Home Grown Pepper Festival

I didn't know this is what I would be doing this weekend, but when I went out to the garden Friday morning it became apparent that it was time to harvest the peppers. First thing, let's roast some chiles!

I've been leaving the Anaheim peppers (Highlander variety) on the plants, allowing them to mature to ripe red. This weekend I picked all that had any size at all - ending up with the entire color range from green to orange to bright red - and roasted them on the grill.

I was surprised at how quickly this was accomplished! Here's how to do it: Preheat the grill to 450 degrees. Wash the peppers, leaving them whole. Of course, use only perfect, blemish-free fruits. Load the grill with the whole peppers - placing them directly onto the grill grates. Close the lid, turn every few minutes, and that's it. Only 10 - 15 minutes on the hot grill is enough time to char the outer skins. You better believe those roasting peppers smell delicious!

Once the flesh is soft and the skins  are charred, put the peppers into a large bowl, cover with a towel, and allow the peppers to steam for 30 minutes to an hour. This helps the skins come off easily. Now, put on gloves and get to work! Remove the skin, stem, and seeds. It's not a difficult job, but it does get a bit tedious when there's a pile of peppers to get through!

I separated the chile verde (green chiles) from the chile colorado (red chiles), coarsely chopped them, and froze them in separate 1/4 cup blops. Then I tossed them into freezer bags for long term storage.

Did you know that the six-ounce cans of chopped green chiles you buy in the Mexi-section of  the grocery store are processed green anaheim peppers? I'm excited to have my own home-grown supply!

While I was at it, I roasted a half dozen sweet Italian red peppers.

Next on the agenda: Stuffed Banana Peppers

The Hungarian Wax Peppers range in color from spring green to yellow to orange, depending on the degree of ripeness. I picked the largest ones, then added the green and red anaheim peppers that did not make it to the grill ...  the small ones and a few that had little imperfections ... ending up with four dozen. These will make a beautiful pan of stuffed peppers!

First step: wash and clean the peppers, removing stems, seeds, and membranes. Notice that I am wearing gloves! I have learned to deposit the hot waste directly into the compost bucket rather than collecting it in the sink for later clean up. If you happen to run some water into a sink full of hot stuff, look out! I did it once. I felt as if I were in a cartoon. This big hand formed out of the atomized particles of hotness, rose out of the sink, went right down my throat and grabbed my lungs. Talk about a coughing and sneezing attack! I could not breathe.

After cleaning the peppers, blanche them in salted water. Then mix up your favorite filling. We like this ground beef and cheese combo, a recipe that came from my step-father, Don West. It's easy! For every two dozen peppers, mix together:

1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
8-ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup cracker crumbs (I use oatmeal)
1 egg
2 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Stuff to overflow and bake at 350 degrees for ~ 45 minutes.

This time, I chose to stuff 'em and freeze 'em unbaked - separately on cookies sheets, then transferred to freezer bags. Later, I'll be able to take out just what I need, pop them into the oven and bake for a quick and delicious meal.

Moving on to the Jalapeño Jelly! I use the recipe in the Ball Blue Book of Preserving, EXCEPT I use only the most ripe, bright red jalapeños the garden has to offer, with no added food coloring. AND I don't remove the seeds and membranes. My version delivers quite a kick, and isn't it a beautiful color? Rouse the Spouse did the quality control. He declared this the hottest batch yet, but still very tasty on a cracker with some cream cheese. Here's a link to the recipe: Jalapeño Jelly

The pile of peppers was dwindling, but I still had enough to fix a big jar of pickled peppers, plus a small jar of pickled jalapeño slices. These were not processed in the boiling hot water canner. They went directly into the refrigerator to be enjoyed right away! Here's how I prepared them:

I washed the peppers, leaving the small ones whole and cutting the others into 1-inch pieces. I mixed the peppers together. What a colorful medley! Two-thirds of the mix was made up of jalapeños, anaheims, and banana peppers. The other third was made up of sweet red lunchbox snack peppers. I'm sure they'll be hot before this whole process is over!

In a medium saucepan I combined:
3 cups vinegar
1-1/2 cups water
2 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon canning salt
Brought vinegar mixture to a boil; reduced heat and simmered 5 minutes. At the 2 minute mark, added prepared peppers to the pot. When the timer went off, poured the mixture (peppers and vinegar) into hot glass jars; screwed on lids; let cool 30 minutes; stored in the 'fridge.

The last thing I did was string together a few red cayenne peppers for Andrew and Brittany ... a little something to bring to their open-house pot-luck party. Wishing them warmth in their new home!