Chilies – Grow. Cook. Eat.

September 15, 2011

Preserving Summer – Basil, Kale and Chilies

Every year, I grow far more produce than I can actually consume on my own . I can’t help myself, though… Even the seemingly small number of basil plants (only 4) generates far more fragrant leaves than I could eat, even if I were to eat pesto at every meal during the summer. And those kales seeds are so tiny that 4 short rows of plants barely feels like anything until I start cutting 2 gallons of leaves a week.

So I’ve developed all sorts of strategies for preservation.

The past few years, I’ve tried several strategies for freezing basil, both of which I like.

I puree the basil with a little olive oil and then spoon it into ice cube trays. Once the basil is frozen, I transfer it to a Ziploc bag for more compact storage.
I put the dry basil leaves in a Ziploc bag. They get dry and brittle, and crumble.

I intentionally opted against pesto because I don’t want to commit to the flavor profile. And truthfully, I just don’t eat that much pesto.

With the kale, when I harvest more than I can eat in a single meal, I sauté the rest with garlic and freeze it. By now, I’ve got a half dozen quart bags stacked in the freezer.

For the jalapenos, I cut them into rings, simmer them in oil and then freeze them in ice cube trays. When the pepper cubes are frozen, I transfer them to a ziploc bag.

This year, I’m trying something semi-new…. Making a few pounds of herb butter. I’ve made the herb butter before, but never in bulk. I like this idea because I can also incorporate the tarragon and scallions.

Yes, I know, it’s committing to a flavor profile. But this is a profile I really like. And I can still freeze some herbs plain.

What are your strategies for perserving the summer harvest?

Herb Butter
¼ cup fresh tarragon
¼ cup fresh chives or scallions
¼ cup fresh parsley (or 1 tsp. dried)
¼ cup fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried)
2 tsp. fennel seeds
1 pound butter
salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop herbs and fennel seeds. Mix with butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Roll into logs and wrap in parchment paper. Freeze.

January 6, 2011

Money, Money, Money

I’m not superstitious. But as I look to grow my business, I’ll explore every tool possible – from a sound marketing plan to feng shui to the foods I eat.

According to the tenets of Feng Shui, the southeast corner represents wealth. The jade plant with its flat, round leaves that resemble coins, symbolizes prosperity. Placing a jade plant in the southeast corner of your office is the ultimate way to attract wealth.

For food, cooked greens resemble folded money, spring rolls gold bars and clams look like coins. As we turn the corner to a new year, now seems the ideal time to incorporate some of these wealth generating foods into my diet.

Happy New Year! I hope it’s filled with prosperity, health, good fortune and joy.

From the garden: tomatoes

Clams with Red Chili Sauce
(Adapted from The Chinese Kitchen )

4 tsp. chili-garlic sauce
1 tbs. soy sauce
½ tsp. rice vinegar
2 tbs. Shao-Xing Wine
½ tsp. salt
1 tbs. sugar

2 dozen little neck clams
¼ cup shao-xing wine
1 tbs. plain oil
1 ½ tsp. chopped ginger
1 ½ tsp. chopped garlic
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 – 10 oz. can tomatoes
1/8 tsp. salt
3 scallions – cut into rounds

1.    In a bowl combine ingredients for sauce: chili-garlic sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, wine, salt and sugar.
2.    Wash clams thoroughly. Put in a pot with ¼ cup of shao-xing wine. Cover and cook over high heat until the clams start to open. Remove them from the pan as they open as to not overcook them. Reserve the clams and discard the cooking liquid. The clams may give off more juice – save that to add to the sauce.
3.    In a skillet or sauce pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the ginger, garlic and onions and cook for 1 minute or until they soften. Add tomatoes and salt and cook for 5 minutes more.
4.    Toss the clams (and any juice that may have accumulated) into sauce and sprinkle with scallions.
Serve immediately.

September 13, 2010

Julia’s Hot Sauce

A terrible thing happened the other day: I ran out of Lan Chi Chile Garlic Paste. I scoured the streets of Chinatown looking for a replacement jar – I even hit the Korean Markets with hopes that they would have an errant Chinese product. No luck.

I didn’t realize the level of distress this would cause until I set out to make spicy mayo for sushi. I substituted Rooster brand chili garlic sauce. The labels are almost identical: chili, garlic, oil, salt (though the Rooster brand does have a bit of vinegar). But the flavors are miles apart. My need for Lan Chi reached fever pitch.

Finally, I found a supply at the Whole Foods. Of course, it was almost triple the price of what I would find in Chinatown. The price difference only amounted to $2, so I decided to let go of my principals and chalk it up to convenience and time saved hunting.

Yesterday, as I made my own hot-sauce, I pondered how three simple ingredients could taste so different. Much of this depends on the variety of chilies and how they are treated.

Knowing that each variety of chile has a different type and intensity of heat, I bought 4 different varieties: Serrano, Fresno, Jalapeno and Anaheim. To add sweetness, depth (and mellow the heat a bit), I added an onion, a few cloves of garlic, a sweet red bell pepper and a tomato.

I roasted it all in the oven until the chilies blistered and browned. I pureed it with cider vinegar and salt.

My hot sauce has a pop of sweetness in the beginning that gives way to a lingering heat. It’s definitely hot but wouldn’t win any prizes at East Coast Grill’s Hell Night (which, by the way, is next week and all four nights are sold out).

Vinegar based hot sauces will keep for many months in the refrigerator. But to play it safe, I decided to freeze half. I would have canned it, but I ran out of jars.

From the garden: garlic, tomato
From the Farmers’ Market: chilies, onions, red bell pepper

Julia’s Hot Sauce
8 chilies
1 onion
1 bulb garlic
½ red bell pepper
1 large tomato
1 – 2 tbs. canola oil
¼ – ½ cup vinegar
Salt

Remove the stems from the chilies. Peel the onion, and cut into chunks. Peel the garlic. Cut the red pepper into quarters. Remove the stem from the tomato and cut into large chunks.
Toss the vegetables in oil and roast in a 375F oven for 20 – 30 minutes until the chilies are blistered and lightly browned.
Put everything in the blender and add just enough vinegar so that you can puree into a smooth paste/sauce. Season with salt.
Refrigerate, can or freeze.

October 23, 2009

Ms. Misinformation

I always thought that red peppers were merely ripened green peppers; true for both bell and chilies. All summer, I watched my jalapeno plant grow, and waited and waited for them to turn red. After a while, I stopped checking. The green foliage and peppers began to blend in with the border plantings.

When I was in the garden yesterday, checking in on the kale and salad greens, I spied the drooping plant, weighted down with a dozen green peppers. With evening temperatures already dipping into the 30s and 40s, any chance of a red pepper was lost. I snapped off the peppers to salvage what I could. But I wondered if the recent cool temperatures sucked out the heat from the chilies, as rumor had it? I cut one in half, nibbled gingerly on a seed, and confirmed that, in fact, they were still piquant.

To preserve the chilies for the winter, I sliced them into rings, smoked them on the charcoal grill and then packed them in oil in ice cube trays. They add a nice, smoky undertone to many recipes. Sometimes, if I’m feeling sassy, I pop popcorn in a “cube” of smoked chilies. This makes an extremely addictive and thoroughly satifying snack.

So to recap my misinformation:
– Not all peppers turn red when ripe.
– Chilies don’t lose their heat in cold temperatures.

And here’s some correct information about chilies: most of their heat is in the white membranes and seeds. To lessen the heat of peppers, cut these parts out.