Sawyer's 2013 Glog - Last Harvest/First Sauce

Sawyer · Nov 25, 2013

I hope they turn out well. I never found a recipe that looked exactly like what I wanted, but found one that was close. I added some extra spices, but think now I may should have eliminated a couple, too. We'll see. Last Christmas someone gave me a jar of these sweet rings of fire. It was all I could do not to eat the whole jar in one sitting.

Devv · Nov 25, 2013

I have a recipe for Jalapeno jelly if that's what you're looking for.

Sawyer · Nov 26, 2013

Thanks, Scott, but no, it's more like bread and butter pickles, but with jalapeno rings instead of sliced cucumbers. I don't why the link above has the pickled rings on a jelly page. This is the recipe I started with, but skipped the onions and added some extra spices. Also, the quantities as listed weren't nearly enough for the 7 pints stated, much less the 10 pints I had. I doubled the amount of vinegar (2 cups apple cider vinegar, 4 cups white vinegar), while increasing the sugar by half. Plan is to let them sit for a couple of weeks, but my resolve is weakening.

On the other hand, as a collector of recipes, yes, please post your jalapeno jelly recipe.

Soon, I'm going to try making some lemon marmalade with the addition of some fatalii puree.

Devv · Nov 26, 2013

I'll post it once I'm back at work Monday, it's on my PC there. It's great as a dipping sauce for pork.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

WalkGood · Nov 28, 2013

John, wishing you & yours a most excellent T-Bird day!!!

Sawyer · Nov 28, 2013

Thanks, guys. And here's wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving in return! Even if you don't traditionally celebrate the holiday, I'm sure you have something to be thankful for. One among many, here's a picture of something I'm thankful for, my 2013 processed pepper harvest:

GA Growhead · Nov 29, 2013

Damn! You've been busy!

Penny · Nov 29, 2013

Holy cow....well done, and yep you have been busy!!

Sawyer · Nov 29, 2013

Thank you. Yep, busy. And this is just the primary processing. The coffee cans and some of the plastic containers are clean, seeded, dried pods for powders, or possibly later reconstitution for sauces. The jars of purée should be enough for gallons of sauce, toned down for a non-chilihead palate. The gallon bags are not-so-clean dried pods for animal repellent and other non-culinary applications.

At least the pickled jalapenos are finished. I opened a jar yesterday, and they are pretty good, but the spice and sweetness are a little less intense than I would prefer. This will improve somewhat with time, but mainly, the recipe I used didn't produce enough liquid for the number of jars I had, so I topped them off with straight 5% white vinegar. I used 1/8 tsp of calcium chloride per pint and the rings are nicely crisp.

Gonna try some jellies and marmalades today/this weekend.

I'd also like to reiterate my seed offer from upthread. I've been in contact with a few of you via PM and think I've contacted everyone who expressed interest. If you are interested in some seeds, and haven't heard from me, then please send a PM. I'll be sending out seeds over the next week if things go as planned.

Devv · Nov 29, 2013

Nice shot of the end of a lot of hard work!

You did great this year for sure!

Edit: And thanks again for the seed offers, I think I've already overloaded myself for next season

PaulG · Nov 29, 2013

Yeah, John! Thanks for the seed swap offer!
Looking forward to it!

Sawyer · Dec 1, 2013

Thanks for visiting, and you are all welcome. Seeds are getting packaged today, should hit the mail tomorrow.

Here's some red ripe jalapeno marmalade I made:

I used powdered instead of liquid pectin, so that may be why it's not clearer. It's got thin strips of ripe jalapeno, lemon rind, and orange ghost. Added a teaspoon of red superhot purée to boost the heat level a little. It is absolutely addictive on a Ritz cracker with cream cheese. I can post the recipe if any wishes.

stickman · Dec 1, 2013

I like the look of the marmelade Jay... that should make a great eye-opener with your breakfast toast and coffee! The end-of-the-season shot shows you weren't just sitting on your hands for sure...

If you've never tried it... make some infused vegetable oil with some dried Bhuts or Nagas. About a dozen pods in a pint of oil is about right. Just heat the oil a bit before pouring it into the jar and leave it on a sunny windowsill for a week before using. It's great drizzled on soups, vegetables or popcorn, also for making stir-fries. I used a 60/40 blend of sesame oil to Kalamata olive oil, but use any blend that suits you.

Cartz · Dec 1, 2013

That marmalade looks and sounds great! I'd certainly be interested in seeing the recipe (and doubt I'm the only one)

Thanks John!

Sawyer · Dec 2, 2013

stickman said:
I like the look of the marmelade Jay... that should make a great eye-opener with your breakfast toast and coffee! The end-of-the-season shot shows you weren't just sitting on your hands for sure... If you've never tried it... make some infused vegetable oil with some dried Bhuts or Nagas. About a dozen pods in a pint of oil is about right. Just heat the oil a bit before pouring it into the jar and leave it on a sunny windowsill for a week before using. It's great drizzled on soups, vegetables or popcorn, also for making stir-fries. I used a 60/40 blend of sesame oil to Kalamata olive oil, but use any blend that suits you.

I like that idea of infused oils and may give it a try. Problem is, I'm a big fan of avocado oil and use it for just about everything. It has a nutritional profile comparable to olive oil and has a much higher smoke point, as high as 520ºF for refined oil. The down side is that it is more prone to turn rancid than olive oil, so I keep it in the refrigerator. I guess I could infuse some, then put it in the fridge.

Cartz said:
That marmalade looks and sounds great! I'd certainly be interested in seeing the recipe (and doubt I'm the only one) Thanks John!

Thanks! I looked up recipes on jalapeno jellies (which were mostly for green peppers) and marmalades (which are all citrus-based) and came up with the following. This is a first draft, so comments and suggestions are welcome. I'll try to finish adding metric equivalents later.

Jalapeno Marmalade

12 oz. red ripe jalapenos w/ seeds and stems removed
2 blemish-free lemons
1 orange ghost pepper w/ seeds and stems removed
1/2 teaspoon of red superhot pepper purée
2 cups white vinegar
5.5 cups sugar
1.75 oz. powdered pectin (1 box)
5 half pint or 10 quarter pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

1. Cut two to four of the jalapenos into thin strips about 2 inches (5 cm) long, depending on how much solids you want in the final product.

2. Cut the ends off the lemons and using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel, trying to get as little of the white pith as possible. Use a sharp knife to remove any pith from the peels. Cut the peels into thin strips about 2 inches (5 cm) long.

3. Remove the remaining pith from the lemons . Extract the juice and set aside.

4. Cut the orange ghost pepper into thin strips about 2 inches (5 cm) long.

5. Put the remaining whole jalapenos in a sauce pan with about 1/2 cup of vinegar. Heat on medium until the jalapenos are soft. Place the jalapenos and vinegar in a blender or food processor. Process until reduced to a purée.

6. Return this purée to the sauce pan and add the lemon juice, pectin, superhot purée, and remaining vinegar. Stir to achieve a uniform consistency.

7. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the sugar and lemon zest (peels) and stir until the sugar is completely melted.

8. Bring the mixture back to a boil, stir in the pepper strips, then remove from heat.

9. Ladle the mixture into jars, adjust lids, and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Notes:

1. To make this recipe more "marmalady", try using three or four lemons prepared as above. I think any more than that and the lemon will begin to overpower the subtle ripe jalapeno flavor.

2. The orange ghost pepper and superhot purée are primarily there to add heat. Adjust these ingredients to suit your taste and tolerance.

3. Some recipes call for apple cider vinegar. I find in this instance, it detracts from the flavor profile and darkens the color of the finished product.

4. One of the recipes I used as a starting point called for 6 cups of sugar. I find that appalling, but have had trouble getting the product to jell using less than called for. I only used 5.5 cups and the product jelled very well. I think the recipe would work with only 5 cups of sugar.

5. If you want a clearer product, try running the softened peppers through a juicer instead of puréeing them, and substitute an equivalent amount of liquid pectin for the powder. If you do this, add the pectin in step 7 instead of step 6.

Cartz · Dec 2, 2013

Excellent! An idiot-proof recipe, just the way I like them

I'll give it a go as soon as I get a good set of jals ripening at once, which is hopefully not too far off. Will let you know how the recipe works out for me...thanks again!

Penny · Dec 2, 2013

That marmalade looks amaaaaazing!!! Great recipe too, file that away for next year.

Devv · Dec 2, 2013

Thanks for posting the recipe John!

The finished product looks great!

Another recipe added to my list, gonna be busy soon!

have a great week!

WalkGood · Dec 2, 2013

John that marmalade looks brilliant mon, great job and thanks for recipe ^_^

Sawyer · Dec 3, 2013

Thanks, folks. I took a jar of the marmalade and pickled jalapeno rings yesterday to a different bar from the usual. This guy runs a Bloody Mary buffet on Sundays, so I thought he could use the rings for that. The marmalade was just to share, on Ritz w/ cream cheese. It got high marks from everyone who tried it. People were trying to buy jars from me. Need to plant more jalapenos next year.

I made another batch of marmalade today, this one with orange ghosts, lemon, orange, and grapefruit, and a teaspoon and a half of yellow superhot purée.

I've already tried some and I think it's pretty good, too. I decided to roast a pork loin slathered with it:

It's cooking now, so we'll have to see how it turns out. (Hope it's not a disaster!)

Finally, I mowed the part of the garden that didn't have peppers in it this year. I thought it was about half my garden space, but now I think it's more like two-thirds. About half of that has been fallow for a year and the other half, fallow for two years. I'll till it tomorrow (weather holding), and try to get the last of my winter planting of alliums in the ground. Then a really hard freeze gets here Thursday. I heard single digit temps.

I has a turnip:

Inside of said turnip:

I'm really surprised it wasn't pithy. Based on a very limited test (one of each) a few weeks ago, the golden turnips remain good longer than the purple tops. This one is past its prime, but it's still crunchy enough and tasty for eating raw. Most of it, though, is surrounding the roast above.

Pork Loin turned out pretty tasty. Some of the turnip got a little dry, but a little juice drizzled over it fixed that.