds out, cut them in pieces , add a little oil to a pan and sautee them with a little sugar and salt and/or tomatoes until soft .

In Suriname no pepper and i mean no pepper gets waisted!! :cool:

Edited by kaneel (log)
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My cousin, who lived in SoCal and had a habanero plant (tree?) at the time, once told me a story about making habanero bread. Apparently, the recipe called for pureeing the peppers before combining them with the dough. Well, he (or his wife, I forget) missed the part about pureeing them with water. This resulted in creating a capsaicin aerosol in the blender, which was released when the lid was removed. Both of them had to evacuate the house, suffering symptoms much like that of people hit with pepper spray.

Also, he brought some of the peppers with him when he visited once. I took the tiniest nibble off the very tip of one (small enough that I certainly got no pith or seeds), and my mouth was on fire for at least a half-hour.

Although i shouldnt laugh.. my partner justin and i did while reading this.. Also because the fact the first time i used the chili before knowing what i had.. i had made basically a spanish omlette and had included some of the chili.. well lets say i have NO idea what the omlette tasted like LOL.. i couldnt feel my lips im pretty sure my nose was numb, it wasnt pretty LMAO

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You can pickle them ........this take the heat away so your left with flavor.

How do i go about pickling them.. im not really up on all this stuff.. tug has slowly been getting me more into cooking.. i still tend to use alot of jars :P so fresh is still not my thing really.. so i got no idea on the pickling.. but which to learn =)

Or take the seeds out, cut them in pieces , add a little oil to a pan and sautee them with a little sugar and salt and/or tomatoes until soft .

Ohh i shall have to try this out =)

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I have made this hot sauce several times with great success-

"Agent Orange"

The fruitiness of the peppers really comes out in this one. To prevent yourself from choking too badly on the fumes, wait a while after you puree it in the blender. The fumes will dissipate somewhat. Or just consider it an opportunity to clean out your sinus cavities. If you put it through a food mill, you can get a really smooth sauce that can be used drop by drop if you have a sensitivity to hot food.

Edited to say that I have canned this recipe in two half-pint jars and it keeps its color and flavor for quite a while.

Edited by lperry (log)
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I have made this hot sauce several times with great success-

"Agent Orange"

The fruitiness of the peppers really comes out in this one.  To prevent yourself from choking too badly on the fumes, wait a while after you puree it in the blender.  The fumes will dissipate somewhat.  Or just consider it an opportunity to clean out your sinus cavities.  If you put it through a food mill, you can get a really smooth sauce that can be used drop by drop if you have a sensitivity to hot food.

Edited to say that I have canned this recipe in two half-pint jars and it keeps its color and flavor for quite a while.

Ohhhhh Agent Orange now THAT sounds dangerous but good LMAO *wonders if she could get a bottle posted to america for her friend Tug after she makes this*

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Remove the seeds and ribs to decrease the heat.

I once made a salsa with habs that way too mild due to overzealous surgical removal of the ribs - and I didn't actually realize this until I'd used up my available supply at the time.

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Hey my second post, and I can maybe help too! I grow habenaros on the farm during the summer, and certainly have more then I handle at times....( I can eat them a bit, but they can blow the cheeks right off you if you don't watch it!) :huh:

I have two jars of brined/vinegar hab's right now sitting there since summer. I use them in all kinds of recipes, that is when my family isn't looking.......

I actually can send pictures tomorrow since I am almost up to 3 (count them) posts!

1 cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt

fresh minced garlic if you prefer

cayenne pepper just for taste

In a sterilized 1-pint Mason-type jar, pack your chiles. In a small bowl, stir together vinegar and salt and warm on stovetop until dissolved and pour over chiles. Seal jar with lid. Let pepper vinegar stand at cool room temperature at least 1 day and put in fridge up to 12 months.

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Dry them.

Then you can reconstitute them whenever you need them.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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Using the tip of your knife, remove the stem, some of the ribs and seeds. Cut pieces of cheese, jack, mozza, any mild cheese to fit the cavity. Stuff the peppers, dip into a batter, and deep fry them babies! Packs more of a wallop then jalepeno poppers. :laugh:

I also heat up canola oil, add some chopped scallions, garlic and whole habaneros to make ma-la oil. Great for stir-fires!

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

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Ohh all these wonderful ideas.. *adds them to her list* hehe and i just looked at my plants *sigh... so many new ones growing LOL *

Keep the recipes coming guys im up for trying alot of this.

have to go buy some bottles/jars this weekend.. we had a clean up not long ago and threw out all old jars *sigh*

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Thanks for the link to Agent Orange sauce, lperry. Sounds like something I'd like to try. Many of the commercial habanero/scotch bonnet sauces don't have enough flavor or heat for me.

In a food magazine a long time ago, I saw a recipe that sounded very appealing: habanero-cantaloupe sauce. I don't have the recipe which I think was designed for bottling, but I found this recipe online for a habanero-cantaloupe bbq sauce to serve with brisket. click. This won't necessarily help with long term storage though unless you are able to dry some.

Another great easy "use it now" applicaton is to make a habanero tomato sauce/salsa. I got this idea from one of the Bayless books and it is really a delcious sauce that is extremely simple to make. Saute some onions and add 2 big cans of canned tomatoes. Simmer for an hour or so with one half habanero, unchopped. You can remove the habanero or keep all or part of it in the sauce which is then pureed in a blender. The habanero gives a wonderful complex flavor and heat to the sauce; perfect for enchiladas.

edited to add: The chiles look beautiful!

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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My question is.. anyone have any recipes for either preserving them till i can use them, recipes i can use them in that may dull the HEAT.. or just recipes of any kinda LMAO

I have about 30 chilis sitting here to use, thats after giving some away.. and then there are about another 20 on the (2) plants i have waiting to rippen and well there are more flowers.. so some more will be arriving soon LMAO

Air dry some, just by dangling them indoors somewhere. I tie them to the laundry rack in our utility room. Freeze the rest. Both methods allow you to use small amounts which is helpful with habaneros (I have some nagas and I defy anyone to use a whole one at once). Use a big heavy knife to crumble a few bits from a frozen one and put the rest of it straight back in the freezer. The dried ones can be crumbled into a jar after a few weeks (although probably much sooner if you live anywhere other than the damp UK).

Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die

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