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mega82

What to do with habanero's??

MegA82
10 years ago

I love the thought of growing certain things (especially hot peppers) without thinking all the way through to the end. My habanero plant is producing an insane amount of peppers and they're all about to ripen within the next week.

I'd love to know... what do y'all do with all of your hot pepper harvest?

Comments (22)

  • scgreenthumb1987
    10 years ago

    Powder,can, eat raw. Kinda depends.

  • robeb
    10 years ago

    Freeze 'em.
    Gives you lots of time to figure out what you want to do with them

  • peppernovice
    10 years ago

    Cut them in half, smoke them, dry them in a dehydrator, then grind them with a coffee grinder. You have pepper powder year round.

    Tim

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    Make hot sauce with them ...

  • judo_and_peppers
    10 years ago

    hot sauce. throw one in with the fried peppers for fajitas to surprise the heck outta your significant other. I wanna stuff some with cream cheese then wrap it in bacon and put it in the oven.

  • MegA82
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    "hot sauce. throw one in with the fried peppers for fajitas to surprise the heck outta your significant other. I wanna stuff some with cream cheese then wrap it in bacon and put it in the oven."

    The fajitas cracked me up. If only my husband liked peppers to begin with! I'm definitely going to try hot sauce- never made it before!

  • judo_and_peppers
    10 years ago

    there's a few threads that are currently active that have hot sauce recipes in them, some involving habaneros. if you need further guidance let me know. I love habanero based sauce, so I play with recipes for them a lot. it's all a question of what direction you wanna take it, how hot you want it, and how many habs you have laying around.

    do you like mangoes? if so I've got a great hab/mango sauce recipe for you.

  • MegA82
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I'd love to get some ideas. Never been much of a mango fan honestly. My degree is in culinary arts so I'm all about playing around with concepts and recipes.

    I'd guesstimate that within the next few weeks I'll have around 50+ habs. Should I throw the ripe ones I've got now in the freezer until I'm ready to make the sauce?

    (Ps love your username. I do BJJ but of course there's a bit of judo involved to get to the ground!)

  • judo_and_peppers
    10 years ago

    oh, cool. I do BJJ too. gotta have a plan once you're on the ground.

    if your background is in culinary arts, we should be asking you for recipes!

  • donna_in_sask
    10 years ago

    I made the Habanero Gold jelly from the Bernardin site and it turned out really well. It won't use up more than five or six, so I think some hot sauce is in your future...

  • MegA82
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    @Donna I love that idea! Never heard of it but its definitely up my alley.

    I think I'll make the habañero gold jelly, some hab hot sauce, and since I'm in one of the top producing peach towns in the nation I'll can some peach & hab salsa.

  • ottawapepper
    10 years ago

    You may find some inspiration in the recipes in this older post linked below.

    @MegA82, in the linked thread there is a recipe for a double batch Hab Gold that uses less pectin. FYI

    Here is a link that might be useful: Your favorite recipes

  • MegA82
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Awesome @ottawapepper. Lots of great ideas on that thread!!

  • chilemilio
    10 years ago

    another grinding option is custom powders too. spicy curry mixes, simple spicy fried garlic/onion mix, anything to use in your cooking later on, rubs, or to have on hand to sprinkle on noodles, pizza, eggs, etc.. spicy salts, you name it.

    if you are into cocktails, you can make some supremely spicy infused bottles of spirits. either to mix into spicy cocktails, or to dare visitors to take a shot. the heat never lingers much, and they last forever. just remember not to leave the peppers in the bottle forever, or it'll get too acidic from the slowly decomposing flesh.

  • MegA82
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    @chilemilio I LOVE that idea. My problem is I don't have a dehydrator and I'm not sure how else I would dry them out sufficiently to grind into powders?

    Definitely going to look into infusing some vodka. My friends and I would love that!

    I'm starting the Habanero Gold Jelly process tonight and will can tomorrow. Can't wait to try it this weekend at a party we're hosting!

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    10 years ago

    Meg:

    No need for a dehydrator. If it's not too humid where you live, you can just let them air dry on a cookie sheet et al. It will take weeks to completely dry, but they'll dry eventually. To quicken the process or if it is humid, cut them in half first.

    I use a toaster oven set at about 125F. You can do the same with a kitchen oven.

    Kevin

  • MegA82
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I live in South Carolina, so yes, super humid. But I can totally do a low temp oven dry out! Thanks for the advice!

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    Today I made hot sauce with HABS, red JALAPS, red bell.
    The batch ended with 2 Oz of sauce.

    Other than habs and jalaps, I had one large red bell and one large tomato.

    I used cider vinegar/water (3/1). At the end added juice of one lime , a tsp of salt. It has the consistency of thick tabassco sauce. Jalaps were meaty , nice n red, pleasantly hot and habs were orange type. I used about 6 to 8 habs.
    I separated the pulp after cooking and blending. So my sauce is creamy n nice, with very few seeds. I will dry and grind the pulp.

    BTW: I bought everything from the store(except the tomato).
    COST : about $5.00

  • MegA82
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Just finished canning 12 x 4oz jars of Big Batch Habañero gold. It looks gorgeous & colorful- I'll post a pic in a bit as I set some aside to have with cheese & crackers tonight. I went with what I had in my garden for peppers and ended up with a yellow bell that was still partially green, a jalapeño, a few hot bananas (that were partially purple), and a hot cherry. Plus all the habs.

    Set aside 1 pint of vodka with 2 habs infusing in it. I anticipate some kick ass bloody Mary's in a few weekends.

    About to get started on canning hab peach salsa with the last of the season's local crop.

    It's a habañero bonanza in my kitchen!

  • sandy0225
    10 years ago

    make some of my tabasco type sauce. Wash the peppers and break off the stems, pack them pretty tightly into a quart jar. Fill the jar about 1/2" of the top with white vinegar, and then put the lid on. Put it in a place where it won't be disturbed like the top of the refrigerator for about 3 months. Then dump it out into the blender and blend it up. Strain out the seeds and skins with a strainer and refrigerate or freeze it for later use. You can add a teaspoon of salt if you want to. It will use a lot of them up in a hurry, and then you don't have to do anything else for a few months...

  • MegA82
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    That's a great idea Sandy. Thanks!

  • JSFB
    10 years ago

    I see a lot of good ideas here but one I did not see is ice cream. My girlfriend and I made this recipe this week. It is awesome! Spicy, sweet, and you get little bites of habanero that have great flavor. When I make it again I might use 25% less white chocolate and double the habanero for my personal taste. The recipe as is is great though and the spice level is one that anyone could enjoy.

    I'm also a new member growing in Oahu, HI and wanted to say hello to the forum!

    Here is a link that might be useful: White Chocolate Habanero Ice Cream

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