Hot Pepper Madness!

Props go to my brother-in-law who procured a recipe for me for hot banana pepper sauce.  He gave it to me a few years ago with a jar of said sauce, which was hot and thick and wonderful on meats.  Yesterday in the farm share I got to pick a whole quart of hot peppers and, when I saw there were banana peppers, got to thinking about this recipe.  However, since I didn't have the 36-50 peppers the recipe called for or, for that matter, enough mustard (it calls for a quart!), I scaled a bit, and changed a few things.

Hot Pepper Sauce

4 banana peppers, 3 habaneros and 10 chilis. Yum.

Roughly 10 banana peppers (see photo, I improvised)

4/5 cup French's mustard

4/5 cup white vinegar

1 + 1/5 cups sugar

3/5 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cold water

Slice off the tops of the peppers and then grind them, seeds and all.  (I found this was easier if I added some of the vinegar to the blender.) Put this mixture in a pot with the mustard, vinegar, sugar and salt.  Bring to a boil.  Mix the flour and water in a bowl and add to the sauce, stirring.  Cook for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.  Process for 15-20 minutes in water bath canner.  Let rest for 5 minutes before removing from the canner.  (This made about 3.5 cups.)

I also made a cranberry habanero chutney using this recipe.  I doubled the recipe and in the place of the habanero jelly I added 4 minced habaneros (seeds removed) and in place of the jalapeños I added 1 green bell pepper.  This made 7 cups of chutney, a good addition to my gift stash.

I am planning on doing more today but now I'm tired and all my pots need washing, so I think I'm going to rest a bit and see how I feel.  I have to work until 2 am tonight so I might want to conserve my energy!

Spicy Holiday Giving

Habaneros!  Today I made another double batch of the Cranberry-Rhubarb compote but I added 4 chopped habanero peppers (minus the seeds).  And is it ever spicy!

This made 14 4-ounce jars and 3 8-ounce jars and, I'll have to look, but I think this makes my gift stash almost complete.  For now....

Feeling Blue

Not "sad" blue, but blueberry blue!

A week ago we checked out our favorite blueberry spot and it was evident they would be ripe soon.  Well, with several days of 100 degree weather between then and now, we thought we'd try again today.  We spent 3 hours picking, and picking, and picking, all the while being thankful it was only 85 degrees today.  We brought home 2 quarts which have been washed, sorted, and frozen into 1-cup baggies for baking.  There are still plenty more and we might go again.  I still have so much jam from last year that I'm not planning on making a batch this year.

I also finished the half-bushel of cucumbers today.  I made 6 quarts of dill sandwich slices, using the "Best Ever Dill Pickle" recipe in the Better Homes & Gardens Canning book I bought a little while ago.  I also made 7 pints of bread and butter pickles using the recipe in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving and then added sliced habanero to the rest and put up 4 pints of spicy bread and butters.

Yet Another Trip to the Farm

Yesterday, in 100 degree weather, I picked up the share.  I was smart, and brought a jug of water to put the flowers in.  This week it was 65 stems of flowers, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, chard, kohlrabi, garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots, more green and wax beans, cherry tomatoes, basil, and cilantro.  We split everything except Stephanie got the chard, tomatoes and the basil and I got the cabbage, beans and the cilantro.

When I got home, since it was too hot to cook, I made ceviche and a raw corn salad.  I bought tilapia fillets, key lime juice and habanero peppers.  Here's the corn salad:

2 cobs corn, kernels cut off

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cucumber (my garden), chopped

cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 c. key lime juice

1/4 c. olive oil
chopped fresh cilantro

salt & pepper

This was mixed and chilled while I made the ceviche:

3/4 pound tilapia, chopped in 1/2 inch dice

1.5 onions, sliced thinly

2 habaneros, minced

1/2 c. key lime juice

1/4 c. lemon juice
chopped fresh cilantro

salt

The tilapia was soaked briefly in 3 c. ice water and drained.  The onions were soaked in another 2 c. ice water and drained.  These 2 ingredients were mixed with the habaneros, lemon and lime juices and salt.  After about 15 minutes it was ready to serve.  The ceviche went really well with the corn salad, and I didn't have to turn the stove on at all!

The current tally for my rooftop garden is: 9 cucumbers and 1 bell pepper.  There are about 10 more peppers about to be ready, and maybe 3-4 more cucumbers right now, and a whole lot of tomatoes trying to ripen.  Which should happen quickly as long as it stays so hot.