Posted on 09/04/2021 7:05:12 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Good to know. I’ve seen a few people here recommend them. :)
I have a few blue jars plus some clear glass jars with the glass lids...not using them....but keeping them since they were my mom’s...I find it hard to throw anything of hers out even though she’s been gone for almost 15 yrs.
Nice strawberry! Seems so weird to have them this time of year - in Wisconsin they’re strictly a Spring Thing. Lucky You! :)
I need your best, easiest, ideas for preserving sweet and hot peppers.
My poblano plants are hitting maximum productivity right now as the nights have cooled to mid 50s and they are racing to produce maximum ripe fruit.
I have a dozen wide mouth 16 Oz jars and a dozen 32 Oz wide mouth jars.....however ai have never canned anything. I also have 2 small dehydrator.
Drop some knowledge on me sensei
Btw.....the cooler nights are also talking to my heirloom tomato plants.
They are all beginning to ripen.
I had more fruit last year and will be adjusting variety planting locations next year to maximize productivity (old German and black krim are just not productive enough for zone.)
I have a lot of 3/4lb Cherokee purples and some 1+LBers as well.
Paul, I would be happy to assist but unfortunately I use a gravity type Berkley type filter with municipal water. Maybe someone else with a well might know. Another place to ask would be the Prepper thread.
Tennisball sized stawberry!
OK Tubebender! just make certain you keep showing them off here! :)
Love Cherokee Purple!
Other tomatoes to consider.
You could try Trifle Tomato. Tolerates heat. I have a bunch of green ones hanging up at the top of my vines when everything else except Stupice have stopped producing. Some cracking, but stays firm on the counter for long time while others go soggy.
Stupice is a small early tomato that produces all season. Right now i am getting some of the best fruit of the season.
Good Luck!
Eric! Thats a lot of tomatos! What is your canning tomato?
And I had this image of you with a bunged barrel full of aging hot sauce al la Avery Island LA!
Hot peppers; I have a bowl full of Allepo peppers that my wife will not touch. (I have to do something with them before they go bad.) I have some Baklouti peppers too, and I do not recall how much heat they have. Tabasco and Thai Chili peppers are ripening and I think I will dry them.
Hope you enjoy Brussels and do not encounter too many covid protests!
Turnips and Rutabagas; Its nice to have room to run out your rows. Which varieties are you using?
You can make an easy sauce with the Tabasco or Thai peppers. Just get yourself an old spaghetti sauce jar, sterilize it, fill it full of peppers ( no need to even deseed them) then fill the jar with a vinegar of your choice. I use apple vinegar to make Tabasco sauce. Let the jar sit for anywhere from a couple of weeks until whenever you feel like making sauce. The acid from the vinegar will kill any bacteria so no worries there. It will also soften the peppers, which is what you want. When you are ready get yourself a blender or Smoothie maker. Dump the contents of the jar in and give it a whirl on high speed. The peppers, seeds and all, should vaporize. Fill the blender container with vinegar until just below where it would overflow at low to medium speed. Add salt to taste, give it a good whirl to mix it all up then bottle it. Can't get much easier than that. A spaghetti jar of peppers should yield about 3 pints of hot sauce. If you want to jazz it up you can add fruits like peaches, plums, mango, etc. to the mix.
If you want to step it up a level here is a Sriracha Sauce recipe that doesn't require fermentation. Even though the recipe calls for Jalapenos I have found that the same spaghetti sauce jar full of peppers mentioned above will work nicely:
Sriracha Recipe from Foolproof Preserving - America's Test Kitchen
Prep: 15 Minutes
Cook: 45 Minutes
Age: 1 Day
Yield: 2 Cups
Why this recipe works: Sriracha is a fiery-red Thai-American hot sauce fondly known
by its loyal followers as rooster sauce. Traditionally, Sriracha is made from a
fermented chile mash, which is a process that can take over a week. We wanted a
simple, streamlined version of rooster sauce we could make at home without the wait.
Our first test consisted of processing chiles, vinegar, water and garlic, along
with a bit of sugar and salt. We cooked the mixture down to a ketchup-like
consistency, which resulted in more of a chili-garlic paste than Sriracha. By
adjusting the ratio of liquid to chiles and garlic, we were on track to a pourable
hot sauce. We also swapped out white sugar in favor of brown; tasters preferred the
richer, deeper notes of the dark brown sugar. We were getting closer to a more
balanced hot sauce; however, we were missing the fermented flavor of the original.
To achieve the unique flavor, we whisked 2 tablespoons of fish sauce into the chile
mixture along with the sugar and salt. A quick simmer on the stovetop thickened the
Sriracha and allowed the flavors to meld. Passing the finished product through a
fine-mesh strainer gave us a smooth sauce.
Finally, we found it crucial to let the sauce sit for a day to develop its flavor
before serving. Although it's tempting to store this sauce in plastic squeeze
bottles, we found it better to store it in glass; the plastic can add off-flavors to
the sauce as it sits. This Sriracha cannot be processed for long term storage.
1 1/2 pounds red jalapeno or Fresno chiles, stemmed
1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup water
8 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
5 teaspoons salt
1. Working in 2 batches, process jalapenos, vinegar, water and garlic in blender
until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to medium saucepan and whisk in fish
sauce, sugar and salt.
2. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer,
skimming any surface foam, until thickened, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat
and let cool for 5 minutes.
3. Process mixture in blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain Sriracha through
fine-mesh strainer set over bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much sauce as
possible.
4. Using funnel and ladle, portion Sriracha into 2-cup glass bottle. Let sauce cool
to room temperature. Cover, refrigerate and let flavors mature for at least 1 day
before serving. Sriracha can be refrigerated for up to 6 months; flavor will mature
over time.
Celebrity
Eric! Celebrity - we always grew that tomato for market/restaurant sales.
Pete! Japanese Black Trifle - Grew it this year - LOVE the flavor and it was pretty disease resistant for me, too. A VERY sexy-looking tomato. ;)
Ern! Pepper Preserving - I use my sweet/bell peppers in the other things I make - Salsa, V-8 Juice, Bloody Mary Mix, so I never can then on their own. If I have leftovers, which I usually do, I rough chop and freeze them for later use in Chili and Pepper Steak, or I slice them and freeze them for later use in Stir Fry or Fajitas.
I will look around though and see what I can come up with for you. :)
Well, THAT was easy enough:
Freezing
Dehydrating
Fermenting
Pepper Jelly
Pickled Peppers
Sauces and Salsa
Cowboy Candy (I have made this to rave reviews!)
Pepper Relish
Preserving in Oil
https://thefreerangelife.com/preserving-peppers/
Has links to recipes, too.
Recipe I’ve used for the Cowboy Candy. You can use any peppers for this, not just Jalapeno. I used a variety called ‘Sweet Heat’ and they were perfect. Use sweet peppers, and add more heat with additional Cayenne pepper if you want.
https://www.food.com/recipe/candied-jalapeno-or-cowboy-candy-453141
Thanks!
I will probably try the Sirachi sauce since it looks like it will store well, may try some Harrisa if I have some left over.
Have a great trip to Belgium! (Do they even have a representative government anymore? Or just bureaucracy and assorted judicial courts?) Enjoy some chocolate!
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