CHILIES!

[Basilgirl]

Well, The Basilman's garden is starting to overflow. He planted at least 30 chile pepper plants, and an unknown number of tomato plants. He likes to do things in a big way. Anyway, the serranos, habaneros, banana etc. are going nuts (and soon -the peter pepper! can't wait to see that one)...any EASY ideas on how to deal with all of this stuff? The 1999 Garden from Hell saw me in the kitchen every night, making salsas and sauces and pepper mashes... I froze some of the peppers but I didn't like their texture after they thawed out.

Help! I'm not into canning but if there is an easy way to do it I'd love to hear about it. Thanks.

[Toliver]

Dry them. They'll store quite well and can be revived with hot water when needed.

My brother uses a Mr. Coffee food dehydrator to dry his crop of chile peppers. Once dried, he keeps them labeled in Ziploc bags. He will also use a coffee/spice grinder to make homemade fiery hot pepper flakes (snip off the stems before grinding!), bottles of which he gives out as Christmas gifts every year.

If you don't have a dehydrator, you can lay them in a single layer on a flat cookie sheet (with rim, preferrably) and leave them in the sun to dry. The only problem with this is that they are exposed to the elements. Also, you will need to turn them every once in a while since moisture is not a good thing and can lead to moldy peppers.

Enjoy the bounty!

[jsolomon]

Pickled pepper relishes are wonderful. I'll see if I can scare up a recipe for you.

[sparrowgrass]

If I have too many chiles, I string them, using a big needle and dental floss, and hang them somewhere dry and breezy.

(Dental floss because it is amazingly strong--also works well for sewing on buttons. No mint flavored floss, please, thought I doubt you could detect it thru the chiles.)

You could roast them and can them, but you would have to use a pressure canner. If you want instructions, I can probably find them for you.

[John S.]

any EASY ideas on how to deal with all of this stuff?

←

My favorite book with ideas on this is is "Too Many Chiles!" by Dewitt.

It can be found at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-h...7329782-2069649

Our warm weather statred late here, in San Jose, and my cfhiles are still catching up. Gooid luck!

John S.

[highchef]

I like to make 'sweet' peppers out of my extras. slice them up and do them like you'd do cucumbers to make sweet pickles (get the bag stuff for this in the canning section of the market). You can can them easily just by inverting the filled jars..it's really not a big deal at all.

[rooftop1000]

Last time we had the pepper forest going I made stuffed jalepenos,

froze a bunch of different ones plain,

and dried the long skinny red ones strung with needle and thread

...as long as you are cooking with them the defrosted texture doesnt matter that much and they slice fairly nice if you catch them frozen just right amount

T

[snowangel]

You can also roast them, skin them and freeze them. They are great in braises, enchiladas, etc.

[Milagai]

The larger milder ones make great pakoras:

remove insides (if desired)

dip in a chickpea flour+water+salt+turmeric+cuminpowder batter

deep fry.

dip in green chutney (mint/cilantro)

great stuff for breakfast (seriously)

washed down with masala chai.

The smaller hotter ones make great pickle:

sliced thin, marinated with ginger slices, and

mustard seed+fenugreek seed+turmeric+salt+asafetida+turmeric

Milagai

Edited July 14, 2005 by Milagai (log)