The toughest of them all
The pepper harvest was meager this year. I neglected my ten habanero plants. What can I say? What could have been 100 healthy habanero peppers narrowed down to a whopping 1, by not-so-natural selection. It is sad to think what the little fellow went through to make it to the end.
A good friend gave me one for my birthday, and although the plant is pretty sorry looking right now, there are 5 habaneros just waiting for a recipe. I love spicy food, but have steered clear of these little hunnies…Do you really need more than one?
kellypea
2 October 2007 at 00:19
@ kellypea: As a reminder I just ate a small piece, and the answer to this question is no (what was I thinking…?) Next to being very hot, their flavor reminds me of rancid butter. Drying them could work, but why bother – a can of dried small red chili peppers lasts at least a year.
By the way, this was my first time planting habaneros. I wanted a fresh flavorful chili pepper that does not perfuse Penne arrabiata with a bell-pepper-flavor. The long red ones available at the supermarkt always do that.
Cooking habanero peppers kills a lot of the hotness but retains the odd taste. Still, isn’t it strange that people eat fruits that have “Don’t touch me” painted all over them?
Regards,
Nils
theinversecook
2 October 2007 at 02:09
They freeze very well. Also, when pickled they tend to lose some of the heat & are very nice. I use this recipe.
Gene
9 April 2010 at 07:02
Thanks! I hope I will have more luck this year although I started late in middle of March. The recipe looks like just the thing.
theinversecook
9 April 2010 at 17:25