February 2010 | Cooking Diva | The Blog of Tropical Chef, Melissa DeLeon

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From the Tropics: Growing Peppers and How to Prepare Hot Sauce!

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As chef, culinary educator and a believer in non-toxic agriculture, I develop my garden as a lab for freshly delicious, seasonal cooking, becoming one of my greatest joys. A friend told me not too long ago "Its garden therapy, and you are The Food Therapist !" ...with a smile I replied, it made click right away because food is what connects me with nature, bringing out my creativity in the kitchen and bringing me closer to loved ones and friends.

When I began my backyard adventure a few years ago when I had my Personal Chef Business in Sacramento, California, I knew little about gardening or growing veggies and herbs. But I learned fast, thanks to some interesting how-to guides available in the internet, textbooks and friends that have their backyard gardens for years. Two of the most important things to learn are: to learn how to nurture the soil, and how to space plants.

Tips for starting your own garden :

Compost unused food: Turn your kitchen scraps into rich soil and then, it will come back into the kitchen when you harvest the vegetables. Interesting thought,...ah?

To avoid unpleasant odors when you compost unused foods, alternates fresh green material (plant and kitchen waste) with layers of straw, then turns the pile regularly for air circulation.

Learn when to harvest. One secret to cooking from the garden is knowing when produce is ready to eat. Taste at different stages to discover how flavors change as vegetables and fruits mature.

How to prepare your own "Hot Pepper Sauce"

Don’t rub your eyes when handling hot chilli otherwise they’ll have you in tears.

Today’s multitude of pepper sauces have a basic set of ingredients: chile pepper, garlic, and onion. After that point, however; the list of ingredients varies as widely as the taste buds of the chili-lovers can bare. Any combination of chile peppers can be found in the small bottles of fire! From cayenne to jalapeño, scotch bonnet, and the hottest of peppers, the habanero; All can be found in any number of hot sauces.

I have to admit that I learned to eat chiles when I lived in Mexico. Before that I probably didn’t pay much attention to it, who knows why. Now I can not live without it. I am a chilehead

When and if you decide to prepare your own, there are few things you should know, well actually two things:
1. Get the freshest habanero peppers. Reds are good, dark red ones are the best.

2. When handling them, PLEASE wear gloves or use a fork and knife. Because…I have heard so many horror stories: you forget you touched them and then you touch your eyes, or just imagine if you use contact lenses and you forget you touched habanero peppers…Oh my…I promise you`ll remember it for the rest of your life.

So, just remember to get the freshest ones and to be real careful when you handle them. Then, enjoy your own hot sauce!

My all time favorite is the one prepared with "Habanero Peppers, " garlic, onion, mustard and tropical spices. The recipe follows:

Picante de Ají Chombo - Habanero Pepper Hot Sauce panamanian Style

Pick the red and unblemished peppers to prepare thsi recipe. Use apple cider vinegar for better taste. Gloves on, or with the help of fork and knife, open the peppers and remove some of the seeds (only if you want a mild salsa)

This recipe yields 10-12 ounces of delicious hot sauce.
Ingredients
15 Habanero Peppers (ají chombo)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, cut in halves
1 medium onion, cut in chunks
2 tablespoons guud quality mustard

Process all the ingredients in the blender or food processor. Put it through a sieve if necessary. Adjust seasonings and add water, vinegar of fresh citrus juice if it’s too thick. Store in the fridge in a glass container, well covered. It will last for up to 3 months refrigerated.

Links:
Some of my other adventures with Chile Peppers: Tepin Peppers Redux
How to grow Capsicum .

by Chef Melissa
December 09, 2008
7:25 pm

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