Freezing Peppers For Winter

Remember all those peppers I posted about the other day - header shot– well, we did eat some for pepper sandwiches, we did pickle the pepperoncini’s, we gave away a few and put some in the fridge to use, and we froze the remainder.

To freeze the sweet peppers, I first cored them and removed the ribs and seeds then removed any bad spots.  Next I julienned them, 1/2' - 3/4" wide and cut some in half, depending upon their length.  I used to chop some but realized it took hours and it could be done at the time of need just as easily.  Using the various types of sweet peppers and trying to get a mixture of colors, I had this 11"x17" pan filled to this level four times.

The Jalapenos and Santa Fe’s went into separate bags whole and a few of the Santa Fe’s were chunked for kebabs.

I ended up with 11 bags of sweet peppers, about two quart size, weighing about 1 1/2 lbs each.

After freezing, they lose their crispness and don’t work well in salads, but they work great in the many dishes in which we use cooked peppers – chili, meatloaf, meatballs, soups, stews, marinara, pizza, eggs, casseroles, Mexican, stir fry, etc. Most of the things we cook start with peppers, onion, and garlic (the Almost Heaven South trinity) and now we have plenty of all three with the poblano and Anaheim chile peppers yet to come.  We’ll freeze a few more of these and make some roasted red peppers, but many will be offered to our friends.

This winter when you’re paying $3 for a ripe sweet pepper, remember these two photos and the one below and consider that peppers are easy to grow, they have few pests and disease problems, and they are as pretty a plant as many you’re now growing in your flower garden - they look like a nice shrub in my garden - give one a try next year.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Basic Steak And Taters

Larry

Now That’s A Steak

Late last year, I’d bought a whole bone-in rib roast and when I carved it, I cut several big steaks just so I could say - that’s not a steak (knife) this is a steak (knife) - I love that knife line from Crocodile Dundee II.  As a Christmas present, we had given some friends a prime rib dinner but they had been too busy to cash it in and they agreed to these big steaks instead – 2” thick.

We had used the Best Steak Marinade In Existence on flank steak before, really liked it, and decided to use it for these. We put them in it at 9am for an 8 hour soak.

I cooked them on the gasser and used the reverse sear method.  I cooked them indirect to an internal temperature of 125 then gave them a few minute sear per side over high direct heat to add a crust.

After an 8 minute rest, I removed the bone, sliced them up, and added a mushroom béchamel sauce.

We sided them with fried okra, green beans, grilled in the husk corn, and sliced tomatoes.  Not exactly your typical sides for steak, but this is summer in the South and it’s what they requested (they can have a baked potato and salad anywhere).

I made the bechemel sauce using a Mario Batali recipe then the mushroom sauce as follows:

2 ½ butter

2 flour

2 milk

Mushrooms (8 oz. Cremini & 3 oz. Shitaki)

2 tbsp. the steak marinade

In a skillet, saute mushrooms in a little butter and season with S&P and make the béchamel in another pan.  When both are done, add the sauce to the mushroom pan, add steak marinade to taste, re-season with S&P.

Here’s my plate.

Everything was delicious but I had two small problems.  First was that I got the meat perfect for one person but too done for the rest of us, but fortunately ribeye’s fat level makes them pretty forgiving and it was still moist and tender. Second, I made the sauce up ahead of time and the liquid in the mushrooms plus the marinade made it too runny.  It didn’t affect the flavor, but it wasn’t as pretty – next time I’ll use 1 ½ cups of milk, and there will definitely be a next time.

Bev made Pina Colada Sundaes for dessert using a recipe from Dashrecipes.com and it was also a keeper.  I didn’t get a picture, but here's the one from the recipe.

I believe our friends were well pleased with there belated dinner.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Deer Sausage Sandwich

Larry

Let’s Eat Some Chile Peppers Again And Then Again

Tune in to August 9 if you missed the post for our first chile pepper meal.  Jeanie at Cowgirl’s Country Life has often stuffed and roasted or smoked peppers and we decided to go that way for dinner this day, still avoiding Chille Rellanos.

We decided this presented a taste test opportunity between three types of peppers, both green and ripe, and with or without a wrapping of bacon.  I used the same stuffing Bev had made for the previous meal but added about 50% more meat – my pulled pork BBQ.  The stuffing also included cream & cheddar cheese, whole cooked pinto beans, chopped jalapenos, and diced onions.

We sided it with some leftover Mexican rice (to which she added some chopped jalapenos, Southernwestern Style Chipotle Cheddar Dip, and Café Noche Chipotle Hot Sauce) and Bobby Flay Santa Maria Pinquito Bean Relish:

8 ounces slab bacon, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1 poblano chile, finely diced

1 medium Spanish onion, finely diced

2 cans pinquito or pinto beans, drained, rinsed and drained again

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley, for garnishing

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until golden brown and the fat has rendered. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.

Add the poblano and onions to the bacon fat in the pan and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the beans and bacon and cook until warmed through. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put into a serving bowl and top with cilantro or parsley leaves.

Here’s my plate.

The peppers were all good, and I liked both the green and the red, however since I didn’t secure the bacon, it didn’t stay in place.  The additions to the rice kicked it up several notches to closer match our tastes.  I didn’t really care for the beans, which was unusual for a Flay recipe.

The next day, we had several left over stuffed chile peppers and some Santa Maria Pinquito Bean Relish and Bev decided to turn everything into a casserole, so she chopped the stuffed peppers, added some more meat, and beans, stirred it all together and added to a greased casserole dish. Then she poured beaten eggs over it and baked until done – adding some cheese and black olives toward the end - I just love her creativity.

Here’s my plate garnished with some onion, tomatoes, and cilantro.

It was delicious and we had it for both breakfast and supper, but I’m not so sure we can turn it into another dish so we’ll have to just finish it up as is.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Naan Bread Is Good Eats

Larry

Grilled Salmon & Such

We’ve used all but one package of the salmon we bought in Maine and when Kroger’s had fresh, wild caught, sockeye salmon for $8.99/#, we decided to stock up.  I’d decided to buy 6-8 filets but when I went to buy them I learned there were 10 in a box weighing 15#, so I bought the whole box and was pleasantly surprised to find they came from Copper River Seafood Co - on their website, including shipping, it's $20/# frozen.

I cut the bellies and tails from each filet, froze and vacuum bagged them for smoking and froze the trimmed filets individually and bagged in several different serving sizes.  For this meal it was to be just Bev and I so we thawed one nice sized filet for grilling.

Bev had picked some filet beans and wanted to have the Green Bean, Tomato, and Mozzarella Salad we’d had a couple of weeks ago along with some bruschetta using a piece of ciabatta bread we had on hand.  As it turns out, Pam, over at For The Love Of Cooking, recently posted a recipe for homemade olive tapenade and we had all of the ingredients, so we whipped up a batch.

For the salmon, I cut it into two servings, coated each side with olive oil, and added salt and pepper, then Bev's piece got her usual of Emeril’s Essence followed by melted butter while grilling.  For mine, I added some of the olive tapenade after flipping then cooked both pieces to an internal temp of 135*.

Bev made the bruschetta by slicing and toasting the ciabiatta bread, brushing on olive oil, adding sliced tomatoes that were smeared with a little mashed garlic,  spooning on some olive tapenade, and grating some parmesan cheese.  Here's my plate

I took a bite of the bruschetta and it was an instant OMG, this is awesome.  The bean salad was again very good as was the salmon with the tapenade, but both paled beside the bruschetta - next time she makes it, I may not have anything else.

Bill, over at MyWonderful Would posted a frittata the other day and I decided to start this day with one.  I just did my two egg version on the cooktop with a lid on the skillet then sided it with some thin sliced, quick cooked, country ham.

For lunch, it was another fried pepper sandwich - I guess Bev was serious about eating one every day.  It's a good thing I don't eat this way every day.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago: Chicken Galliano Ala Lea Ann

Larry

Gardening Thursday - Successful Lawn Maintenance 2

Last week, we discussed lawn activities for the very important fall season and this week we’ll discuss spring and summer for growing Fescue here in my area.  The following assumes we did the appropriate things in the fall such as fertilizing and planting new grass.

The first thing I do in the spring is apply a fertilizer containing a pre-emergent herbicide to stop germination of any cool weather weeds that may be seeding now and the crabgrass that will be along shortly.  If the proper fertilizer was applied in the fall, all that is required now is nitrogen although a nitrogen heavy blend is generally used.  This first application should be made around March 15 or just as the Forsythias are beginning to bloom.

While they are actively growing, I like to deal with any broadleaf weeds that managed to dodge the fall application of pre-emergent.  Ideally, using a product that contains fertilizer, pre-emergent for the weed seeds, and contact herbicide for the current weeds would be perfect and they may exist, but I’ve not seen one.  So you can generally find only one herbicide mixed with the fertilizer – either the pre-emergent or a weed killer, such as weed and feed, and have to decide which to apply separately.  After the fertilizer containing pre-emergent gets watered in, I deal with the existing weeds using a liquid application of 2-4-D either as a spot treatment or total yard spraying depending upon the amount of weeds.  2-4-D is the active ingredient in most contact weed killers.

Check back to last week for mowing and watering requirements.  Generally in the spring, I mow shorter (about 3 inches) and rarely have to provide supplemental water, but I have a good rain gauge to let me know when I do.

The UTExtension publication recommends a second fertilizer application in mid-April, but I usually wait until early May to carry me farther into the summer.

One of the major issues facing Fescue lawns in the warm months is a variety of fungi that love the warm moist conditions of the lawn.  They are first noticed when some of the leaves within a grass clump begin to brown and the normal reaction is to water the lawn, which is the worst thing that can be done.  When grass is suffering from drought stress, the entire plant will have the leaves develop a bluish hue and begin to curl some and it looks very different than an attack by fungus.

The fungi are more of an issue in lawns that get watered regularly and can be dealt with using regular applications of contact fungicides, similar to veggie plants, using chemicals recommended for turf grass, or by using systemic fungicides.  The systemic fungicides, such as Bayleton, are applied before the fungi appear, are taken up into the plant, and protect it from the inside for about 3 months – so two applications are generally required.  They are pricey but offer the best opportunity to have a fungus free lawn with the least work.

When we moved into our new home about 18 years ago, I wanted to have a lawn and landscaping worthy of the “Southern Living” cover and for a few years my lawn would have been close.  Since my lawn is surrounded by woods on two sides and a cow pasture on the other, both with an unbelievably large collection of weed bearing plants, I found it to be very expensive and time consuming to maintain, especially when coupled with the annual fungus attack.

One of the weeds is Bermuda grass, which I thought I had eliminated from my lawn, but it is incredibly tenacious and kept coming back.  I finally decided that rather than fight the one grass that wants to grow here, I’d just let it take over my lawn.  Here’s a shot of the progress so far and notice the non-existence of fungus or weeds in the Bermuda part  (back) verses the Fescue (front). 

I'm not proposing you switch to Bermuda as it is very invasive and requires regular edging with Round-up to keep it in check and I may regret it someday, but so far I like what it’s doing and I think tan is a nice color for winter – Bev strongly disagrees.

Here are the two UT Extension Publications dealing with turf grass diseases - https://utextension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/pb842.pdf

And weed control - https://utextension.tennessee.edu/washington/Documents/PB956.pdf

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Country Ham For Supple AndBreakfast

Larry

Pepper Day At Almost Heaven South

As I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, Monday was tomato day and before storing, I used them as a backdrop for Tuesday’s  pepper day.

When you look at them, the green or small yellow ones are unripe, the red ones are ripe, and the olive green ones are in the process of turning.  Across the front from left to right are Pepperoncini, a Yellow Bell with Jalapenos (chile) behind, Giant Marconi (swt), and Big Bertha (swt - that ripe one is huge).  In the back row, the first few are some type of thin wall horn pepper (swt), then Sante Fe (chile), California Wonder (swt bell), and a mix of Big Early Bell and Bonnie Green Bell (both swt and very big).  This is my best mid summer crop ever and I'm surprised based upon our early hot weather, so I can only assume it was because we were still having cool nights.

Here’s what will happen to the ones we keep and preserve.  Unless specified otherwise, the frozen ones will be seeded, julienned, frozen on a jelly roll pan, and stored in vacuum bags.

Pepperoncini – pickled in a gallon jug and stored in the fridge

Yellow Bell  - frozen

Jalapeno – frozen whole – I have plenty sliced and pickled

Marconi – frozen

Big Bertha – frozen

Thin wall horn – sliced and fried in olive oil for lunch

Sante Fe – Frozen hole and in half pieces

Cal Wonder – Stuffed for dinner

Big Early & Bonnie Green – frozen

The Sante Fe’s are like a big Jalapeno and will be used to cook with and in salsa.  Since the Pepperoncini’s are new to me, I didn’t know what else to do but pickle them and here they are headed for the fridge.  I could have canned them and kept on a shelf, but didn’t want to cook them.  So I poked a hole in each one and added it to the jar along with 4 cloves of garlic.  Then I poured in the boiling brine mixture of:

6 cups water
6 cups white vinegar
2 Tbsp canning salt

I added 4 cups of the brine, let them set a while then pushed down with a potato masher to force the air out of them and added more peppers, mashed, added more for a total of three additions.  Then I reboiled the brine and filled the jar to the top, came back twice more to mash down.  Here they are ready to store.

We love pepper sandwiches and Bev asked today why we didn’t have one everyday – good question.  Our sandwich consist of thin walled peppers (they fry better), good bread, such as ciabatta, and mayonnaise – nothing else.  I cut the peppers lengthwise into 2 or three pieces in such a way as to provide maximum pan contact and start them over low heat, skin side down with a lid on the pan so they’ll soften faster.  When they brown a little, I flip them and push them down to flatten as best I can them I flip them two more times.  I like to have them pretty soft, but not mushy, with some brown on at least one side – but being careful not to burn them.  

Apply mayo to both sides of the bread and add the peppers to one side.

Add the top, cut in half for Bev and me and dig in.

I might could have added more peppers but it would have been hard to eat and keep together.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Breakfast Mac & Cheese

Larry

Let’s Eat Some Chile Peppers

We had several ripe Poblano and Anaheim Chile’s which pretty well dictated that Mexican be on the menu.  One option is to make chile rellenos with them, but we don’t need the calories and didn’t want the frying mess – sometimes we’re just lazy.  We had enough to eat them two nights in a row, but the first order of business was to char them and remove the skin which I did on the grill over high heat for the Poblanos and Anaheims – I left the Sante Fe’s raw – a new pepper for me this year.

While visiting our kids in White Sands, NM, several years ago, we made a day trip to the Chile Festival in Hatch, NM, which was quite an experience.  While there, we sampled several dishes, one of which was a burrito, which was unique since the stuffing was first stuffed in a roasted green chile pepper prior to being wrapped in a tortilla.  Bev decided to make them this way for our first meal, using red Anaheim Chiles for the pepper and stuffing them with a mix of pulled pork, cream and cheddar cheeses, chopped jalapenos, diced onion, and pinto beans she’d cooked earlier.

It was just another in a long line of outstanding burritos made by Bev and whole pepper was a delicious addition, except my peppers are unusually hot this year and it was more like eating a jalapeno.  Of course the one we had in Hatch was a regular hold-it-your-hand-to-eat version.

We canned another 21 qts of maters/juice yesterday putting us at 65 for the year.  Since my plan is to have my RV parked in some cool climate (Montana, Nova Scotia, both, somewhere else - cool) during next years canning season, we want to do about 100 qts this year.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Creamy Grilled Chicken Piccata Ala Steph

Larry