Today was The Day of the Pepper.
The weather is turning here in the lovely Pacific Northwest. And it is lovely. We live just a few miles from where the deranged child-molester has claimed Portland is on fire, under siege, and rife with boarded up windows and antifa. It is none of the above. Just as a friendly reminder, “antifa” stands for “Anti-Fascist”. It should be the default setting for all human beings and is why we fought the fascists in WWII – and won.
The only fires burning around here are from the peppers we grew this season!
And a few of them are HOT!
We got Aleppo peppers, Jalapeño peppers, Buena Mulata peppers, and Siling Labuyo peppers from out niece, Christine. Since we can’t find them out here, we got Italian Long Hots from New Jersey, and a Scotch Bonnet plant – just because.
We’ve been slowly harvesting and using them as they have ripened, but we’ve jumped right into Fall Weather – which is perfect for the leaf colors, but not so good for the pepper plants.
Today, we harvested.
Our original plan for the Aleppo peppers was to dry them and then grind them up – we use a lot of Aleppo pepper in our house. Alas, they were green when we picked them. No worries, though – I made pickled Aleppo peppers!
Pickled Aleppo Peppers
- 500 g green Aleppo peppers
- 4 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
- 1 ½ cups (360 ml) vinegar
- 1 ½ cups (360 ml) water
- 1 ½ tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsp Aleppo pepper
- 2 bay leaves
Slice into rings, halves, or leave whole (pierce with a knife so brine penetrates). Pack them tightly into clean glass jars with garlic and any herbs/spices you like.
In a small pot, combine vinegar, water, salt, sugar, and dry spices. Bring to a simmer, stirring until salt and sugar dissolve completely.
Carefully pour the hot brine over the peppers, leaving about ½ inch (1 cm) headspace at the top. Tap jars gently to release air bubbles. Wipe rims and seal with lids.
Let jars cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. Allow to cure at least 2–3 days before tasting — they get even better after a week.
Keeps 2–3 months in the refrigerator.
If you want shelf-stable jars, you can water-bath can them (10 minutes for pint jars, following standard canning safety rules).
While those were in the water bath, I made some Aleppo Pepper Oil with Grapeseed oil and dried Aleppo Pepper. It’s going atop soup, tomorrow!
Aleppo Oil
- 6 oz Grapeseed Oil
- 3 tbsp dried Aleppo Pepper
Place cold oil and pepper in a small saucepan. Very gently heat, but do not boil. Turn off heat and allow to cool.
At this point it can be poured into a jar and used as an oil like a chili crisp or strained into a bottle and used as a finishing oil.
I went for the finishing oil. A few drops into a soup or atop eggs adds a dashing touch!
Next were the Scotch Bonnet Peppers…
This was the first time we’ve grown Scotch Bonnet peppers. It was an impulse buy at the plant store. What can I say?!?
Actually what I can say is it has made an awesome hot sauce!
More fun, indeed!
Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce
- 180 g Scotch Bonnet peppers
- 350 mL White distilled vinegar (5% acidity)
- 100 mL Water
- 9 g Salt
- 1 clove Garlic
- 40 g Onion
- 1 tsp Sugar
Remove stems and roughly chop peppers (keep seeds if you like it hotter).
In a small saucepan, combine chopped peppers, onion, garlic (if using), salt, and water. Simmer gently for 10–12 minutes until peppers are soft and the liquid has reduced slightly.
Transfer to a blender and puree until completely smooth. Add vinegar and blend again for 1 minute until silky.
Pour through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible.
Return strained sauce to a clean saucepan. Bring to a simmer (85–90°C / 185–194°F) for 3–4 minutes.
Pour immediately into sterilized glass bottles. Cap tightly and invert for 1 minute to sanitize the cap interior.
With its high pH, it will remain shelf-stable for months. Refrigerate after opening for best results.
While all this was going on, we had the Siling Labuyo peppers dehydrating.
These teeny-tiny peppers are from The Philippines – and they are H-O-T!
I made a hot sauce with them a month or so ago, but this time it was dry and grind.
It doesn’t look like much, but you don’t need much. I’m going to make a compound butter with them and honey.
Should be good!
And finally, for today, was the last of the Italian Long Hots. They went on the grill, roasted, skinned, and into the ‘fridge with a bit of olive oil. They’re excellent on sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs… just about anything.
When we lived back east, we would buy pounds and pounds of them at a great produce store named Gentile’s. We always had them in the ‘fridge!
We still have Buena Mulata and Jalapeños to play with. I think the Buena Mulatos will just go into the ‘fridge to be used whenever. The Jalapeños may become poppers… who knows.
All I do know is we have some sweet heat to keep us going through the winter.
That is a good thing!