Peter Piper

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.