Bring the Heat

As usual, the jalapeno plants have produced a plethora of peppers again this summer, and they’re not done yet. We’ve pickled them, stuffed them, frozen them, and last week I tried a new-to-me recipe for jalapeno hot sauce. The recipe was shared on a Yahoo email list I belong to and I cooked some up within the hour of reading about it.

(Click on recipe title to see original.)

Jalapeno Hot Sauce

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 25 Minutes

Ready In: 45 Minutes

Servings: 16

"Jalapenos, garlic and onion sautéed and pureed into fresh homemade hot sauce."

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

20 fresh jalapeno peppers, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup minced onion

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

1 cup distilled white vinegar (I followed a suggestion of using just 2/3 cup)

Directions:

1. In a medium glass or enamel lined sauce pan over high heat, combine oil, peppers, garlic, onion and salt; sauté for 4 minutes. Add the water and cook for 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to room temperature.

2. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth. With the processor running, slowly add the vinegar.

3. Pour into a sterilized jar with a tight lid. This sauce will keep for 6 months when stored in the refrigerator.

I got five 4 oz. jars and one half-pint jar from this recipe. There was a little bit leftover after filling the jars, and Jess scooped it up with some tortilla chips. She said it was “a bowl of deliciousness”.

So far we’ve just dipped chips into the jar and eaten it that way. I plan to make some enchiladas this week and will use this as a condiment.

Preserving the Heat

After a few very strong summer storms, only one jalapeno pepper plant remains in our little backyard garden. Fortunately it's a prolific one and I picked 15 fairly large peppers the other morning.
We have a couple of ways to preserve these for use later in the year, but the best way is to freeze them. After being frozen, they're good for cooking in soups and casseroles.
Here's how I flash froze my harvest that day:
First I washed all the peppers, then dried each with a paper towel. I dried them so that when I freeze them, the pieces won't have ice on them.
Cut off the stem end and slice down the middle of the pepper.
Use a spoon and scoop out the ribs and seeds. This removes most of the heat - I like the heat, but Greg's not a fan.

Now there is just the pepper shell. I sliced these length-wise into thin strips, then cut the strips into small pieces.

Doing that left me with a nice tray of diced jalapenos. Place a piece of waxed paper on a cookie sheet before spreading the pepper pieces into a single layer.

Now place the tray in the freezer for a few hours. When the pieces are frozen, you can put them in a Ziplock bag and store in the freezer for later use.

I would so love to show you a photo of my freezer bag full of goodness, but when I got the tray out of the freezer in the garage and was walking into the house, I dropped it and all my pretty frozen pepper pieces landed in the doorway - some inside the house on the floor, some on the porch. I didn't even say a bad word - I was speechless...

Like I said earlier, it's fortunate this is a prolific plant. I will be able to put some peppers in the freezer in another few days, and will definitely be more careful walking around with the tray.

Holy Mexican Caviar, Batman!

This post was written in August 2008 and never published. I must've been wanting a photo of the finished product. Here you go anyway - put this on your list of stuff to make next summer! (Feb. 1, 2011)

With all the rain we had in the Spring (and my procrastination), the tomatoes and jalapenos were planted a bit late and are just now, today, giving forth of their fruits. And look how many fruits they put forth!

I've been patiently waiting for these lovelies and I know just what I'm doing with part of this first batch. Wanna hear? Yes? Good - because I'm telling you. :o)

When our families were here for supper one Saturday night a few weeks ago, I made a new-to-me recipe that was a huge hit, and I'm making it again.

It's called "Mexican Caviar" and it is deee-licious:



Prep Time: 10 Minutes


Ready In: 6 Hours 10 Minutes


Yields: 32 servings


INGREDIENTS:

2 large tomatoes, finely chopped

5 green onions, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 1/2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers

1 (2.25 ounce) can chopped black olives

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS: In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.