Habanero Help!
This spring when I purchased herbs for my patio, DH accompanied me to the greenhouse and purchased a couple of little pepper plants. He babied them all summer and now we've got quite a few little golden habaneros ready for harvest.
DH works out of town, and we only have limited time together on the weekends (not much time to use them fresh in recipes), so I'm looking for suggestions to make his bounty last a little longer. Do you have a good hot sauce recipe that will keep for a while in the fridge? Can I freeze them? Are they any good dried? I checked out the Habanero Hot Sauce recipe from last month's Serious Salsa column, but one of the commenters remarked that it would probably only last a couple weeks in the fridge.
Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to provide!
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3 Comments:
My favorite way to deal with habaneros is to smoke them. No - not in a pipe, but I put them right on my charcoal grill with just a little bit of heat and let them dry up. I then don the paper mask and gloves and put them through my spice grinder and go to it. This powder is wonderful, it flavors chilli, jambalaya, tacos, you name it - I have even put a pinch in a batch of brownies - it is really good with great habanero flavor but watch it - a little goes a long long way. I filled a small film container and it lasted me several months. Do not do this without a paper mask - it will take more than your breath away! If you don't have a charcaol grill I'm sure you could make up a makeshift smoker in your oven with the temp set at 200 or less.
ranger99 at 4:54PM on 09/09/09
They freeze beautifully. Freeze them in a single layer on a freezer safe plate. When they are frozen solid put them in a freezer bag. Voila..they keep for months and months. Just take one or two out anytime you need them to jazz up a recipe.
You can also pickle them..any pickled pepper recipe will work fine or dry them in any standard home food dehydrator. Their thin walls and low moisture work well for drying.
kathyvegas at 10:46PM on 09/09/09
I used to dry mine in a dehydrator, just beware and listen to ranger99 gloves are a must!!!!!! I ended up blistered to mid forearm for a week by slicing hab's without gloves. Totally embarrasing when you have to call poison control to find out how to stop the pain.
huneybumper at 7:40AM on 09/10/09