Jalapeno 911 ?!? !?!

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Greg Who Cooks

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I have been struck lately by jalapeno madness, induced by my discovery of Pioneer Woman's blog some months ago, and her Jalapeno Poppers recipe. The poppers are really good! I would have made poppers last evening but my guest was a cheeseophobe (doesn't like cheese) and today I've realized that I've overbought jalapeno chili peppers. Today my jalapenos are starting to look a bit wilted and I'm pretty sure jalapeno peppers and tonight's sushi fare are on different continents!

So frugal that I am, and not wanting to commit to a jalapeno friendly appetizer tomorrow night (probably cooking an Asian shrimp recipe, perhaps Shrimp and Walnuts in Spicy Cream Sauce (Chinese) or Thai Shrimp Curry), it looks like I need to plan on preserving my jalapenos.

One thing I know for sure, almost any chili can be fire roasted (barbecue or broiler) until the skins blacken. Allow to cool then rinse under running water while you use your fingers to tear off the skin. When this is finished you rinse under running tap water while you tear off the skins. (This process mimics the New Mexico treatment of their Hatch chilis.) Then you either core them or not, chop them up, and you've got diced roasted chilis. (Should I add vinegar or EVOO or something to preserve them and keeping them from oxidization?)

Or otherwise can anybody give me suggestions on how to keep these jalapeno peppers usable considering IMO tomorrow will be the last day they will be useable without some sort of treatment?
 
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I blanched mine and frozz them in food saver bags. I also made some really good jelly. The jelly makes a good glaze! I defrosted a bag the other day and made poppers wraped in bacon, thet were pretty good. Hope this helps, Joe
 
I slice them and freeze them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper (if one freezes on, it's easier/quicker to get it off wax paper than metal). Then when they are frozen, I put them in a freezer safe plastic container and back in the freezer.
 
I freeze them whole. No blanching, no seeding, no issues.

The Foodsaver bags are made for this.
 
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I freeze them whole. No blanching, no seeding, no issues.

The Foodsaver bags are made for this.
According to Joy of Cooking, sweet and hot peppers don't need to be blanched before freezing. I usually cut jalapenos in half, I don't remove seeds or membrane. They freeze quicker in halfsies, but if you can freeze them in a bag, so they aren't stuck together, that wouldn't matter.
 
I pickle mine.
Slice Jalapeno's. Bring one cup of white grape vinegar, one cup of water, 1 tsp of coriander seeds, 1 tsp of mustard seeds, 1 heaped tsp of sea salt or kosher salt, 2 tsps of sugar to a boil. Add Jalapeno's and simmer for 2 mins.
Spood Jalapeno's into jars, top with brine and seal. Leave to cool and refridgerate till needed.
They last a few months in the fridge but you can boil the finished jars covered in water for 10 mins to make them last longer.

Double amount of brine if you need more, depending on your amount of Jalapeno's.
 
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Thank you everybody for your suggestions. I think I'll try a variety of the methods and test which produce the best results. Also, depending on what I decide for dinner (the jury is still out) I may make some poppers, a delicious way to preserve them in my stomach! :yum:

BTW, I've been freezing Thai chilis since although I use them fairly often you get a really large amount per container (plastic wrapped styro tray) like my current one half a pound at $4.99/lb. I still face the issue of them going bad before I can use them all. Out of the freezer and thawed they're all rubbery although I think they taste about the same. I prefer them to be firm but there doesn't appear to be any way to preserve them that way. Perhaps a good idea would be to slice them into thin rings (my usual preparation) and freeze them that way and then I won't be faced with slicing rubbery chilis.

Maybe I'll slice and clean the jalapenos so they're popper ready. In fact I wonder how it would work to make the poppers, bacon, toothpick and all, then freeze them. In fact they might even work direct from freezer to oven. Any opinions on that?
 
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Thank you everybody for your suggestions. I think I'll try a variety of the methods and test which produce the best results. Also, depending on what I decide for dinner (the jury is still out) I may make some poppers, a delicious way to preserve them in my stomach! :yum:

BTW, I've been freezing Thai chilis since although I use them fairly often you get a really large amount per container (plastic wrapped styro tray) like my current one half a pound at $4.99/lb. I still face the issue of them going bad before I can use them all. Out of the freezer and thawed they're all rubbery although I think they taste about the same. I prefer them to be firm but there doesn't appear to be any way to preserve them that way. Perhaps a good idea would be to slice them into thin rings (my usual preparation) and freeze them that way and then I won't be faced with slicing rubbery chilis.

Maybe I'll slice and clean the jalapenos so they're popper ready. In fact I wonder how it would work to make the poppers, bacon, toothpick and all, then freeze them. In fact they might even work direct from freezer to oven. Any opinions on that?

It should work, cheese doesn't freeze solid so it will still melt. Just wrap them airtight.
 
I ended up (a.) eating some poppers, (b.) cut some in half, removed the seeds and froze them for future poppers, (c.) roasted 2 whole under the broiler, skinned and chopped them, and (d.) found 1 left when I was cleaning up so I removed part of the insides and minced it.

The ones I roasted, peeled and shopped turned into a rough puree and looks like it will be good to use in recipes. I won't know more until I've used some of the various processed jalapenos I've made. At least they're not all going wrinkly on the counter and making me wonder why I bought so many. They're really inexpensive though, IIRC 3 pounds for a dollar.
 
How about a short version of how you pickle your jalapenos?

Easy as pie! Wash and slice Jalapeno's. Bring a mix of half water half white grape vinegar to a boil. Add about a tsp of sea salt or kosher salt for each cup of vinegar and 2 tsps of sugar. Add a few mustard seeds and coriander seeds. Add jalapeno's to vinegar mix, simmer for 2-5 mins. Jar and seal. Allow to cool and refridgerate till needed.

Ask me again tomorrow and I'll give you another way :LOL: I don't use recipes much, cook by instinct and taste ;)
 
Easy as pie! Wash and slice Jalapeno's. Bring a mix of half water half white grape vinegar to a boil. Add about a tsp of sea salt or kosher salt for each cup of vinegar and 2 tsps of sugar. Add a few mustard seeds and coriander seeds. Add jalapeno's to vinegar mix, simmer for 2-5 mins. Jar and seal. Allow to cool and refridgerate till needed.

Ask me again tomorrow and I'll give you another way :LOL: I don't use recipes much, cook by instinct and taste ;)
Copied and pasted. I waste jalapeños far too often.
 
Copied and pasted. I waste jalapeños far too often.
Enjoy :)
P.S Change the spices to your taste, I change them often. I sometimes add paprika, a few sliced onions, a dash of cayenne, some garlic flakes etc. As long as you add the vinegar and salt you can play around with it a bit. Salt and vinegar help preserve the Jalapeno's.
 
Since this is a Jalapeno thread I thought I'd just ask a quick question. Half of the Jalapeno's I pickled were ripe and red. I've never tasted the ripe ones. How are they? Does the taste differ much?
 
Easy as pie! Wash and slice Jalapeno's. Bring a mix of half water half white grape vinegar to a boil. Add about a tsp of sea salt or kosher salt for each cup of vinegar and 2 tsps of sugar. Add a few mustard seeds and coriander seeds. Add jalapeno's to vinegar mix, simmer for 2-5 mins. Jar and seal. Allow to cool and refridgerate till needed.

Ask me again tomorrow and I'll give you another way :LOL: I don't use recipes much, cook by instinct and taste ;)

That's about what I expected. Add vinegar, sugar salt, and maybe some mustard. I amost did that.......
 
I used to work with a guy who prided himself on pickling his own jalapenos. One day he came to work and told me had forgotten about some he had put up in jars. They had eaten through the metal lids. WOW. One drop of that stuff was:w00t2: well let's just say. FIRE!
 
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