How do you use your Habaneros?

[thepassionatecook]

I'm curious to hear your preparation methods for habeneros. Currently, the only way I incorporate them into my dishes is by:

1) Adding some heat to black beans by slitting a knife through one whole chile and then floating it with the beans and their cooking liquid. You can do this with the raw chile or char it beforehand for a smoky, less spicy flavor.

2) Replacing jalapeno and serrano in Pico de Gallo and Guacamole. I find that removing the seeds and inner membrane, then mincing a habanero very-very finely yields more ambient heat and better flavor than the other chiles. The orange variety works very well here; not so much Red Savina.

[Tinybu88les8]

I just used a few habaneros and several jalapenos for chili. Came out great. Grilled some dogs and had chili dogs. YUM!

[webmaster]

A neat tip I learned somewhere ten years ago is to take dried New Mexico chipotle and drop them into a pot of whatever you're cooking. The longer it remains the spicier it will become. If you only leave it in for a few minutes you'll get the benefit of the smokiness and round mouth feel of the chile with only a mild amount of heat.

I imagine you can get the same effect from your home grown habaneros if you smoke them or slow roast them yourself then drop them into whatever you're cooking then pull them out in accordance to the amount of heat you want for your dish.

Adding smoked heat then removing it from the dish as it's cooking is something I'm going to experiment more with once I have the opportunity. It doesn't have to become mole. I can see this adding kick to pork as well as vegetables like zucchini.

[petalfuzz]

Just salsa. I remove the seeds/cores and puree what I want in the food processor. The rest of the time, they are stored in the freezer.

I only just started incorporating hot peppers into more of my cooking, but am starting with the more predictable heat of jalapenos first.

[!potatoes!]

as with most hot peppers, hot sauce. as much as possible.

[tn_veggie_gardner]

I gave away some & pickled the rest last year. This year, I think I'm going to make a few sauces & probably give away some more.

[TZ -OH6]

For orange Habs I dry and powder them, and add equal parts of onion powder, garlic powder and powdered salt (run the salt through the spice mill). The salt brings out the flavor of the other spices but does not "salt" the dish. It is good on everything from fried chicken to mac and cheese (heaven on pizza), and is very different from red pepper/crushed red pepper.

If you do not have a spice mill/coffee grinder, or want to do larger amounts, a mason jar usually fits onto the threads of the blade assembly of a blender. Fill the jar with dried peppers, screw on the blades and blend until powder. Shake through a wire sieve. The slightly larger grind (habs only) left in the sieve is really good mixed in to strawberry jam. The srawberry and fruity hab flavors complement each other.

For less flowery/fruity tasting Hab varieties, and end of season green fruit I will dry them, grind into flakes and then soak in cheap white rum or vodka overnight, strain through a cloth and use the extract for adding a kick to hot chocolate, chocolate milk, sangria/red wine, bourbon, et. al. You can reduce down the liquid in a dehydrator to concentrate it even more, but when I do that I add back the same volume of vodka as a preservative, so if I start with two cups and reduce it down to 4oz I'll add 4 oz vodka back to it.

The flakes can be redried and used as crushed pepper. I often add the flakes to brownie mix to kick them it a couple of notches.

If you do not grow orange habs you can buy them at the grocery, and if you live where it is cold enough to snow the humidity inside is usually low enough to air dry cut habs in a few days.


You can probably do this with fresh orange habs, but I take dried quarters and add them to left over bread and butter pickle juice. Heat the uncovered pickle jar to boiling in a sauce pan of water and add the peppers. Keep in the refrigerator. This is not a official safe canning method, and not meant for long term storage, but the peppers will keep in the pickle juice a pretty long time in the refrigerator.

[csvd87]

Can't provide a recipe, but all I have to say is Mango Habanero Hot Sauce.. or Peach.

[OnlyOrganic]

I have had them pickled. It's a family recipie then we put cream cheese on them. Taste amazing. Do this with japs as well. I will get the recipie from my mom.
OG

[LindsayArthurRTR]

I have had them pickled. It's a family recipie then we put cream cheese on them. Taste amazing. Do this with japs as well.

Good to know I'm not the only one who uses the abbreviation for jalapenos this way