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Stickman's 2016 Gochu Glog- Transplanting is Finished

Hi All, I'm back again after quite a while and more than a few changes. Health issues got in the way of being active here after Christmas, but I've resolved those and am ready to plug in here again, albeit with less time than I had before. Anyway... on to the chiles!
 
My friends with a CISA farm have started 6 MoA Scotch Bonnets, what I hope are 2 King Nagas and a couple of Jalapenos. I have three 1020 trays worth of 3inch pots planted with 4 varieties of Gochu peppers. I sowed them a week ago and they're just now starting to sprout. I also have 12 pots of Texas Wild Pequins and 6 pots of Guwahati Bhuts planted that haven't started to sprout.
 
In addition to the solar food dryer, I picked up a stainless steel 10-quart pressure cooker at Christmas time, so I'm planning on experimenting with using it to process purees and sauces to hopefully make them more shelf-stable. Any input on that would be gratefully accepted. :)
 
Gochus starting...
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Chinense varieties and Jalapenos
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That's all for now... see ya all later! :party:
 
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stickman said:
 
 
 
  :) Ah... so you use lots of olive oil instead of barding. Probably healthier, but the barding is less effort.
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     lol I can't say I even know what barding is. This is only the second time I've cooked jerk anything, so I don't really know what I'm doing. hahahahaha
stickman said:
 
 
That looks excellent Carl! Glad your wife likes it... guess that one's a keeper. 
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     Wait. The recipe or the wife?  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
:rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:
 
Hybrid Mode 01 said:
 
 
 
     lol I can't say I even know what barding is. This is only the second time I've cooked jerk anything, so I don't really know what I'm doing. hahahahaha

 
 
 
     Wait. The recipe or the wife? 
 
:rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:
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I know lots of hunters who use barding when roasting wild Turkeys... the meat is much leaner than the farm-raised kind, and the breast meat dries out too much unless strips of bacon or fatback are pinned over it with toothpicks before cooking. http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/glossary/g/Barding.htm
 
The recipe or the wife... Yes. :P
 
stickman said:
 
S'right brother! I've never made Pho before, but Chuck sold me on trying it... Man! The aroma coming out of the pressure cooker has got my juices flowing and no mistake! :drooling:
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Sounds good ;)  We don't have a pressure cooker. Do you have a recommendation?
 
Devv said:
Sounds good ;)  We don't have a pressure cooker. Do you have a recommendation?
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We love our Fagor Duo! I got the 10-quart model so I could use it for pressure canning. Otherwise the 6-quart model is a handy size for most families.
 
PeriPeri said:
Nothing changes buddy, you got me drooling on my keyboard again :drooling:
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Glad to be of assistance Lourens! :P
 
Here's a pic of the finished product with sliced Gochus, red onion, scallions and cilantro
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Pequins and Chiltepins are ripening now. Only a few a day for now, but I expect them to kick into high gear in a week or so.
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Have a great Tuesday night all!
 
OCD Chilehead said:
That is a great looking bowl. I'm freaking starvin right now. How was the flavor? Anything you would change?

I have a couple Tepin plants. Unfortunately, I don't have names. One of them is a little elongated. The other is completely round, what I'm use to.
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The flavor was good Chuck... just enough spice to enhance the beef broth without overpowering it.  I forgot to have the Lime wedges on the side though. Maybe next time. ;) I was in our local Asian market on Monday and picked up these Pho spices. They come in sorta tea bags... 4 bags to the box and there's enough spice in each bag for 4 quarts of broth. I didn't use them last night though... I followed the New York Times recipe. http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017521-pressure-cooker-beef-pho
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The Tepin must be kinda unstable to have so many phenotypes... mine is a bit elongated too, though it's a bit rounder than the Pequins.
 
Today's harvest after work...
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Gochus to scale
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Pequin and Chiltepin harvest so far. I don't see any reason to keep them separate, so I'll just dry and store them together.
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First Moruga pod almost ready to pick
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...and the first Aji Pineapple starting to color up at the tip
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That's all for now... Happy Hump Day all!
 
Some nice color showing. I've never seen the pho mix. Nice to know. When I eat it at the eatery, I add some of my fresh Goats Weed, Sriracha, and Hoisin sauce. Yum!

I've been patiently waiting for my Aji Pineapples to change. Nothing as of tonight.

Those Gochus are monstrous. Great looking pod's.

When I send the seeds, I'll send you some Goats weed and Chi-Chien pod's. I've picked 1lb of Goats weed so far. I've got a couple more lbs waiting to ripen.
 
Devv said:
Thanks for the pressure cooker advice, they certainly are affordable.
 
Congrats on the harvest!
 
And now I have to make some pho ;)
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Here's what we got for a pressure cooker. I like the stainless steel construction much better than the more common aluminum, and 4 quart-sized jars will fit inside when canning.   http://www.fagoramerica.com/cookware/pressure_cookers/duo_line/duo_10_piece_pressure_canning_kit
 
The pressure cooker Pho recipe maybe isn't the same as standard, but it does taste extremely good and cooks up in less than an hour, making it do-able for a weeknight meal. I left out the knuckle bones when I made the broth and used low sodium beef broth instead of water. I also used a pound of short ribs and a pound and a half of thin-sliced steak tips. The meat on the short ribs held together much better after cooking. The steak tips just about fell apart, so when I do this again I know that the short ribs go in the pressure cooker and the steak gets frozen and very thin-sliced while raw and briefly simmered in the broth to cook until medium rare.
 
OCD Chilehead said:
Some nice color showing. I've never seen the pho mix. Nice to know. When I eat it at the eatery, I add some of my fresh Goats Weed, Sriracha, and Hoisin sauce. Yum!

I've been patiently waiting for my Aji Pineapples to change. Nothing as of tonight.

Those Gochus are monstrous. Great looking pod's.

When I send the seeds, I'll send you some Goats weed and Chi-Chien pod's. I've picked 1lb of Goats weed so far. I've got a couple more lbs waiting to ripen.
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In my mind I can just about picture the taste with your additions Chuck... :drooling:
 
If my Aji Pineapple is starting to color up, yours should soon too.
 
Thanks for the good vibes and the offer of pods. I really wish now that I'd planted Goat's Weed Chiles. Definitely next year! The Chi-Chien I'm not familiar with, but it'll be interesting to see how they compare to the Gochus. Cheers!
 
I just followed what others did at the eateries back home. San Diego has a good size Vietnamese community, as well as Filipino, Hispanic, Cambodian, Korean, Ethiopian. Lots of selection in the food world. Here is a good article I saved awhile back. http://www.foodrepublic.com/2013/03/28/how-to-eat-a-bowl-of-pho-like-you-know-what-youre-doing/

The Chi-Chien is hot, skinny pepper that points up. Good for cooking. In my book anyways. I'll grow one or two of them next year. I like a variety. I don't think they will have a great comparison to you Gochus. Sounds like you have a winner. I'm excited to try one. I have the Sadabahar growing again this year. Seed stock. No one seems to have any good seeds. I bought new seed this season after mine didn't sprout. I got one out of 30 seeds to sprout. I might keep this one to overwinter. It's a really good hot one. I think I'm the only one that grows it on here.

As soon as I get enough for a box of Goats Weed, I'll send you. Probably the first part of next week, I hope. It will be in my garden every year.
 
OCD Chilehead said:
I just followed what others did at the eateries back home. San Diego has a good size Vietnamese community, as well as Filipino, Hispanic, Cambodian, Korean, Ethiopian. Lots of selection in the food world. Here is a good article I saved awhile back. http://www.foodrepublic.com/2013/03/28/how-to-eat-a-bowl-of-pho-like-you-know-what-youre-doing/

The Chi-Chien is hot, skinny pepper that points up. Good for cooking. In my book anyways. I'll grow one or two of them next year. I like a variety. I don't think they will have a great comparison to you Gochus. Sounds like you have a winner. I'm excited to try one. I have the Sadabahar growing again this year. Seed stock. No one seems to have any good seeds. I bought new seed this season after mine didn't sprout. I got one out of 30 seeds to sprout. I might keep this one to overwinter. It's a really good hot one. I think I'm the only one that grows it on here.

As soon as I get enough for a box of Goats Weed, I'll send you. Probably the first part of next week, I hope. It will be in my garden every year.
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Thanks for the Food Republic link Chuck. It's a good indicator of where the bar's been set as regards Pho. :)
 
The pics I've seen of the Chi-Chien chiles look a lot like Takanotsume to me. I wonder if they have a common ancestor. I'll put together a package for you this weekend with some Fresh Gochus to try. I'll have seeds to swap next month.
 
Trident chilli said:
Nice harvest Rick ... intresting read about the pho spices
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Cheers John! It's a new food frontier for me too. :)
 
A friend of mine went to a Biochar workshop last weekend that was put on by the Northeast Organic Farm Association and she forwarded me this .pdf file from the workshop. It gets into some of the specifics on how Biochar works to improve soil.
View attachment NOFA Biochar workshop - Aug 2016.pdf
 
Time now for the Dawn Patrol report...
Alright! I picked my first Moruga pods this morning! I haven't grown these before or sampled the pods, so this is going to be a learning experience...
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Both Bhuts are looking about like this one
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The larger of the two King Nagas. The other one is trying hard to catch up and is about half this size.
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The pods on the MoA Bonnets are hiding underneath the thick leaf canopy, but all six plants are similarly loaded
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The TS Moruga has about a dozen pods set and a few more set every week.
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This is the largest of the Aji Pineapples. The others I just heeled in at the veggie garden. There's at least 70-80 pods set on this plant and it sets a few more every day. Still watching the yellow color creep up the first pod from the tip... it isn't quite halfway up yet.
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Lots to do this weekend, but for now TGIF!
 
Great looking plants, Rick. I m keeping my fingers crossed the Aji Pineapple is a winner. Those MOAs look great, as well as the other pod's. Enjoy you day and have a great weekend. Heading out to camping. Just me and the boy.

Thanks for the info on the Biochar. I'll read more of it when I have time. That's priceless information. I want to make some before the end of the season. I was wondering if I could do it with wood chips. I might have a source for that.
 
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