Wednesday, August 20, 2008

PEPPERS- -DRIED, FRIED AND STUFFED INSIDE



I love peppers. Hot, mild, sweet, any type of peppers appeal to me. I like their pretty colors in the garden but most of all I love the many ways you can use them in cooking. I lost track of how many types I raised this time, because I threw away the little markers. I know I have at least six types of sweet and a couple of hot. I didn't plant enough hot or poblano peppers this year. Next year I will plant more of those. I love the bright red of the little tiny chili peppers.

I have dried enough for a string of dried peppers for my kitchen in addition to putting some up to grind for later. I like the look of dried peppers and herbs, hanging in the kitchen. I think it gives it a homey, warm look. I love peppers too because they are easy to freeze. I just seed, slice and freeze. You don't need to blanch them if you use them in a month or so. Billy will probably use the ground up ones in his tamales. Although I have been known to add hot pepper flakes to kick things up a notch. I love hot! I think they will keep producing up until the middle of October at least.

I like poblano peppers for stuffing with cream cheese and then wrapping with bacon. Pop in the oven until the bacon is brown and crisp. Billy smoked some once and they were really good. I think my favorite way to make peppers though is the same way Mama used to make them. Stuffed bell peppers with rice, meat and cheese was a dish I loved as a child. I love rich, red pepper pesto made from bell peppers for corn chips, crackers, crusty bread, pasta, and roasted potatoes too. You can find that recipe all over the Internet. Everyone has their own version.

If I could only grow five veggies, I would pick yellow squash, peppers, tomatoes, green onions and potatoes.

DIY drying and stringing peppers

15 comments:

Skeeter said...

I was recently using some colorful words after cutting up one of the Saints jalapeno peppers! I made the mistake of taking out the membrane with my bare fingers. I had fire under my fingernails for two days! The burn went down into my entire hand before easing up on me. I knew better but was too impatient to put on a glove for one pepper. Just one pepper right? Ha, lesson learned....

While living in Texas, I started to collect Chili Pepper “stuff”. While living in Germany we competed in Chili Cook-offs and we went with a Chili Pepper theme at our booth. So I added to the collection. Needless to say, all the fun Chili Pepper stuff now adorns the walls, countertops, and cabinets of the kitchen! I like the way the red makes a statement in our kitchen….

I picked up two huge green Bell Peppers at the roadside market to stuff for dinner one night this week...

DP Nguyen said...

I love the different colors that the peppers have--the red or green.. So pretty. I'd love to make salsa with my tomatoes and pepper. We also grow chili peppers, and we just eat them raw ( 'Vietnamese style) but i'm loving the different ideas that i'm hearing from you all.

Cindy said...

Your peppers look so good. Usually we grow many varieties but this year has been a bad garden year for us. Poblanos though, are always a favorite but like you the bells stuffed with meat, rice, and cheese is the comfort food winner.

Susie said...

I enjoy growing peppers. They are so easy. I love hot peppers but not too hot. I have really enjoyed my banana peppers this year.

Lib said...

Hi,
I'm with you on hot peppers,I have to be careful not to get things too hot so I add more after I cook to my plate.
Have a great day!
Blessins',Lib

Anonymous said...

Sounds yummy! When am I invited to dinner? I love peppers too. Their bright colors. But they don't like me much! Always gives me indigestion!
Brenda

Eve said...

Susie, I grew banana peppers but I would leave them to turn yellow and along would come a brother in law and eat them right off the plant while they were still green. LOL

tina said...

Never really thought of the beauty of peppers but now that you mention it they are beautiful! You have a good selection.

Gail said...

Bacon wrapped cheese stuffed poblano peppers sound wonderful and would make my husband smile!

Your vegetable choices are great! There is so much variety among all of them....what fun you could have!

Anonymous said...

I'm going to try to grow peppers next year. I like bell peppers myself because I don't do hot & spicy. :) My husband likes the hotter the better ones. You have a beautiful variety in your garden.

Teresa said...

I don't plant nearly the number of peppers that you do. Mine are container plans that I sometimes bring inside in late September to adorn my garden window in the fall months.I have even had one bloom again the following summer! How do you dry them? String them on fish line?

Eve said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eve said...

teresa, I use thin cotton string and tie them in threes, then I braid them onto a piece of twine. It is called a mexican ristra.

diy ristra

Here is a how to page..you can make them smaller. I make small ones.

cinnamongirl93 said...

Me Too! I love peppers! I even like the hot ones. This year I have sweet yellow,and red. I also have anaheim for roasting. For the first time I tried some little red cherry peppers. Our growing season is not as long as yours. Hopefully the sweet peppers will turn color before our first frost.

Rose said...

I had to laugh at Skeeter's comment. A friend of mine gave me some hot chile peppers once which I dried and kept over the winter. One day, months later, I was crumbling up one into a pot of chili and rubbed my hand over my eye. I had to flush out my eye with cold water for 30 minutes to get it to stop stinging! I learned my lesson the hard way about how potent hot peppers can be!