I've had a bumper crop (in terms of patio farming) of chiles this summer. I've got a few Anaheims (that plant didn't do that well, which is unfortunate, because I use it the most, and often sub it for bell peppers in recipes), quite a few jalapenos (some turning red), a bunch of serranos (about a third of which are now red), a good bush of little yellow but potent tabascos, and the biggest problem--several dozen large habaneros, fit for a sauce for Lucifer himself, and guaranteed to take the hair off any tongue that has the temerity to come within a quarter mile of them. I'm afraid that they'd have the effect of the Guatemalan insanity pepper from the Simpsons episode in which Homer had his vision quest. Muy, muy picante...

What should I do with them, both in terms of when to harvest, how to preserve or dry, and what kind of sauces, salsa, etc. to make with them? Also, how do I do all this, and live, or at least not burn off all of my precious guitar-playing digits?

Powder free latex gloves will be in order for handling (at least of the habaneros!!)

Dry by hanging by stems outdoors or in a cool dry place. Or pickle to preserve (some consider using vinegar for this to be blasphemy, although it's most often how it's done for commerical sales, esp. to the gringo market).

Non-vinegar pickling can be very good for some of the hotter chilis you've got, but avoid most oil-packing methods, as they are trickier and prone to botulism if done wrong.

Google will unearth many chili pickling recipies.

Note that even dried habaneros will need gloves to handle "safely" :-)

I'd dry the habs. myself, as they can then be crushed/powdered, so you can moderate the dose most accurately.

Can you tell I've lived my whole life in CA, AZ, NM and CO?

Oh, the jalapenos you will want to pickle not dry for certain (they are too thick walled!), but they can also be smoked, and then usually canned.

What I do with mine:

1) Dry them whole in a dehydrator, or overnight in a 170-180 degree F. oven. I harvest the day before a first frost, so I have a multitude of colors (aesthetic reasons), or as needed during the season. Longer on the plant, the better, as far as I'm concerned, as long as they're still firm to the touch, but can be used any time. Turning from green to red (or orange, in the case with habaneros, or yellow/purple in some cases - some of the multicolored "ornamental" peppers are just wonderful in fresh salsas during the season because of their color) is a sign of maturity. Dry completely. Drying works best with the smaller, skinnier, thin-skinned chillies - cayenne, thai, "ornamentals". Jalapenos, and some of the thicker-walled chilies don't do well with this method - but can be smoked (after grilling one night, place them on some tin foil with some holes punched in the foil, and leave on the grill (coolest part), or suspended over the grill, until the coals burn out.) String with a needle and thread through the stem and use as gifts, or hang in the pantry, or store in sterilized jars, with air-tight lid to prevent any moisture getting in. Dry means dry. Brittle. Else they may mold. Great in stir frys, or to spice up a soup. (Think of those skinny red thai chilies that you don't bite into in Thai, Sezchuan, or Hunan recipes.)

2) Roast, peel, and seed. Freeze very well. Works with sweet bell peppers, too. Place under the broiler (or skewered over and open flame on a gas stove) until skin is black and charred, rotating as each side blackens. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until cool. Skin should just peel away. Slice lengthwise. Scrape seeds and any white pith. For the habeneros, I use a latex glove on the left hand, which holds the pepper, and use a knife and/or spoon in an ungloved right hand, to core, cut and scrape the seeds, trying to remember not to scratch anything during the process. Layer proportionate amounts in small freezer bags, and use throughout the year. Roasting brings out a sweetness, not apparent in a raw pepper. Poblanos and serranos are wonderful roasted. There's a higher concentration of capsaicin in the seeds, than in the flesh, so this product is usually milder when used.

3) Make spicy vinegars - use whole chilies - optionally add some herbs - tarragon or rosemary - cilantro seeds (coriander). Use throughout the year in marinades, or salad dressings - or gifts. Great marinade (rosemary one) for drying venison (see # 7 below), or any lean meat for jerky.

4) Salsa (more like a relish) is good - add a tablespoons of vinegar, or lemon juice per pint to ensure adequate acid content - onions and garlic should be boiled for a 15/20 minutes before adding to the relish. Fresh peeled, seeded, chopped and drained tomatoes can be used without cooking, and sealed in a water bath. If you have a pressure canner, fresh ingredients can be used without cooking. Follow directions for pickles/relish.

5) Pickle them whole.

6) Freeze whole (sometimes best intentions get thwarted by OBE syndrome) - still quite usuable in cooking.

7) I have a deer/critter problem. Seeds and waste and blemished ones (depending on abundance of harvest) go into a home-made repellent to spray on fence posts and ornamental perennials. 5-1 Water/vinegar ratio. Couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil/quart (or use hort oil, for some insect control.) One or two drops of dishwashing liquid/quart to keep sprayer unclogged (can be added later). Steep for a week or so. Drain out solids, and store. Vinegar can act as an herbicide for some plants - leave it out if you're worried. Used mostly to give the stuff an unpleasant scent (to the critter), and associate the bad taste, so they don't even try the next time. No problems on azalea, rhododendron, roses, lilies, or hostas, in my experience, but I'm not a fussy gardener about ornamentals, so I don't worry about it much. Results are mixed, but that could be because my deer/critter problem is worse than most (uninterrupted forest to the Appalachian Trail), and lack of vigilance in re-spraying after a rain. The other commercial repellents you can buy smell much worse, like your yard is a fermenting area for rotten eggs.

Remember, too, that individual chilies (even from the same plant) can vary remarkably in capsaicin content. Pickling them overcomes that problem and distributes the heat evenly). Good luck.

Personally, I am a big fan of pickled peppers.

Pickled whole are great for cooking, but I like to pickle slices. (A bowl of a variety of sliced peppers is a wonderul addition to snacks and beer.)

G'day,

Get some nice looking glass bottles fill them with olive oil and throw in a few chillies. A few drops gives salads an extra zing. Make lots and gift them to family and friends.

ta

Ralph

I'll second (third? fourth?) the glove wearing. And do not scratch your nose or (especially) rub your eyes while wearing those gloves!

I prefer dried, myself, but I also like pickled peppers. I'm very fond of the ornamentals commonly called 'Christmas peppers', if you ever run across those. Quite hot but very flavorful — and colorful.

Habaneros freeze extraordinarily well. Not well enough to use as you would an uncooked pepper, but you never eat habaneros whole. Well, 99.9% of the population can't, anyhow. Just throw them into a freezer bag and take them out as you need them. I've done this quite a bit and it works really, really well.

I have canned them, too. The trouble with canning them is even the little teeny half-pint cans contain more habaneros than most people could use before they go bad. This doesn't apply to anaheims or most other milder peppers; those should can rather well. I found that canned habaneros lost little of their heat (you can cold-pack them; this just means you're boiling the cans just to make the seal; you're not trying to cook the pepper) and have a good shelf life. Frozen habaneros I've used over a year after going into the freezer without any ill effects.

With Anaheims I'd be tempted to stuff them with cheese and then freeze, to be fried up as rellenos after thawing. Ditto with poblanos, which actually taste a bit better than anaheims to me. You could probably freeze after roasting with no ill effects, too.

Or hand them out to the neighborhood kids and tell them they are cherries.....muahahahahahah!!

Cherries aren't normally yellow-orange and shaped like a small pumpkin, Hefty. Still, you never know who's going to take the dare to eat a whole habanero.

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