"Scet" > wrote in
:

> Hi, I have an abundance of fresh chilis due to some great growing
> weather. I still have some pickled from last year so would prefer a
> good sauce recipe (not sweet) to use them in. Actually any great
> recipe that uses a few chilis or more would be great. Anyone have any
> ideas or recipes?
>
> The chilis I have are jalepeno and birds eye. I have tried drying them
> in the past and and pickling. The pickling methods I tried had a 50/50
> result, if anyone has some tried and true pickling methods I guess, if
> worse came to worse, I will pickle them again as I would hate to see
> them go to waste.
>
> Scet
>
>

We tend to make chilli jam or freeze ours when we have too many. They're
usually locotos, which are juicy like the jalepenos and I suspect the
thinner-walled birds eyes would freeze even better. They'd be a bit
squidgy for eg slicing into a salad, but are great for chilli stews.

The jam recipe we use has some palm sugar in it, but isn't terribly
sweet, especially the way we make it - using way more chillies than it
calls for. I don't have the recipe on me, but it's in one of those
little cookbooks that they sell at supermarket checkouts - a thai one
with a chicken and basil dish on the cover. The dish is called "Chicken
with chilli jam and cashews", and includes the jam recipe.

The other main way I use it is to make large batches of stew (I call it
'chilli', but the chilli purists probably wouldn't):
Cook a couple of chopped onions and about 300-500g of mince in some oil
inna big pot, and add a half-dozen cloves of crushed garlic and a little
milk. While the milk is being absorbed, add a chopped head of celery (or
a half-head if you're not such a huge fan), a few chopped carrots and a
chopped capsicum or two. Once the milk is no longer in danger of
curdling, add some wine, some stock, a couple of cans of red kidney beans
and a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes. Finish with as many chillies
as you like and a good pinch of cinnamon, cook until the whole thing is
as soupy or stewy as you like it. Serve with flatbread, corn chips, rice
or toast, and with cheese on top.
I think it's the garlic and cinnamon that make this so addictive - I call
'em my natural msg.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

K
--
nil illegitimi carborundum