The first hot peppers are green jalapeños and Czechoslovakian Black peppers. These are in the same heat range.
Hot peppers come in endless varieties of color, shape and intensity. Hot peppers are harvested in abundance during late summer. The heat varies even between each individual pepper and parts of each pepper. The most heat is concentrated in the seeds and white membranes of the pepper.
The hot peppers this week are green jalapeños and Czechoslovakian Black peppers. These are in the same heat range.
WARNING! USE GLOVES!
Whatever you choose to do with your hot peppers, please wear gloves. The hot oils from the peppers will permeate your skin and you won't realize how badly you are burned until you are done with your project. Several people I know have had awful nights of not being able to sleep because of it. If you use thin food service gloves, consider changing them during your project.
Serving Suggestions
Add to eggs, chili, soups, curries, and stir-fries. Tone down the heat by adding healthy fats like dairy products. This is why bacon wrapped peppers, chili with sour cream or poppers filled with cheese are so popular.
Storage
If you like hot peppers, enjoy! If not, here are some ideas for using them and giving them away as gifts.
- Dry them. You can hang them to use as decorations or grind into a fine powder. Use the pepper powder as a seasoning in recipes, a little at a time. Read this article for help http://www.scottrobertsweb.com/ultimate-guide-to-drying-hot-peppers/
- Give them away to a friend.
- Chop them and put them in the freezer to use later.
- Pickle them and can them in little jars to give away as gifts. They are really pretty when using complimentary colors.
- Brine them: My favorite way of keeping them when I don't know what to use them for is to slice them (use gloves!) and stuff them in a jar.
- Make a brine: 1 cup water, 3 cups vinegar, 1 tspn. salt, 1 tspn. sugar, 1 tspn. minced garlic. Pour brine over peppers until jar is full. Put lid on jar. Leave jar on counter for 2 - 3 days to ferment and then put in the refrigerator. Use them as a compliment on all sorts of food, especially on pizza and in salads. They can also be canned at this stage. Try this article for help and ideas: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09314.html
- Make your own Super Duper Tonic. We use this tonic to treat winter colds, flus, and infections. Use organic onions, horseradish, ginger, garlic and hot peppers in recipe here.
