I put some produce up this week that believe it or not, wasn’t pickled. I know, right?
I stumbled upon this last summer and it worked well, so I decided to try it again. I take an assortment of chili peppers and roast them in the oven until they are done.
Most were from my garden.
The thing about chili peppers is that one plant produces buckets of them. There is always plenty to share.
I happened to be the lucky beneficiary of a chili pepper enthusiast I met at Leni’s Second Wednesdays last week who brought a few extras along.
I’m digging the Peruvian Purple Peppers. I may need to grow some next summer. I grow purple basil & purple pole beans, why not purple hot peppers?
You can also find chili peppers for about 10 cents each at the farmer’s market this time of year. $1 worth of peppers is a great deal. Enough to make a nice hot sauce. (That’s my next experiment.)
Roasting helps the skins pop off and I read somewhere that it makes them hotter because the roasting releases the capsaicin. Don’t quote me on that. It does make them easier to chop up and throw in the freezer.
Last year, I filled small jars with them, but by the time I would finish a small jar, some of them had gone bad in the fridge. So I thought I’d freeze them in ice cube trays and have smaller portions I could work with. It doesn’t always take much of my mix to flavor a dish and I like having my own, local chilis, you know?
I didn’t think about wearing gloves though, so my hands tingled for a good few hours yesterday afternoon and evening. I think I did that last year too. I blame my blondeness. I’m good about washing my hands after chopping peppers, but I did two cookie sheets full of peppers, a grocery bag worth. When you deal with that amount of peppers, you really should consider gloves.
Last year I tried making a hot sauce with cayenne peppers and vinegar and Pat didn’t care for it. So, I’m going to try again, but get a little fancy with it. Maybe add some fruit? I don’t know. Anyone ever make one? Know someone that makes one? I’m now accepting recipes.
Chicken Wire & Paper Flowers 
Love the idea of freezing it in ice trays. I love making homemade salsa and always forget to wear gloves…and I always regret it when I go to remove my contacts that night, youch!
I once chopped raw peppers with bare hands. Lesson learned the hard way.
Those colors are so rich.
i have a big bag of gloves in my kitchen now because over the last few years i've become totally intolerant of tomatoes–all i have to do is pick one off the vine and my hands start itching. slicing or processing them does me in. eggplant does it too, and a couple of the citrus fruits. harris teeter sells a brand that's meant for use with food (as opposed to cleaning your bathroom or handling bodily fluids); they're pretty good, i can even peel peaches in them and not be too clumsy. those peppers look awesome; I'm wishing i'd made it to the market today but company precluded that. hopefully there'll still be plenty next week and i can try some hot sauce too!