I Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers
Posted on October 22, 2008 by
Okay, not quite, but I did pick all the peppers left in my garden this weekend. I spent 4 hours roasting them on the grill on Sunday, and then eleventy-million hours peeling, seeding, and cutting them. I was so burnt out by Monday morning that I couldn’t even bear to be in the kitchen, but wow, it was worth it. The peppers turned out great.
Here’s what I did with them.
I had a mix of peppers (Long Red Slims, Hungarian Wax, and Poblanos) from the garden and a few red peppers from our CSA bag.
I grilled them over natural wood charcoal that was REALLY hot, until the skins blistered and blackened slightly. Then I left them in a covered bowl to sweat. This makes it easier to remove the skin.
After I was done grilling, I peeled the skins off (wearing rubber gloves, because hot peppers can burn your skin), scraped out the seeds, and cut them in strips. I put the strips in a jar with diced garlic, and poured in a mix of 1 part canola oil to 2 parts olive oil to cover, adding salt and vinegar to taste. I’ve left those marinating in the fridge, and today, I plan to drain and freeze them. Some I’ll freeze in regular containers, but I’ll also freeze a good portion of them in ice cube trays. They they are frozen, I’ll pop them out to store in a bag in the fridge. They can be left to thaw, or microwaved on or two cubes at a time – the perfect portion for a sandwich, wrap, or quesadilla.
The reason it took so much time, is that the majority of the peppers I had available were Long Red Slims, which are, well, long and slim (red too if fully ripe). The curly one above is an exception to the rule. There was a lot of seed and skin to deal with for a very little bit of pepper flesh.
While grilling, I discovered that it was necessary to skewer the peppers (on bamboo skewers soaked in water for an hour first so they wouldn’t ignite), because otherwise, the peppers fell through the grill grate, and produced some pretty noxious smoke as they burned up (the smoke is the main reason I recommend roasting hot peppers on the grill instead of in the broiler or on the stove top in the house).
Had the peppers been all poblanos or red bells, it wouldn’t have taken so long. But the heat of these peppers is wonderful, and while I complained as I was doing it, it was well worth the effort.
I still have plenty of Long Red Slims left. I’m planning to hang them to dry. Apparently, once they are fully dry, you can leave some hanging in the kitchen, and just clip off sections as needed for recipes.
What have you been doing to get ready for winter?
I love that curly little guy!!! How cute!
Those are some beautiful peppers. Sounds yummy.
Wow, that is a whole heck of a lot of peppers. That would last me about 3 years.
And that only about 1/3 of the slims. It was insane! I only had 4 plants.
Oh my, what an industrious girl you are!
We worked in the kitchen every night before we left for our trip preserving veggies in every way imaginable. I feel your annoyance but you are right, it is totally worth it!
Mmmm, sounds wonderful. I’ve never roasted the little peppers myself. The labor, though, reminds me of when I purchased 40 POUNDS of green chiles, got them roasted on the spot, and then took them home to peel and seed. It took hours and hours, and let my shoulders so sore. But, it yielded 17 pounds of roasted green chiles that I froze (without oil or anything) in baggies. Lasted months.
Hence, my online name: Chile.
Last fall, I dried a bunch of red chiles from the CSA and I’m still using them. While they are good ground up for seasoning, they were so fleshy that I can actually rehydrate them in a soup and then scrape the flesh off and discard the skin.
Thanks for the peppers! They are so beautiful. Makes me happy to know that every time I see them hanging in my kitchen, I know that you grew them.
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