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applestar
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What to do with plentiful harvest of peppers LOL

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ElizabethA
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You could make some Chicken Tortilla Soup! It's spicy and has jalapeno peppers in it!

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TomatoNut95
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ElizabethA wrote:
Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:43 pm
You could make some Chicken Tortilla Soup! It's spicy and has jalapeno peppers in it!
I don't suppose you have a recipe for that would you? :wink:

Usually what I do with my excessive peppers I'd give them away. My aunt does more Mexican dishes than I do, and plus she eats more salads than I do. She loves to get my peppers.
Or, I slice them up and freeze them for future use in pasta, pizza or casserole.
The past couple of years I've attempted to dry peppers for powder. Unfortunately, I'm no good at it. My pieces either burn, or don't get dry enough and they get rubbery. I'd get one on of those plug-in food dryers, but you have to have those on for hours and I'm concerned it may malfunction especially while I'm gone or really busy and set my house on fire. Plus, with the extra cost of electricity, I'd do better buying already powderized or dried peppers. I may try one more time next year. And if that fails: three strikes and I'm out.

pepperhead212
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Excessive peppers - what's that??? :mrgreen:

I freeze a lot of peppers every year, and in vacuum sealed bags, they can last a few years. Before I had the Foodsaver, they were only good until the next season - they would deteriorate, if kept longer. So one year I kept a record of how much of each I froze, and how many I wasted, and from then on, I only froze 33% more than I needed - all the rest got dried, which keep much longer. I always have extra dried, and even the dried ones from the year before taste much better than store-bought, assuming the varieties can even be bought. I just ground some Thai peppers last week, which I use in place of cayenne, and it has a LOT more flavor, though there are always hotter varieties out there. And the ground chocolate habaneros have incredible flavor - no store bought habs can compete - probably because you never know how long it has been ground.

I will admit, I have taken a few bags of my chocolate habaneros and aji dulces up to the local Mexican grocer, as he loves getting those (and that epazote), when I have more than I can use from just one plant!

ElizabethA
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Tortilla Chicken Soup

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or more) cut into bite-size pieces
2 tsps oil
1 large can chicken broth
2 cups salsa-- your choice, med hot
1 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP chili powder
1/2 c. chopped cilantro (plus extra for garnish)
2 cloves garlic minced
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, diced (only if you like it hot)
Diced green onions for garnish
4 corn tortillas (I use more)
corn chips for garnish

Toss the chicken with the oil to coat, and saute' in a large soup pot over medium heat until chicken loses it's pink color. Add chicken broth to pot, followed by salsa, spices, garlic, cilantro and peppers. Bring pot to simmer, tear up the tortillas into little bits and add to the soup. Cook on low heat for about 30 minutes. Serve soup garnished with diced green onions, nonfat sour cream, chopped cilantro and tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

imafan26
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You can freeze peppers, make chili paste, hot sauce, chili pepper water, fena denne, fermented chili sauce, dry ripened peppers and make pepper powder or freeze dried peppers to use as pepper flakes. Peppers will get rancid once they are dried so it is best to keep powders and flakes in the freezer in vacuum bags so they won't absorb flavors.

I also give away or trade peppers for other things like plate lunches or other produce.

The birds get a lot of them, especially once they turn red and are softer and easier to find. A lot of them drop and I have pepper seedlings all over the place.

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TomatoNut95
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Vacuum sealed bags sound really cool, can you freeze everything in those and where do you buy them?

Elizabeth, that soup sounds delicious. A couple of ingredients I don't normally use, I may have to improvise.

pepperhead212
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TomatoNut Those vacuum seal bags are great, but you need an appliance to do it. Foodsaver is the best known brand, but there are others. I had my first one for over 15 years, before it died, but it did not owe me anything! I used that one to seal countless bags, for freezing, or just storage. Many dry goods last indefinitely when vacuum sealed, though a few I tried still got rancid - brown rice, millet, and cracked wheat I still freeze, after sealing. And I had some old meat, that in any other packaging would have been totally freezerburned, and it was fine to eat - only a few small spots, along the edges.

Some things I don't vacuum seal, like tomatoes, bread, and other things that crushing would harm. Spices store well in vacuum seal, since it sucks all of the air out, which is what deteriorates the spice flavors. And the plastic of the Foodsaver bags does not allow odors to permeate - I tested this in the very beginning, by sealing some minced garlic in a small part of one, and let it sit on the counter. It slowly fermented, expanding some, yet the odor of the garlic did not permeate at all! I figured that if this didn't come through, other flavors had no chance of coming through.

These bags are much more expensive than ziplocs, and the like, but they are cheaper when bought in rolls - available in 12", 8", and 6" - 8" is the one I use the most. You just cut it to the length needed, and seal one end, before filling. When used for dry goods, they can be reused, over and over, unless damaged - ones used with meat, poultry, and fish products are the only ones I don't reuse.

Many people stick these appliances away in a cupboard, or a basement (where mine was, initially), and don't use them often enough, as a result. I made a little shelf to store it under, and I store some frequently used items on top. When needed, I just slide the Foodsaver out, use it, and slide it back.
ImageHere it is slid under the simple shelf that I built to store it under, so it is readily available. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

One lady showed a newer type, that is sort of vertical, and pushes back against the wall, when finished, and is only 2½" deep.

imafan26
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ziploc makes vacuum bags with a hand pump to suck out the air. It is hard to find. I use the Alton Brown method most of the time. I use a freezer zip lock bag and seal the top with just a small opening where I insert a straw. Suck on the straw to draw out the air and close the bag as you pull out the straw. It works pretty good. I wrap meats in plastic wrap first as a precaution.

imafan26
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You can dry the chilies and grind them into a powder and then vacuum seal and freeze them. Dried chilies will store in vacuum sealed container at room temperature for a while but will get rancid if not used within 4 months. I like crushed pepper and it can go on almost everything so it is a great way to me to use some of the peppers. Mainly I do make chili paste, but a bottle will last a long time for me.

Vanisle_BC
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We chop & freeze sweet peppers. (Don't grow any hots unless you count Anaheim). Of course they'll never be crisp again but they're fine for adding flavor to cooked dishes. Sweet reds are a great ingredient for spaghetti sauce.

ElizabethA
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A friend of mine out of state made some hot pepper for me from her garden last year. She used jalapenos, serranos, Anaheim, and cayenne peppers. She dried them and turned them into a wonderful hot pepper that is the texture of regular black pepper. Very good on hash browns and eggs!

imafan26
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A lot of my peppers turn into more pepper plants. The birds eat the peppers and plant seeds elsewhere in my garden. I have pepper plants popping up all over. Some I recognize others are a mystery. I rarely see cross breeds despite all of the different varieties I have.

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Gary350
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You can make chili powder or paprika. Cut peppers open & remove, seeds, vanes, stem, cut into long thin strips so they dry easier. Put pepper strips on pizza pans & cookie sheets then put them in your car parked in the hot sun. End of day break up dry crispy peppers then grind into power in kitchen blender. Sift out the big pieces to grind them again.

2 years ago I made 1 lb of mild red chili powder with New Mexico chilies & a small jar of paprika. Last summer I made, orange color Habanero chili power, yellow color Tabasco chili, green color jalapeno chili powder.

About 20 years ago I made green paprika with sweet bell peppers & yellow paprika with banana peppers.
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