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EoS Salsa Cookout... Got Tips?

Hey guys!!! For those that don`t know me already this is my first season growing on a large scale. I have about 13 different pepper varieties, all planted at the same time and some have started producing while others have a slightly longer maturation period.

Well, recently I was able to pull some Carribean Red Hots off my plant and made a salsa with those, some of my hungarian hot wax, black pearl, some fresh tomatoes I picked and a couple serrano peppers I bought from the store.

It made this beautiful salsa that really highlighted the flavor profile of the carribean and black pearl with fruity and spicy goodness. My friend and I decided we want to do an End of Season Cookout now where we do a similar salsa and feature each one of my super hots per salsa.. line it all up with some spanish dishes and let the family and friends go crazy.. See who can handle the heat and all that haha.

Im doing my own research, but have gotten some great answers from the community on here... So Im asking!! lol... See my problem is some vegetables are ripe now and others will be ripe later and I want to use them all at the same time for salsa.

So keeping in mind that its for salsa.. and keeping in mind this salsa is supposed to feature the super hots... what are YOUR best suggestions for me to keep the flavore of the stuff that`s ripe now.... should I freeze them.. pickle them... dehydrate the re-hydrate later..?!?

Haha what do you guys think? And if you read all this you are amazingggg!!!

Also, if you HAVE any salsa recipes youd like to bless me with I am ALL eyes!!! Id say all ears but like... we probably wouldnt actually be talking... haha.
 
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:welcome: to THP, The Shag~
 
I'm not sure I understand all of the question, but here's a couple comments-
Some fresh veggies like onions can be stored in a root cellar environment for months.
 
if you want to use your own home grown, fresh chiles can be saved for a few weeks in a refer or root cellar-type place using those Veggie-Fresh produce bags.
tomatoes and such...yea, pretty much gotta use 'em fresh...
 
Pickling will change the flavor of the produce, I would not suggest pickling if you are trying to preserve the initial flavors.
Freezing will save the flavor but change the texture...ie...it will be mushy compared to the same as fresh
Dehydrate then rehydrate....if you are looking for TopShelf fresh salsas that hightlight each pepper, I don't think dehydrating will do the trick.
 
I feel like freezing preserves the flavors the best, dehydrating is second best.  Both significantly alter the texture, which may or may not be an issue when making a fresh salsa.
 
 
For teh peppers...the veggie bags, dehydratign or freezing will preserve the best flavor of each chile.  If you are using superhots in a salsa that normal people would eat, there probably wouldn't be a whole lot of the pepper in the salsa.
 
I'd suggest saving each pepper as you can (but not pickling) and then procuring the rest of the ingredients for the salsa fresh (farmers market or grocery store) when it's time for your party. 
 
Hope this helps.  Good Luck and Have Fun!!!
 
salsaLADY
 
One suggestion is, dehydrate and make powder from the supers and other peppers except one, the one you want as the base for the salsa. So then, when you make all the salsas, you make it with FRESH tomatoes and a fresh pepper, let's say jalapeno for this exercise. Then, you spice up the salsa with the respective superhots, so you can say "here is a 7 pot salsa, here is a scorpion salsa" etc. and they are able to taste all the pepper flavors well because the base is the same! I actually find powders work VERY well in salsa when you have a good base, as, sometimes, the fresh pepper when a superhot just does not work in salsa well. The powders ensure the flavor is incorporated well and you can dial in the heat easily, by testing a few shakes at a time. The "base" itself should taste like a good mild salsa that could be eaten alone, but mild.
 
With hot sauce you have vinegar and fruits and all kinds of stuff, then it's cooked well (as is commercial salsa), but with fresh salsa, you are getting slapped in the face with minimal fresh ingredients, so that's why the powders work well when adding to it. The superhot, diced up in there, could actually ruin it. Powders = smooth pepper flavor, but still :mouthonfire: ;)
In fact, if you look at some commercial salsas you may see fresh jalapenos, and ghost powder, in a ghost salsa.
 
Just one suggestion, many ways to go about it, freeze peppers (as salsalady said), and make pureed salsas (as Spokanepepperman said) for good incorporation as well.
 
salsalady said:
:welcome: to THP, The Shag~
 
I'm not sure I understand all of the question, but here's a couple comments-
Some fresh veggies like onions can be stored in a root cellar environment for months.
 
if you want to use your own home grown, fresh chiles can be saved for a few weeks in a refer or root cellar-type place using those Veggie-Fresh produce bags.
tomatoes and such...yea, pretty much gotta use 'em fresh...
 
Pickling will change the flavor of the produce, I would not suggest pickling if you are trying to preserve the initial flavors.
Freezing will save the flavor but change the texture...ie...it will be mushy compared to the same as fresh
Dehydrate then rehydrate....if you are looking for TopShelf fresh salsas that hightlight each pepper, I don't think dehydrating will do the trick.
 
I feel like freezing preserves the flavors the best, dehydrating is second best.  Both significantly alter the texture, which may or may not be an issue when making a fresh salsa.
 
 
For teh peppers...the veggie bags, dehydratign or freezing will preserve the best flavor of each chile.  If you are using superhots in a salsa that normal people would eat, there probably wouldn't be a whole lot of the pepper in the salsa.
 
I'd suggest saving each pepper as you can (but not pickling) and then procuring the rest of the ingredients for the salsa fresh (farmers market or grocery store) when it's time for your party. 
 
Hope this helps.  Good Luck and Have Fun!!!
 
salsaLADY
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Thank you Salsa Lady!! You echo the sentiments of what Ive been reading online haha. I puree the tomatoes so that should be fine but do like some chunk from my peppers so the mush may not quite work for me.. Haha hmmmm... only way to truly know is to try!! Trial and error for the sake of the best food!!! haha. Great response Ms. Salsa
 
Spokanepepperman said:
I freeze mine for flavor but salsalady said it they turn to mush! But since I puree them anyways makes no difference if added to fresh Toms and herbs!
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Soooo you puree the peppers and add chunky tomatoes and fresh cilantro? Do you also roast the peppers or anything like that?
 
The.Shag.Gardens said:
Soooo you puree the peppers and add chunky tomatoes and fresh cilantro? Do you also roast the peppers or anything like that?
Click to expand...
Fresh diced tomatoes cilantro and pureed peppers and onions sometimes I smoke my peppers sometimes fire roast them, white bullet habs I just use raw cause I love the flavor. It just depends on the flavor profile I'm looking for. But I love to experiment and see what works!
 
The Hot Pepper said:
One suggestion is, dehydrate and make powder from the supers and other peppers except one, the one you want as the base for the salsa. So then, when you make all the salsas, you make it with FRESH tomatoes and a fresh pepper, let's say jalapeno for this exercise. Then, you spice up the salsa with the respective superhots, so you can say "here is a 7 pot salsa, here is a scorpion salsa" etc. and they are able to taste all the pepper flavors well because the base is the same! I actually find powders work VERY well in salsa when you have a good base, as, sometimes, the fresh pepper when a superhot just does not work in salsa well. The powders ensure the flavor is incorporated well and you can dial in the heat easily, by testing a few shakes at a time. The "base" itself should taste like a good mild salsa that could be eaten alone, but mild.
 
With hot sauce you have vinegar and fruits and all kinds of stuff, then it's cooked well (as is commercial salsa), but with fresh salsa, you are getting slapped in the face with minimal fresh ingredients, so that's why the powders work well when adding to it. The superhot, diced up in there, could actually ruin it. Powders = smooth pepper flavor, but still :mouthonfire: ;)
In fact, if you look at some commercial salsas you may see fresh jalapenos, and ghost powder, in a ghost salsa.
 
Just one suggestion, many ways to go about it, freeze peppers (as salsalady said), and make pureed salsas (as Spokanepepperman said) for good incorporation as well.
Click to expand...
Wow that is super interesting..!!! Ive definitely messed around with drying out peppers into a powder and do like the development of taste... your input has made me want to experiment and dry some peppers while keeping some fresh and trying them side by side... But youre saying that the dried powder with a fresh diced pepper sometimes doesn`t work...? why is that? The flavors dont mix right or something?
 
No prob, we want to see pics of this feast! I am not saying fresh won't work, I'm saying sometimes they come across harsh, like eating a raw pepper and how that varies from a cooked one. And some peppers have some upfront qualities, like perfumy, chinensy, whatever. that are tamed when drying. :)
 
PS. A lot of Mexican salsas (and moles) are made from dried chiles. And remember chiptole is always a dried chile, had chipotle salsa? ;)
 
Haha noo I dont think Ihave had any chipotle salsa and if I did nobody told me. I will definitely post some pics for you guys it probably just wont be for another month or so cause I neeedddd to wait for my supeerhots haha.

This whole dried pepper idea is veryryyyyy interesting, Im gonna try and make it happen at the same time as the fresh chile salsas... all in the timing though I suppose.. haha. Such an interesting culinary adventure I love it
 
I actually have a pepper plant growing right now that I bought labeled chipotle pepper. I thought thats what chipotle stuf is made of hahaha. But then also before I bought the plant I read that chipotle is just what we call dried jalapenos... haha hmmmmm
 
He's an example of a salsa from dried chiles, they are not always oily, this one is supposed to be, has great flavor. Anyhoo thought you might want to check it out.
 
http://smarterfitter.com/salsa-macha/
 
When you delve into the world of salsa, you'll realize using tomatoes is more of an American thing. Most Mexican salsas are peppers and smooth not chunky, pico de gallo has tomatoes, jalapenos, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and what we call salsa is based on that.
 
No need to put salsa in quotes, take a trip to Mexico and you will see what real salsa is. :lol:
 
Add it to your list lol.
 
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