Saturday, November 13, 2010

How to use habaneros, Part I

This past week, I wrote about how I had harvested a lot of habaneros. I've been racking my brain on how to use all these hot peppers. Yesterday when my husband left for work, I sent him off with a bag of peppers to give to his friend Max. He originally gave us the plant two years ago. He was happy to receive peppers from the same plant! He couldn't believe we had kept the plant alive, (this is how I know overwintering peppers really does work!)  I decided to mince 3 of the peppers to use in a recipe of homemade chili!  Habaneros are HOT, HOT, so you have to be careful cutting into these.  It's wise to use rubber gloves, I learned this lesson the hard way.  The oils on the pepper will stay on your hands, even after washing your hand, and once I rubbed my eyes and was in pain, despite washing my hands with soap!
I made the chili in the crock pot.  I love any reason to use the crock pot slow cooker.  It's the easiest way to cook and so tasty!
After you set your crock pot, leave it alone for 5 hours on high heat.  Then tada, it's finished.  I like to add chopped scallions and shredded cheddar cheese on top of my chili.  Don't forget a nice dallop of sour cream.  The sour cream helps cool and soothe the spiciness of the chili.  Absolutely heavenly!
With chili, I always like to make some kind of bread item so that we can dunk it into the bowl of chili.  I wanted to make cheddar biscuits but I was out of milk, so I decided to make garlic, cheddar, cilantro breadsticks. These are incredibly easy to make.  Just make your favorite pizza dough recipe, and instead of rolling out the dough, make the dough into strings that you can braid.  Brush the braids generously with olive oil and minced garlic, salt and pepper.  Add shredded cheddar cheese and chopped cilantro.  Bake for 15 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees, or until lightly browned.  Eat while hot.  Delicious!
For more garden to table challenges, check out Greenish Thumb.

9 comments:

  1. Have you tried making homemade eye drops from them? LOL, I couldn't resist!

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  2. wow, that bread looks so awesome. It does sound easy, but you would never know by looking at it. I love your chili. I'm so into my new crockpot but haven't tried the most obvious dish yet! The chili looks amazing all dressed up with cheese, green onions and sour cream - just like I like it.

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  3. I told my Hubs to eat one whole one once without tasting it, he was eating bread and sipping milk for an hour!

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  4. @Erin, that would be such torture! Hahaha

    @Wendy, the crockpot is my ultimate favorite cooking tool! I love it!

    @Jezibels, Your husband ate one whole, Oh My!! His tongue and entire mouth must have been on fire! Did he eat the seeds too! Wow!

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  5. I totally want to come to your house for dinner now. What a delicious post! I'm a fan of scotch-bonnet habaneros in jerk seasoning. I bet they're great in chili, too. :)

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  6. That looks so yummy!!! Great meal idea.
    Habeneros...hot, hot, hot but oh so delicious mixed with sweet oranges and made into a marmalade. We made "bitter heat" marmalade last winter and once my husband cracked the first jar he was hooked. We are definitely going to have to make it again.

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  7. Oh gosh....I put only 1 habanero in a pot of chili one time, and couldn't even eat it afterward! Hot, hot hot!

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  8. Dh made a pot of chili for work the other day and put 3 habaneros and several serranos in it! It did not all get eaten, at work anyway. He is eating it! I tried some but I needed some milk on hand and could not finish a bowl!
    That bread looks yummy. Gonna have to try it!

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  9. Glad you were able to make use of the habaneros.

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