right now

right now

Sep 28, 2011

You asked for it...

I have had a few inquiries as to what I do with all these peppers I grow!  I really do use them all, and I don't see myself as being a pepper freak, but maybe I am - you be the judge...
Got Hot?


or sweet?


There's lots to see here, so don your mask and gloves and let's get started!


Sweet Bell Peppers are easy, no blanching, just chop and freeze.  They go into everything, all winter long - stir fry, soups, stews, sausage casseroles, anything goes here.


Even the frozen bell peppers will keep pasta salad lively long after the tomatoes are gone...


The old standard, salsa...


Nachos!



Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins



Garden Convenience Food - stuffed peppers, frozen and bagged... dump a few out and bake in oven with a bit of tomato sauce and cheese makes a quick meal...



Of course there are days when there are more than I can use at dinner...

ya think?


Canning keeps us in nachos (Garden Junk Food) and chili all winter long -



Hubby likes jalapenos on his pizza sometimes :)


I use diced jalapenos or green chiles to jazz up the chicken filling inside enchiladas -


But wait, there's more!


Jalapenos can be frozen whole for more Garden Junk Food in winter...

One of my favorites is Stuffed Baked Jalapenos -


I halve them, seed them, stuff with a mixture of cooked sausage and cream cheese, sprinkle cheddar cheddar and french fried onions over the top and bake, the ultimate!  I never said this was healthy :) (*you can also make ahead a few hundred and freeze on sheets then dump into bags, ready to go party food!)

Excess small hot peppers are dried for grinding later or making fermented hot sauce.  Larger chiles such as Poblanos can be dried and soaked later in the year to turn into stuffed Anchos.  (Fun fact - Poblano peppers are called Ancho Chiles after they are dried).  Anchos ground and mixed with other spices such as oregano, savory, salt, pepper, dried garlic, etc make a great steak rub, too!  Drying is the quickest way to preserve for sure!


If I have a little extra time on my hands, I'll roast and peel the Poblanos and pressure can so they are ready to go all winter for Chiles Rellenos.



Peppers are always welcome in tacos here -


Canned sweet or mild peppers or peppers packed in oil are always good on sandwiches or panini, stuff them right into jars with your pickles, don't discriminate!  It'll give those pickles some kick, too :)



Apparently I've made quite a name for myself as the pepper-chick, hence this gift that arrived a ways back from the lovely Apple Pie Gal....  :)



Now even my beverages are decorated in pepper style!

Party Fun:  host a dinner party, then stuff peppers of random heat into homemade sushi and watch people's expressions, this is good times!  Kind of like loading a bunch of .38's along with a randomly placed .357 in your gun just to keep you on your toes.  Come on, I know a few girls out there that have done that, usually courtesy of your laughing husband, right?



So there you have it, the most common pepper dishes at our home - 



Embrace the pepper!















22 comments:

  1. What are you doing to me??? Now I'm sitting here craving nachos, tacos, chille relleno's... Everything really does look sooo good, any chance you could share thee cornbread muffin recipe? I'd love to try that!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anke, so easy... because I use a box LOL! Box of Cornbread Mix, I use Trader Joe's but any will work, add a little or a lot of diced peppers (depending on how hot they are), and maybe a cup of shredded cheese and bake as directed in muffin tin, I never use a recipe but just throw in however much the batter will appear to hold :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had to go lie down after reading this post! How do you dry your peppers without getting moldy spots? I have tried stringing some together, but they didn't dry evenly. You are, indeed, the Pepper Queen! I want to eat at your house!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You. Be. The. Undisputed. Pepper. Queen!!

    Your photographs of all the peppers and food look as if they belong in a culinary magazine. If only we all lived closer . . . Susan and I would be heading up the caravan to your house for a Pepper Fest!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Susan, I slit the large ones in a few spots with a knife before stringing them, works pretty well even in the high humidity we have here, BUT we have A/C so that is probably key in humid environments.
    ***
    Mama Pea, what am I going to do when I move up north and can't grow my peppers, take up eating really weird things like RHUBARB? Baaaahahahaha!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I totally agree with everyone and you have enough props around the house to put on a sit come reality show to boot. so when's the party? the pepper party of coarse

    ReplyDelete
  7. My mouth is watering. Now I just need to get my hands on some peppers and make something cause I've got a craving for hot peppers.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am up to my ears in peppers this year!! They just don't stop! Maybe I should make some stuffed jalapenos to freeze. Mine are really really hot this year. I am working on mass quanities of hot sauce! Hopefully I'll come up with something good.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your peppers amaze me. And make me jealous. I'm determined to get a good pepper crop from my northern growing conditions. This year has been the best yet. But NOTHING compared to your pepper abundance!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Judy, sadly, I don't seem to have many parties these days!
    ***
    Sparkless, can you grow any hot ones there?
    ***
    Robin, do it! They taste so good in winter :) Funny thing is to mix batches so you'll be eating some of the more mild ones from the beginning of the season then pop one in that was from late summer and gasp LOL, same variety but always different with the time of picking!
    ***
    Kaytee, every place has advantages I think. Me? I can't grow root veggies to save my life here, and no apples!
    ***

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm happily dumbfounded by your post. It's not just the sheer volume of peppers. That's enough in itself but also all that food! All those recipes! You aren't just talking about what you would like to do, you're showing pictures of what you've already done! There's days and even weeks of work in this post. Nice job. We like peppers too. Before your post we had a much to narrow view of how to use them. Thanks so much for broadening our pepper horizon.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Erin, I couldn't stop giggling when I read this post. Hysterical! How many pepper plants do you grow to get this many peppers? Wow! Amazing. Also, what recipe do you use to can jalapenos?

    ReplyDelete
  13. LOL! Love it. And gotta say DANG-I married a man that HATES peppers. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jody, thanks! I only have all these photos since I'm so addicted to having my camera in my pocket all the time LOL. Often we'll sit down to dinner and I'll tell the kids "stop! Let me get a pic of that, it looks pretty decent tonight"! :) Yes, peppers I'm comfortable with, but I need all my blogger family to go to for so many veggies, like the first time I was confronted with "The Rutabaga" - I can't grow root veggies here so it was amazing at how quickly I found a recipe from someone else :)
    ***
    Meems, it is rather hilarious when you see a stack of peppers a foot high LOL... in my defense though it's hard to judge! This year I had 3 jalapeno plants, 7 different varieties of bell pepper plants, 3 Poblano plants, 3 pepperoncini plants and 2 Fish Hot pepper plants (way too many, 1/2 plant would do with those LOL). I tend to pack my jalapenos in pure water since I pressure can them, that way the vinegar taste won't affect things like chilis, but up until this year I steam canned them in 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water, if you are making things like nachos the vinegar solution adds a little extra kick that is nice.
    ***
    Sue, I should add one more that hubby came up with - we don't really drink at all now, but he used to sink peppers into a bottle of vodka and leave it for a few months, then make a hot pepper martini LOL so he loves them too :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow. Can I come for dinner some night? Everything looked so fresh, bright, and delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Awesome ideas! I especially like the stuffed jalapenos. The husband loves them and I HATE to buy the frozen ones at the store. Next year I am growing jalapenos for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  17. They are beautiful, colorful and inspiring, but god help me you may have well have posted pictures of cockroaches for my taste buds. I know I'm old enough and should eat what's there and lord knows I've tried and tried and tried, not believing myself that I don't like them, but man...I don't like them.

    More for you! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  18. But...are they fattening?

    I think I just gained back every pound I'd lost, just looking at all the delicious food on your blog tonight. You missed your calling, you should have opened up a restaurant! Heck, you could make a fortune selling pickled peppers at a farmers market!

    ReplyDelete
  19. You should win an award for this post - excellent as always - peace

    ReplyDelete
  20. absolutely LOVE the idea to make and freeze stuffed peppers! now if only our pepper plants would cooperate. you are amazing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Embrace the pepper! LOL! Ok, so I am going to have to improve my pepper skills. I really wanted your pepper madness this year and it just didn't work out. I tried several different ones that you did (I paid attention last year!). So can you send me some pepper dust, PLEASE?

    ReplyDelete