I had a bumper crop of Jalapenos this year so after I finished making hot sauce and pickling nacho slices I turned my mind to using ripened peppers. In the past I've dried them whole and then chopped them in the food processor. I was never totally satisfied with the finished product and it's very hard on the machine so I tried something different this year. First I chopped the fresh peppers in the processor until I had a uniform paste. Then I spread the paste on my dehydrator trays like so.
Most dehydrator manufacturers sell fine mesh plastic screens for this purpose as an accessory. However this is the Hardscrabble Gourmet and we like to do things on the cheap so I made some from left over aluminum window screen. Worked like a charm! Set your dehydrator at 98 degrees if it has a temp control and let her rip. When it's dry it looks like this. It took mine 48 hours but the weather was humid so your mileage may vary.
Using a spatula, I scraped the dried pulp out onto a sheet of newspaper. This is a trick to use with all your dried herbs. When your finished crushing them simply fold the newspaper to transfer your herbs to a container and then through it away. No fuss, no muss, and no clean up. Back to the peppers.
The sugars in the ripe peppers cause the dried paste to clump so I used a rolling pin to roll out and gently pound the stuff until I got a nice fine consistency perfect for measuring in the kitchen. Now I'll really be heating things up! If your looking for something to cook with pepper flakes try out my Summer Squash Marinara. There's still a little summer left to enjoy it!
No comments:
Post a Comment