Eating With Deb

I love growing jalapenos to use when making Pico de Gallo, Salsa, and Grilled Jalapeno Poppers in the summer time. I always end up with more than I can use during the summer and I want them to last throughout the winter. So I’ve come up with some ways to preserve more for winter use.

One thing I like to do before processing them for just about any use is grill them. Toss them in a little vegetable or canola oil and char them a bit on the grill. This gives them a nice smokiness that enhances the flavors in Salsa, Pico de Gallo, or Jalapeno Hot Sauce. I also grill them before I chop them up and freeze them so they are ready for immediate use when needed.

One key thing to remember when handling hot peppers, especially in large quantities, is to wear disposable gloves. The oils from the peppers seep into your skin and will stay there for some time. If you have any cuts, it will burn, and if you touch your eyes or any other sensitive areas, it won’t feel good!

Once charred on the grill, I cut off the stems and put them in the food processor to chop up. I could hand chop them, but that takes a lot of time and there is the risk of getting the pepper oils on me.

Remove the seeds and ribs before chopping them will result in a milder pepper.

When they are all chopped up, I then lay them out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper to freeze.

Once frozen, I bag them up and label the bag to put in the freezer for use throughout the winter.

I use this in place of green chiles in a recipe if I want a spicier dish, or for making a quick salsa, or any other recipe that calls for jalapenos. I usually make Jalapeno Popper Bites in the winter and I already have jalapenos in my freezer.

I use some jalapenos to make a Jalapeno Hot Sauce which is good on anything you like hot sauce on.

Another favorite thing to do is to make Pickled Jalapenos. I don’t do much cannning so I only make a jar or 2 to keep in the refrigerator.

I would love to hear about your jalapenos!

I love summer, but especially mid summer because I get to start eating the produce from the plants I planted in the spring/early summer. For me, there is nothing like the taste of fresh produce from one’s own garden.

I like to plant all sorts of things and try to plant something new each year. This year I planted romaine lettuce, a little late, but I’m hopeful it will be ready by early fall.

Sometimes I get some giant veggies.

As summer goes on and my produce becomes ready to harvest, I do some processing to preserve my garden to be able to use throughout the winter.

With tomatoes and peppers, I like to roast them on my grill and freeze them for using in sauces and soups during the fall and winter. The fire roasting adds a great flavor to salsa, soups, marinara, and pizza sauce.

After I roast them I put them in a large, covered bowl and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Then the skin slides right off. and time to freeze.

As my summer goes on, I start filling up the freezer. Sometimes I have enough harvest to make a sauce right away and freeze, other times I just freeze the produce to thaw in the winter to use when I need it.

One thing to remember, when freezing a bag that contains a liquid, don’t place it directly on a slatted shelf. It will ooze through the shelf and when frozen, it is difficult to pry out of the holes between the slats. I lay a towel down on the shelf then put my bags on the towel.

Every year at the end of the harvest, I hope to have 2 to 3 shelves full of things I got out of my garden.