Sunday, September 2, 2012

What Do You Do with a Habanero?


   Just this week the habanero peppers decided to kick it into gear producing a plentiful crop..now, what to do with them? Now, the farm boy believes in his crazy 'man mind' that the habanero pepper is totally interchangeable with other peppers; he's nuts. His habanero recipes are fear factor material..just ask a few of our fellow 4H'ers.
   You can use habanero peppers in many of your salsa and sauce recipes, however, due to their insane heat level..you want to seriously consider using only part of the pepper (no seeds). These peppers go atomic before you realize what hit you!
   Our search for a use brought us to a tasty recipe..tangy with a nice heat and beautiful bright orange color. May we present:

Belizean Habanero Hot Sauce

1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup chopped carrot
2 cups water
Saute onion in oil. Add carrot and water; simmer til tender. Cool to room temp before placing in blender.
Pulse a few times to blend before adding:
2 habanero peppers, stems and seeds removed
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Blend until smooth. 

Keeps in fridge for months; may be frozen or processed in a water bath.

Notes:

**Do not look over the blender when you open it..do not.
**Wear gloves when handling habaneros..they will get ya!
**Two cups of water makes for a thin sauce. Instead, I prefer using just enough water to cover the carrots and onions.
**Garlic is a nice addition as is lime zest.

How we eat it:

Cautiously!
In place of any other hot sauce:
on eggs, in sauce, 
drizzled on a burger or sandwich,
in tomato juice or a veggie smoothie (nice kick)
...with bread or milk close by..

Seriously..it's awesome..in that 'fire in your chest' sort of way!
What do you do with habaneros?
Because, seriously, I have more.

8 comments:

Clint Baker said...

That looks very good! I usually just dry them and put them in stuff!

Unknown said...

Honestly, we usually dry them and tuck them away for later. This was a neat diversion from the norm:)

Keli Martin said...

Try making a pepper jam out of them! The sweet/hot would be great poured over cream cheese and used to top crackers or bagels.

Unknown said...

Yum, Keli..my oldest girl made a habanero jelly one year..very sweet with a nice bite..it was delish. What do you pair them with in your jam?

Keli Martin said...

I've paired them with Strawberry Jam but I normally just make a Pepper Jam with them. There is a Jalapeno Jelly recipe in the Ball Book that I use for guidelines.

I would think hot peppers would go very will with peach, mango, or plum jam/jelly.

I generally just follow recipes when I can as I fear screwing up the acid ratio and making someone sick. But I'm working on learning more so I can safely can my own recipes. :)

Unknown said...

Keli, that is awesome..and good pairing. I don't think a pepper here or there throws off the acid too much, but I guess it could happen.
Those Ball canning books are treasures!

Huskerbabe said...

I just picked some of these, first time I've grown them. Then I brought them in to my husband and said "what do we do with these?" Now I know. Giving your sauce a try. Do you think I can use lemon juice. Hate to make another trip to the store.

Unknown said...

Absolutely..lemon would be great!