excuse us?
hmmm... these smell strong
Bijou just wants to point out that habaneros are very strong- the strongest peppers out there! Be careful when working with them, especially if you have sensitive skin (wear gloves!) or if you're working in an enclosed space (open a window and turn on your vent!)
For some fun chili pepper trivia, check out this link about the Scoville Scale to measure heat! Notice that the good ol' peperoncini that you find, say, on a Greek salad measures a measly 100-500 on this scale, while the habanero measures 80,000 - 300,000 + ! And the hottest pepper recorded, at a mind-boggling, brain-scorching 577,000 was a... you guessed it, a habanero! We are glad we're kitties and never have to worry about tasting anything that hot!
Remember when cooking with chili peppers that the seeds and the inner white pith contain most of the heat, so you are getting rid of a lot just by de-seeding and de-pithing. And the longer you cook them, the less hot they'll be.
For some fun chili pepper trivia, check out this link about the Scoville Scale to measure heat! Notice that the good ol' peperoncini that you find, say, on a Greek salad measures a measly 100-500 on this scale, while the habanero measures 80,000 - 300,000 + ! And the hottest pepper recorded, at a mind-boggling, brain-scorching 577,000 was a... you guessed it, a habanero! We are glad we're kitties and never have to worry about tasting anything that hot!
Remember when cooking with chili peppers that the seeds and the inner white pith contain most of the heat, so you are getting rid of a lot just by de-seeding and de-pithing. And the longer you cook them, the less hot they'll be.
Ok, so having said all that, what do your companion persons do if they find themselves with a ginormous peck of priced-right peppers from the market? No matter how much they like spice (and they love spice!), two people just can't go through that many peppers alone. So they dried a bunch of them in the food dehydrator to save for future soups, stews, and chilis. (Us kitties stayed away from the kitchen during the 2 or 3 days these took to dehydrate- the air was pungent in there!)
The rest, Daiku cooked into a tasty habanero sauce. He followed a recipe very similar to this one, using carrots, onions, garlic, and lime juice. The result is delicious (and not overly hot, promise!), it allowed them to preserve their peppers for future use, and it's been very fun for them to use to perk up the flavor in random dishes!
The rest, Daiku cooked into a tasty habanero sauce. He followed a recipe very similar to this one, using carrots, onions, garlic, and lime juice. The result is delicious (and not overly hot, promise!), it allowed them to preserve their peppers for future use, and it's been very fun for them to use to perk up the flavor in random dishes!
is it just me or is there a definite Richard Nixon resemblance going on here...?
VeganMoFo has survived another day. The cats seem to be appeased. Bijou's already pondering her next guest blogging topic... perhaps eggplants?...
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16 comments:
Hey kitties! You are looking very cute today. I see you smelling those peppers. Habanero sauce, eh? I just don't think I could handle it!
I like your risotto from the last post! I've been cooking out of the pantry lately too, yikes.
cute kitties! and smart, too! very informed about peppers, for example. thanks for sharing, kitters.
aye, caramba! that's a mighty fine aubergine you have here.
Kitties did a great job! Daiku's sauce sounds really nice. I just love the color of habeneros. I asked a chef what to do with too many hot peppers once and he suggested letting them dry then grinding them into powder to use for spice.
this was such a fun post to read!
Nice guest post Bijou! Working with hot peppers is always a bit scary for me. But what a great idea to dry some out and make a sauce from some more.
Let's hear it for gratuitous kitty and pepper shots.
Hahah...your Richard Nixon eggplant really scares me.
Kitties are so much fun.
I'm scared of habanero peppers, though. I don't think anyone could convince me to try one, not even a cute cat!
haha, aww, Marble and Bijou are precious!! love the "guest post" :0) I've never had habaneros, but they sound intriguing; and I'm looking forward to the next post on eggplants!
odin requests a fellow cat authored post on coconut. and cinnamon sugar donuts. those are his favorite foods.
you remind me that i need to deal with my own peppers...the sauce looks very tempting...
Oooh, I want to kiss them and hug them and squeeze them and hug them some more! Kittycats!
aw, tabbies! Now my cats are jealous since I won't let them blog...but i had to point out to them that they are not only not vegan but only like lima beans, they wouldn't have too much to add.
i love heat, but i am deathly afraid of dealing with habaneros. what kind of gloves do you use? when i made my homemade jalapeno sauce, i used plastic bags!
also-the more you cook peppers, the less hot they are? for true? interesting...
xo
kittee
Hi everyone, in the interest of full disclosure, my cats are not vegans and they don't even like habaneros! They just wanted to be involved so I let them- just this once. =)
Emilie and Rachael, I loved reading about your cats' odd tastes- cinnamon? sugar donuts? lima beans? awesome!
Kittee, Daiku and I have pretty thick skins, so we just kinda worked with the habaneros, no gloves. We did make sure to wash our hands with soap afterwards, though. I think peppers do lose some heat as you cook them.
Honestly, habaneros aren't any scarier to work with than other chilis!
That habanero sauce he made was awesome on the sushi. Yummy!
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