Grow Hot Peppers

Great balls of fire!

Oh how we loved red hots. And atomic fire balls. They sure were hot! Well, Dr. Timmy has been at it in his lab again. He was mixing some candy and some peppers and some electromagical radiation when his lab exploded! At the bottom of the wreckage were a few red candy balls. Dr. Timmy popped one in his mouth and realized he had discovered something amazing: the hottest balls he’d ever had in his monkey mouth. He called them: Timmy’s Great Balls of Fire; but we call them Ghost Pepper Super Hot Candy Balls.

Ghost Pepper Super Hot Candy Balls are exactly what their name implies. They are candy balls that have Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia) powder inside and coating them. The result is over 1 million SHU of heat! Why? Because we know you like hot balls, and because we wanted to make sure you had the hottest balls available. Ghost Pepper Super Hot Candy Balls will blow your mind and kick your mouth’s butt. “It was like my tongue was punched in the face with a fistful of atom bomb,” says young Zack, our photo-victim-du-jour. So trust Dr. Timmy, and get some of these Ghost Pepper Super Hot Candy Balls for yourself, your friends, and your enemies. If you dare!

For nutrition information, click here.

Ghost Pepper Super Hot Candy Balls

• The hottest candy balls you’ll ever eat – made with (and dusted with even more) Ghost Pepper Chili Powder!
• So hot. Oh so hot.
• Warning: Wash your hands after touching these balls. Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia) powder can cause skin and eye irritation. Seriously, be careful.
• Heat Rating: over 1 million SHU.
• Contains approx 30 balls per box.
• Net Wt.: 4 oz Box
• Dimensions: approx 2.75″ x 2.75″ x 1.375″

Purchase Ghost Pepper Super Hot Candy Balls Now!

Salsa Canning Options

Once you have your hot salsa canning recipe ready to store, you have a couple of options for how you actually preserve your homemade sauce. First, you can use a pressure canner device that guards against botulism and safely preserves the salsa. Second, you may use a homemade water-bath canning process, which uses a deep metal container, your stove and boiling water. The water-bath canning procedure is safe to use only for salsas because the sauce has high-acid liquids and vegetables; however, if you also plan to use the canning process for preserving your chillies, a pressure canner must be used to be absolutely safe.

Pressure Canning Your Salsa

Before you begin the salsa canning process with a pressure canning machine, be sure you have the manufacturer’s instructions at your disposal. The process that follows is a basic how-to guide, but the instructions for your specific pressure canner are to be followed exactly as specified to ensure this procedure is properly done.

First, pour your fresh salsa into freshly washed, glass jars and leave at least an 1 inch of space at the top. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt per pint, and pour in boiling water until it reaches the top of the jar.

Next, screw the jar lids on tightly and follow your instructions for putting the jars in the pressure canner. This process will make the steam escape from the jars. After 10 minutes of steaming, shut the petcock and allow the canning process to run for 30 minutes for half pints and 35 minutes for pints.

Finally, remove your jars from the canner’s heat source until the pressure reading reaches zero (this typically takes 30 minutes). At this point, open the petcock and after a few minutes, release the canner to take the jars out. Store the salsa jars in a location that has no drafts to allow the jars to effectively come down to room temperature.

Once finished, wait a day or two to check that your jars seals are tight and then place them in a dry, cool area that doesn’t get too much sun.

Water-Bath Canning Salsa

Water-bath canning does not require a special device and is ideal for your salsa because the accompanying vegetables and liquids have a high-acid content, which keeps your sauce safe. It’s important to note that during this process, you must monitor the pH level of your sauce to ensure the safety of this preservation method. A level of 6 or lower, for example, is a safe reading for water-bath canning, but a level of 7 or higher requires the use of a pressure canner (see above) or a freezing process. You have the option to add lime juice, vinegar or lemon juice (or just equal parts of the lemon and lime juice) to acquire the ideal pH reading if needed.

Begin by placing a rack at the bottom of a large metal pot. Place your washed jars on top of this rack to keep them off of the bottom of the container during the boiling process. This pot needs to be deep enough to allow for 2 inches of boiling water over the tops of your glass jars.

Next, use a separate pot to boil your homemade salsa and then let it simmer for a few minutes. Once finished, pour all of the sauce (including the accompanying liquid) into your open jars and screw on the lids. Pour in the water, which needs to be 2 inches above the lids, and allow it to boil for a half hour. If necessary, add more water to ensure the jars are covered at all times.

Lastly, take out the jars after the boiling process and place them in a draft-free room to enable them to cool down. Once the temperature has gone down, ensure the lids are tight and store them in a cool, dry location until consumption.

No matter the process you use, it is best to eat your preserved sauce within a year of the salsa canning. It’s a good idea to write the date on the jar’s label to keep track of this. When your ready to eat it, make sure you don’t see any bulging lids, leaking or strange appearances in your salsa, and if it smells or has mold when you open it, just throw the affected jars away.

More importantly, have fun enjoying and sharing your own fresh, homegrown salsa! Oh yeah, and prepare for the onslaught of requests for your delicious concoction. =)

Click Here for Salsa Recipes from the Winners of Seven Scovie Awards!

There’s nothing like the taste of fresh, homemade hot salsa, and if you use your own homegrown hot peppers, the taste is even more explosive! Salsas can be used on all kinds of food from toppings to tacos and burritos, dips for chips and even a delicious addition to your eggs. This hot salsa recipe makes 6 to 8 pints so you have enough to enjoy right away and store some for later. The most important thing to remember before you begin is to use absolutely fresh ingredients.

 

 

Salsa Canning Ingredients

• Tomatoes: peeled, cored, chopped (10 cups)
• Chili peppers: mixture of mild, such as bell pepper, and hot such as jalapeno or habanero chillies (6 cups)
• Onions chopped (4 cups)
• Vinegar (1 cup)
• Salt (3 teaspoons)
• Pepper (1/2 teaspoon)

Place all of the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat it to a boil. Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes. Continue on to the salsa canning process page for information on safely preserving your sauce in jars.
(Chile Salsa/Hot Tomato-Pepper Sauce recipe from Washington State University Extension; Val Hillers and Richard Dougherty)

If you prefer not use vinegar in this recipe, you have the option to use equal parts of lemon and lime juice. Also, spices may be adjusted according to your preference. Do not modify the amount of vegetables to acid and tomatoes because it may raise the pH to a level that is unsafe for preservation. See the salsa canning process for further information.

Your homemade hot salsa generally has a shelf life of a year. Enjoy your creation throughout the months, or gift it to family and friends.

Click Here for More Salsa Recipes!

This tomato jalapeno sauce is used to top the jalapeno pepper rellenos from the last post. This and a bit of shredded cheese will make it look and taste as delicious as the picture looks.

Stuff You’ll Need

You will need 4 tomatoes, 1/4 of an onion, 1 garlic clove, 2 jalapenos, the seeds and veins from the jalapeno rellenos(the ones I said not to throw away), some olive oil and one 8oz. can of tomato sauce.

Step One

Cut the tomatoes, onion and jalapenos into small chunks. You don’t have to chop them finely since you will be blending everything in the end. Everything just needs to fit nicely in the pan.

Step Two

In a pan, drizzle a bit of olive oil thinly coating the bottom of the pan and start heating on medium. Add the tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, garlic clove and seeds/veins from the jalapeno pepper rellenos. Let everything heat and when the onion is caramelized and the tomatoes and jalapenos are soft, add the tomato sauce. The whole can. Continue heating until it comes to a boil and all the vegetables are soft. Reduce heat and add salt to taste.

Step Three

Pour everything in a blender and blend. The tomato jalapeno sauce is done.

Step Four

If you’ve cooked the rellenos. Just spoon a bit of the tomato jalapeno sauce over the rellenos, add a bit of shredded cheese on top and enjoy. Don’t forget to remove the toothpicks!

Jalapeno Sauce In Action

If you have not made the jalepeno pepper rellenos, then you can read how to make them here. You can also use the tomato jalapeno sauce on top of scrambled eggs or huevos rancheros. In my opinion it tastes better warm, but you decide.

I love chiles rellenos. One of my favorite dishes to this day, which isn’t great for my lactose intolerance, but so worth the pain. While I was playing mad scientist in my kitchen I had the the brilliant idea of combining one of my favorite foods with one of my favorite peppers. As much as I love and favor the habanero pepper, there’s no way I would do this with habaneros.

Jalapeño pepper rellenos are almost like jalapeño pepper poppers(say that real fast ten times), but with my Mexicanness melded in. You will need some jalapeño peppers, a few eggs, some grated cheese (I like Monterrey), flour, olive oil and wooden toothpicks.

Step One: Char the Jalapenos

You can use a broiler and periodically turn the jalapenos until they are completely black. The method I used was on a gas stove with the flame. I’m a glassblower and I like the fire. Put a jalapeño on a skewer and let it sit right on top of the flame. You will also need to turn it periodically. I used two burners so I could char two peppers at a time. Be careful this is an open flame after all. Make sure the jalapeños are completely black and as soon as you char them put them in an air tight container. This will steam the peppers making them soft and easier to handle. Let them steam for at least 10 minutes. In the meantime you can go to step two.

Step Two: Prepare the Batter

The amount of eggs needed is in direct proportion to the amount of peppers you charred. The more jalapenos you have the more batter you will need. As a heads up, in my experiment I charred 6 jalapenos and went with 6 eggs which was way too much. It would have worked with 3 or 4 eggs. Separate the whites and yolks into different containers. Beat the whites until they are frothy and you get the peaks. Add some flour and continue beating until it is completely mixed in. For 6 eggs I used 1/4 cup so less if you used less eggs. Add the yolks and again, beat until everything is mixed. You can put the batter into a container with lid and refrigerate until needed.

Step Three: Peel the Jalapenos

The jalapeno peppers should have been steaming for at least ten minutes. Open the container carefully and peel the charred skin off the jalapenos. The steaming process should make this a lot easier.

Step Four: Add the Relleno

Relleno is stuffing and traditionally, chiles rellenos are stuffed with cheese. After peeling the peppers, make a small cut down the length of the pepper, just enough to open it and get the seeds and veins out. Don’t throw them out, you will be using them in part two when making the tomato jalapeño sauce that goes on top of the jalapeño pepper rellenos.
After removing the seeds and veins, stuff them with a bit of grated cheese. I used some freshly grated Monterrey, squeezed the cheese into small ovals, and placed the cheese oval into the pepper. I then used the wooden toothpicks to close the pepper up.

Step Five: Everything Comes Together

Pour some flour onto a small plate and roll the stuffed peppers in the flour making sure they are covered completely.
Pour some oil into a small saucepan filling it up about 2 to 3 inches deep. Heat the oil on the stove until it’s ready for frying. You’ll know it’s ready when you drop a pinch of flour in the oil and it sizzles.

Dip the jalapeño peppers in the egg batter that was prepared in step two and make sure they are completely covered.

Then place them in the hot oil until brown. Use some tongs to get them out and place them on a plate with paper towels to soak the oil. In part two I’ll show you how to make the tomato jalapeno sause that is poured on top of the jalapeno rellenos.

Here are the finished jalapeño pepper rellenos:

Like the three stooges, “Peter, Paul and Mary”, and the three little pigs, Habanero, Lime and Patron were always meant to go together. They, complete each other. Keeping that in mind, I’d like to share my recipe for the habanero margarita. Being of Mayan decent and in honor of the birthplace of the habanero, this recipe is based on the Yucatan three part margarita. I guess three will be a running theme in this post. Speaking of three, in Merida, Yucatan, the mariachis don’t do the serenading, it’s the “Trios”. A group made up of three guitars, hence trios for three. The Yucatan margarita consists of three equal parts. One part tequila (Use the good kind 100% blue agave, we use Patron), one part Controy (Mexican orange-flavored liqueur, we use Patron Citronge) and one part freshly squeezed lime juice.

In technical terms:
1 oz. Patron
1 oz. Patron Citronge
1 oz. Freshly squeezed lime juice
You could use more than one ounce, just make sure the three parts are equal.
Now the fun begins.

Option 1

You can finely chop an habanero pepper or part of an habanero pepper or I suppose a pepper with less kick will do, then put all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake like the wind. Strain into a martini glass for an Habanero Margarita Straight Up or pour into a glass (rimmed with lime and salt) add more ice if needed. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Option 2

Pour the Patron, Patron Citronge and lime juice in a blender add ice and an habanero pepper (with seeds if you’re brave) then blend. This works better when making multiple margaritas that require more than 1 oz. per part. Pour into a glass (rimmed with lime and salt) and garnish with a lime wedge.

Option 3

Instead of using regular freshly squeezed lime juice, you can use a special habanero infused lime juice. The habanero infused lime juice is made by coarsely chopping an habanero and adding it to freshly squeezed lime juice yes, seeds and all. Let it sit in the fridge so that the lime juice absorbs the habanero flavors. The longer it sits the spicier it will get. You can use this habanero infused lime juice in Options 1 and 2 above instead of adding the habanero pepper. The new recipe would be one part Patron, one part Patron Citronge and one part habanero infused lime juice. Put the ingredients in a blender or shaker whatever option you prefer and enjoy.

Closing Note

Jenny likes to add just a splash of Blue Agave sweetener. It adds a certain “sweetness” to the margarita. But then technically that’s not a Yucatan margarita and my preference is without it. I’m a purist, what can I say.

Disclaimer

Yes I have discussed alcohol and as such will cover my you know what by publicly stating ‘Drink Responsibly’