Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

The Krink · The Forum Celestial Advisor

Canning and Preserving rampage

FMB · Board Modification Mediator

Hot pepper relish.....

I like the sound of that.......!!

Brizy · Internet Punk

FMB wrote:

Hot pepper relish.....

I like the sound of that.......!!

Down around these parts, it's called "hot chow chow"

The Krink · The Forum Celestial Advisor

The hot pepper relish recipe is very simple but it does
take nearly an hour and a half to de-seed enough Jalapeno's
to make 2 quarts of ground up peppers. So far I've done
3 batches. I've been in Jalapeno heaven this October.
The relish is not hot despite it's title. Somehow the cooking
process tames the heat. The reward is the sweet flavor of
the relish that sets it apart from any relish you could buy
at the store. All I know every homemade burger I make
in the next year will have a big blob of this relish on it.

Hot Pepper Relish

2 qt hot peppers, finely chopped (A Cuisinart makes quick work)
2 tb salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups vinegar

Combine chopped peppers and salt, let stand for 3-4 hours.
Add vinegar and sugar, cook, stirring frequently for 45 minutes.
Pour into hot jars and seal. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

jeannie · Signs of Life

just heard the other day Krink......

just pull up the tomatoe vine...... loaded ........and hang er up (upside down ) in the garage, or shed or where ever and the unripe will go ahead and ripen.....

sounds like it's a bit late for this year, but ya might try that next year with a couple vines, just to see.

j

The Krink · The Forum Celestial Advisor

Wow...Jeannie, long time no hear from. I've found it much easier
to just pick the green tomatoes when that time finally comes
when the cold weather is in the forecast. In the numerous
gardening books I have, it's real clear that tomatoes don't do
well when the temps drop into the 40's. It the same reason
why tomatoes are not to be stored in the fridge. The tomato
undergoes a change for the worse. I've tried the upsidedown vine
method a few times with no discernable benefit. Having several
cardboard boxes with picked green tomatoes works better and
are easier to park in a climate above the 50 degree barrier.
One thing though, you need to examine them on a fairly regular
basis as the ripening process happens faster than you expect and
you will end up with several tomatoes that over-ripened and get
soft or start to mold. I picked all my tomatoes on Oct 1st. Two
weeks later and 3/4th of them are red. The remaining 1/4 will be
ready in a week. Just keep an eye on them. Also keep them out
of sunlight as darkness works best.

Brizy · Internet Punk

Krink, Im an easy goin lad...I dont mind seeds with my Jalapenos...Just get rid of the damn stems, that's all I ask

When I make a pit stop at this one town when we dead head south, I always get several jars of hot chow chow....I always picked my own jalapenos and just cut them up with the seeds (no stems) and throw them in the jar of chow chow to make it even hotter....

Tonight, we had chicken and apple sausages that I made on the grill outside...The went well with a toasted bun, a hefty squirt of Guldens spicy mustard and a heaping spoonful of hot chow chow....

The Krink · The Forum Celestial Advisor

Deseeding a jalapeno is not a perfect science as
there always seems to be a couple 100 seeds that
make it into whatever your making. Like I say,
whatever you are making and it has to endure 20
minutes in a hotwater bath is going to be tamed
somewhat. Made two batches of salsa this past week.
One could be sorta hot and the one I made today is
going to bring sweat to your brow as I added about
3/4 pound of chopped tabasco peppers to it. I'll be
glad when I finally come to the end of canning season.

wes · Upgraded Condition

Our contribution to preserving tomatoes is to toss all unused tomatoes in a plastic freezer bag. This works for meal leftovers, a few pieces at a time.

When you accumulate a bag of frozen tomato chunks, seal the bag, refreeze and use for cooking in January.

They are as good as canned tomatoes.............................wes

Brizy · Internet Punk

Some house a block from me through out a box of brand new canning jars...They were moving and they were still in the plastic so I took em....I made some marinara sauce and canned that and some salsa....The salsa turned a weird color after bein in a hot bath before bein canned....I havent tried the salsa yet and to be quite honest with you, Im kind of afraid to...

Pipes FC · Enemy of the State

How did you make the marinara sauce? I make spaghetti once a week and have made spaghetti sauce 100 different ways. I have come to realize that its best just buy a jar for $1.50 and sweeten and spice it up to my taste.

Snippy · Force Majeure

I make my sauce at home by opening a jar of Classico. Just add more 'shrooms and Parmesan.

Pipes FC · Enemy of the State

I just add sugar and red pepper flakes.

The Krink · The Forum Celestial Advisor

I agree with you's that buying a store bought jar
of pasta sauce is economical and will do a good
job with any dish you apply it to. But...if you haven't
grown a shitload of tomatoes in your backyard and
made a sauce from them, you will never know how
much better the backyard stuff tastes. It's very noticable.
The commercial growers use tomatoes that have been
sprayed with pesticides/fungicides, some use genetically
modified tomatoes, the ingredients in the pasta sauce
has many things that I would never use. I guess it's just
a food of love thing making your own sauce using other
organic ingredients, simple, real, and it didn't come from a
1000 gallon vat of tomatoes hauled in by a semi-truck.

The Krink · The Forum Celestial Advisor

Yesterday it was applesauce day at The Krinks as
I tackled box 1 of 2 from my leaning tower apple
tree. It's a funky looking tree...looks like it will fall
over someday. I get usually 2 and a half boxes of
apples from it each fall. Think it's a Macintosh variety.
The last few years I've had this apple maggot problem
with the apples. You don't have any clue to which
apples are good until you start slicing and dicing.
I've sort of adapted to this situation in the way I
make applesauce. I have a separate bowl in which I
slice every apple into. The good uneffected apple goes
into the pot and the bad gets discarded. Somes apples
are perfect and some are 3/4 perfect and some are
totally bad. Takes a bit extra time to get a full 8 quart
pot of good slices but it's worth it. Of course I do 2
8 quart pots at a time. I leave the skins on and cook
it until the apples are soft and then I remove and run
them through a food mill. Leaving the skins on saves time
in the prep work and adds color to the sauce. Ended up
with 15 pints (that all sealed), probably all the applesauce
I can eat in a years time. With box #2, should try to make
apple butter with it. Applebutter is good shit but it takes all
fucking day to make. The shit wants to stick to the bottom
of the pot and so you got to stir it about every 15-20 mins
for a whole afternoon. There is the oven approach which I'm
ready to try in which you put your pot in the oven and bake
it a low temperature. Guess you need to stir it only a couple
times. I just don't want to waste what is free to me. In my
trip to the grocery store today I took a gander at what store
bought applesauce was going for and pints were $1.75 and
quarts were $3.29 and it's not organic. Home grown food
has value.