Ripe Habaneros -- More Pictures Added 8/30/09

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
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We got back from vacation after midnight last night, and I was too tired to get a flashlight and walk around the garden. Walking around the garden with my coffee this morning, I was pleased to see that a bunch of tomatoes and TONS of habaneros ripened while I was gone. After work today I found some really ripe, large yellow mangos at Whole Food and made a salsa with some red Fatali habs – these are hot as s@#%, with a searing quality – and some ginger, lime juice, brown sugar, allspice, cracked peppercorn, and copious amounts of cilantro. I dipped chips into some of it and dressed some grilled swordfish with it at dinner. Between the sword, salsa, and 2006 Pax Nepenthe, I think we managed to wean ourselves off of our vacation successfully.

Hot salsa is might be my version of crack cocaine, and today was pretty sweet since it was the first day of ripe habs around here. My fingers are still burning (in a good way).

I haven’t even considered what to do with the hundreds of green, hot serranos in my garden that are begging to be picked this week.

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Pic fail so far. I’ll try to add some chile pepper porn soon.

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The salsa sounds satisfying and refreshing…As P-Rob said…we want pics.

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Sorry it took so long to post the habanero porn. I got busy, then tried to post some attachments, realized I couldn’t anymore, and didn’t find the time to open a Photobucket account until today. Anyway, this pic is what I harvested this morning. Lots of habaneros, plus some Thai, Serrano and other chiles. There might be just enough to make some salsa, eh? I’ll post a few more pics in a minute.

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Congos:

Yellow Habs:

Serranos (not habs, but awesome nonetheless):

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There will be more to follow. The following images show some of what is hanging on a few of my 16 chile pepper plants.

Congo:

Yellow Hab:

Serrano:

Aji Amarillo:

For perspective, the Aji fruit are about 7" long and will ripen to bright orange. Then, it will be ceviche time.

Many of the hab fruit are going to have even more bizarre folds and curves than the Congos in my earlier photos, so there will be great chile porn opportunities shortly.

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we need salsa pr0n!

sounds awesome

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A few more pics from today’s harvest.

Bowl:

Some pics of Congos:

Some yellow and red habs:

Time to make some more salsa!

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You’re no Mel Hill, but those are some great looking peppers! [welldone.gif]

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Hey, I was just playing around with these. If you want to see my true artistic talents, buy my coffee table photo book, “Squirrels of Hermitage.” There is no better conversation piece for lovers of wine or squirrels.

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[rofl.gif]

How about Peppers & Squirrels?

Could be a photo/recipe book! [shock.gif]

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BJ (sorry Melissa…didn’t mean to steal your nickname for Brad),

Since you seem to have auto-annointed yourself the king of chiles, can you give me a few suggestions as to what to do with the poblanos that are starting to over-ripen on my plants? Also, do I ALWAYS need to roast the skin off 'em or can I use them “raw” as well?

Thanks.

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Jorge,

They make great Rellenos chiles. They are still better with the skin off, so a light roasting in the oven (enough to get the skin loose) is still desirable. Then, just cut a slit down the side, fill, batter, then cook. They also make an excellent ingredient for salsa, particularly corn and bean salsa, for the extra flavor. I don’t really use them totally raw, though. Skin off, if not dried/roasted into Anchos. I think the skin is a little tough to leave on.

I will not seek, nor will I accept, the mantle of King of Chiles. I believe in a republican form of government, not one based on divine right. Besides, I just like spicy foods and growing my own. I am hoping some of our chilehead wine lovers start contributing some recipes with heat too!

Brad

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Thanks Brad.

Sorry, should have said “you have been annointed King of Chiles by the populus”.

Ok, another question then: can you give me instructions on how to dry the poblanos into anchos? I have been sorely disappointed by their general lack of heat and would like to at least take advantage of some intensified flavor profile to use in cooking.

TIA again.

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I think we discussed this a bit with Peter Cargassachi around July 20-21 in the Salsa! thread. I have oven dried (200 degrees until just short of brittle) and used a food dehydrator. Peter was talking about smoking, which I intend to try on my BGE soon. I think there may have been more detail on the grill method in the Salsa! thread.

Hope that helps.

I tend to avoid disappointment from lack of heat by growing mostly Habaneros, Serranos, and Thai-style chiles for the most part. This year I grew some Chihuacle (the brown Mole chile), which is only a 3 on the 10-point heat scale, and they are drying nicely on my dehydrator. Once I get enough of them, I am going to attempt Mole Negro. If my Mole suffers from inadequate heat, other chiles will be added.

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One of my grandmothers grew really good tomatoes in her yard in Baltimore, but who knew you could grow chiles like these there! Are you growing these from seeds, or already-started plants? After the weather cools I’ll have to try some in the backyard here in the subtropics.

Incidentally, we passed through Ellicott City many times driving from Frederick (east bank of the Monocacy) to visit my grandma back in the day.

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I used to germinate my own seeds and had several sources I liked for seed types. After we had our daughter (now 5 years old), that became a hassle. I now order live plants from sources like The Chile Woman at the University of Indiana. Thousands to choose from. Now that my daughter is school-aged, I may go back to the seeds next year. It was fun and challenging doing it that way.

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