For this week's newsletter I also wrote the vegetable feature and recipe.
Peppers!
Most people are concerned with how
many peppers Peter Piper
picked, but I want to know
what kind of peppers did Peter
Piper pick? I think the answer would be far more interesting. In
preparation for this article I picked up
The Complete Chili Pepper Book with the intent of
skimming a few pages and jotting down some notes. Before I knew it an
hour had passed and I was searching for more paper. There are so many
varieties and growing techniques and ways to preparing them.
Andrea describes growing peppers a 'labor of love'. They are fun
and relativity easy to grow, but here on the farm we save seeds from
many of the varieties to plant the next year. Richard selects the
fruit from which he wants to preserve the seeds in an effort to, over
time, produce the most flavorful and consistent fruit. Some of the
varieties, like the Ukraine Orange, are not available commercially
and seeds have to be saved in this way. Others, like the UW roaster
are also not available commercially, but in order to obtain these
seeds Richard had to give a presentation to undergrads at University
of Wisconsin and received these special seeds as payment (hence the
name).
We grow both sweet and hot peppers. Our sweet varieties are green
bell, red and yellow cross, red pimento 'senorita', mini sweets,
Ukraine orange and Italian frying. The hot varieties are poblano, UW
roaster, jalapenos, super chili, guajillo and habanero. The spicy
heat of peppers is measured using the Scoville scale. The number of
Scoville heat units (SHUs) indicate the amount of a chemical compound
called capsacin which makes a pepper hot. The scale starts at 0 and
goes to 15,000,000 SHU. Bell peppers are at the bottom of the scale
with 0 and habanero, our hottest pepper, earns 200,000 or more SHUs.
Jalapenos and guijillos rank around 5,000 SHUs. A general rule of
thumb; the smaller the pepper, the more heat it packs! When handling
hot peppers, it is always advised to wear gloves and keep your
fingers away from your eyes!
There are several ways to prepare and store peppers. Drying is the
oldest and most common way to preserve peppers. They can be sundried
hot, dry days or in an low oven with the door cracked slightly. Once
dried, they can by crushed into flakes or ground into powder. Peppers
can also be juiced using a juicing machine. The juice is best for
applications that do not require cooking. Cooking the juice tends to
remove the spiciness. The juice can be stirred into soups once
cooking is complete or in drinks and cocktails like bloody mary's or
martinis. Candying peppers is not very common, but the uses are vast.
Candied peppers can be used in muffins, quick breads, cakes and
cheesecakes. Even the syrup, a by product of candying, can be used to
sweeten tea, chocolate, cocktails, caramel or over waffles. Be
advised: candying peppers is a rewarding, but long process, spanning
over several days. Maybe the easiest way to preserve peppers, is to
roast, peel and freeze or can them.
This week's recipes focus on poblanos. Poblanos are a type of
ancho, Spanish for 'wide', pepper. Technically poblanos are a
specific type of ancho grown in Puebla, Mexico. However, the produce
industry uses the term poblano for any green ancho. Poblanos are
mildly hot, around 1,500 SHUs. They have high shoulders, sunken tops
and medium thick walls. The most popular poblano dish is chili
relleno, which means 'stuffed pepper', but poblanos are a very
versatile pepper and deserve your creative mind!
Roasted
Poblano Chicken Salad
1 # boneless, skinless chicken
1 T olive oil
1 T chili powder
3 poblanos
2 T lime juice
¼ c mayonnaise
½ c onion, small dice
Rub your chicken in olive oil and chili powder and let marinate
for about 30 minutes (you can skip this step if you’re short on
time).
Preheat the oven to 375°. Place the chicken in a single layer at
the bottom of a roasting pan. Cook for 20 – 25 minutes, or until
the chicken is cooked through.
While chicken is cooking, roast peppers. If you have a gas stove,
place the peppers directly on the grate over the flame. Turn when the
skin is blistered. If you have an electric stove, roast peppers in
the oven with the chicken. When the whole pepper is blistered, wrap
in plastic wrap and allow to cool. When the peppers are cool enough
to handle, peel off and discard the pepper skin, then remove the stem
and seeds. Puree peppers with lime juice and mayonnaise. Season with
salt and pepper.
When chicken is cooked through, remove from oven and let cool
completely. Using 2 forks (or your hands), shred the chicken, then
mix with the poblano mayonnaise and red onion.
Serve on sandwiches with lettuce and tomato.
