We’re overrun with chilies and cherry tomatoes from our garden, so I’ve got a batch of chili in progress. Aside from half a pound of 93/7 ground beef, I dumped in three huge habañeros, three Caribbean Reds, five hot banana peppers, five jalapeños, five zavories, two serranos, an Anaheim, and two cayennes. That’s just for the fresh peppers. I also added some ground (dried) chipotles grande, chipotles morita, anchos, and chiles de arbol. My coffee grinder got quite a workout this morning. Yes, I have another coffee grinder just for coffee.
Of course, there’s also the obligatory chili powder and cumin from a jar. The tomato was a quart of cherry tomatoes that we blanched and processed through my favorite medieval vegetable torture device — a food mill. I happen to like a little corn in my chili, so I cut the kernels off one of the cobs from our garden, and added that. It still has another half hour to simmer, but I can already tell this batch is going to be a stack blaster. Even the small amount of beans that went into it were dried from the Kentucky Wonder beans we grew last year, pre-cooked separately, of course.
I need to mix up a batch of my “tres diablos” powder, which is ground cayenne, ground habañero, and ground chiles de arbol. Those, and the Caribbean Reds, all dry very nicely, with no special treatment. Tossing them in a wicker basket works fine; no need to string and hang them to dry. A pinch of that will liven up a yogurt dip or an aioli. Zavories also dry nicely. Those have the flavor of a habañero, with the heat of a poblano, for those who only like a hint of heat.
Pretty much the only ingredients we didn’t grow in our own garden are the cow, the onion, the garlic, and some of the dried spices. It’s a nice feeling to be able to get a few meals from our own produce, with a minimum of supplemental store bought goods.
whew my mouth is burning, and I’m getting heartburn just thinking about all those chilies!
It was mouth numbing, but not hot enough to make my eyebrows sweat. I did take the time to deseed the habañeros and Caribbean Reds, but the rest went in seeds and all.