I love to just grab them off the plant and pop them in my mouth. Use the whole thing in cooking. The part you throw away with a bell pepper is where all the heat is.

If the pepper is big enough I clean out the seeds and ribs. And then usually end up with the dreaded Capsaicin Fingers because I'm too lazy to put on gloves.

With small chilies I don't bother and use them whole. As chililover said, the seeds and ribs have the most heat, but I don't think they have much flavor.

I actually use a lot of hot peppers in stir fries. Chop them finely and add them with some minced garlic and fresh ginger right at the beginning.

I usually throw them on the bbq until they are black and soft.
Peel the blackened layer, toss with olive oil and sea salt and serve as a side to a meal.....

Hi greengardener,
Bell peppers are milder compared most any other pepper.
Eating most peppers raw is not for me anymore (but I was real feisty when younger). I find their natural oils stay too strong without heat processing & is irritating to my excretory pathways.
Spanish spice is not flame thrower tongue burning hot at all. I take the seeds out & cut it long wise for thick strips that hold shape & provide texture.
You can stir fry with it &/or braise it in a pan, like do with onion/garlic to sear the flavors into it's cooking oil. This way it diffuses through whatever sauce you are making (like by then adding diluted tomato paste).
You bake it into a dish too, just don't dice it or will miss savory bite of a good chunk.
Hungarian wax is hot, but there are hotter peppers. With this you can slice away the inner rib flaps & tone down their heat; ditch the seeds. I routinely take off the inner ribs of most hot peppers for frying.
Roasting peppers is done over flames, like a grill or even kitchen stove propane gas burner. Use whole unopened green stage peppers for this, so as the skin blisters you can turn it without making a mush. Put the roasted pepper inside a bag & turn down the bag opening so it can then sweat inside; when it is cooler the skin will be easier to peel off & scrape away the seeds.

I like to BBQ mine like mentioned above. Also I like to take the seeds out of my and stuff the pepper with sausage. You can add the seeds to the sausage mix if you want to kick it up. I also make hot peppers and oil most of the summer as well. Lastly if you have larger hot peppers I like to clean mine out, throw it on the BBQ for a minute and use it in place of a bun for hot dogs or Brats.

cool idea using it as a bun. I have to try that.

greengardener07

You are going to want to experiment around. Everything depends on your taste buds and heat level. You will find out quick enough.

NO matter how hot you can bring it down by making hot sauce or by drying and grinding as a powder and using only a tiny amount. So you can fit to you from a pinch or drop to eating whole fresh peppers. Everyone is very different. Some people eat habaneros raw hot and whole in the garden. just chew them down. Most people that is way too hot and you will find out what is good for you. Experiment around.

I always leave the seeds inside. some people always take them out but then they become too mild. Why grow hot peppers if you are going to throw away the hot part.

Push yourself and over time you will like them hotter and hotter. Eat them every day, all the time and you will make quick progress.

Re: "Why grow hot peppers if you are going to throw away the hot part?"
That is a very good question!

As for me, I love choppping up a fresh jalapeno pepper and adding all of it (excluding the stem, of course) to macaroni when I dump it into the boiling water. When I drain the noodles much of the pepper's heat goes down the drain, but I leave the cooked pepper and seeds in the noodles and the result is some darn good mac-and-cheese.

Well I am a new gardener however we have already pickled our first 2 jars of peppers with a mammoth jalapeno and regular jalapeno in them, also I have a Chile Grille from the Iron Desert and we just have some stuffed jalapenos (mammoth and regular with shrimp last night) and we have a vast array of peppers and tomatoes. A friend gave me 25 habs as I try to grow our first hab and we made some awesome Hot sauce called Liquid Fire by Bob. There are so many things you can do your choices are limited only by yourself:) Check out my pictures on photo bucket.com/organic_dusty for pictures.

I usually eat them raw and frosh from the garden, slicing them super thin with my pocket knife. You can, like they say, remove the seeds and ribs (placenta), which contain most of the capsaicin, but I just eat around it.

~Oklahoma Tim... Try sautee-ing your diced jalapenos in the 2or3 tablespoons of butter or margarine that you'll need for the sauce (unless you're using the vel##ta pouch sauce). You'll save all the heat, and the flavour becomes infused throughout the sauce. (kind of like nacho chees sauce). Works out great for the wife and I.

Mike

Hungarian Wax are one of my favorites! You can slice them like you would banana peppers and put them in a dish with sliced cucumbers, onions, oil, sugar, and whatever seasoning you like. Let that sit in the refrigerator for half a day or so before you eat it.

They also make some pretty good jelly. I use apple juice and hot peppers to make a fruity, spicy jelly. It's a family favorite.

Another favorite is to grill them with a nice steak. Grill them until the outside of the pepper chars. You can peel the skin off and eat bite for bite with a grilled steak.

This is making me very hungry....

I'm sorry, I meant vinegar, not oil. You add vinegar and water.

As others have said, first and foremost, wear gloves!!!

If they're uncomfortably hot, scrape out the seeds (you can always dry them and plant them! :-))

I like poppers-- cut a slit along the side, stuff with cream cheese and grated cheese, and smoosh back together, deep fry. If they're super hot, I'd use just a little and cook them for a long time in sauce, so the heat distributes.

A buddy of mine got a 1/2 gallon of really good vodka and infused some fresh peppers in it for about a 3wks to a month. The peppers looked like small Thai or normal Tabascos. I'm not really sure which. Well, let me tell you, it was nice. Made one of the best Bloody Marys I've ever had. and there was no vinegar bitterness to it... Mmm mmm . We added some hot pickled green beans (he calls them "Dilly-Beans")and celery. I'll see if I can get the exact steps he followed and post 'em.

Andy, can you post your recipe for jelly please?

Dusty

Here are my first pickled peppers:)

They have sweet banana peppers, mammoth jalapenos and regular jalapenos and fresh garlic and fresh dill.

{{gwi:28551}}

Very pretty, would make great Xmas gifts :) Kathy

Thank you Kathy:) If I don't eat them first!!!!! Hopefully some more of the sweet banana will turn orange and red and then I can do some more.....

My plan would be to try to give something like this that I actually made with the fruits of our labor for Christmas:)

Thank you again,

Dusty

I will try to post my jelly recipe tonight. Sorry it has been so long...

I grate frozen peppers over my meals. This is better than sprinkling ground dried peppers because the volatile aromatic constituents are preserved.

Tabasco peppers and cooler I'll eat right off the vine like it's candy.

On drunken fire pit nights might eat the hotter ones just to get a laugh at the craziness that pursues..

Many get used to cook with and the rest get dehydrated for seasonings.

Hot peppers are not harmless- see link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bhut Jolokia lover

Well now that was a scary video....not sure I want to get one now:( Yikes.....

Dusty

organic_dusty -

Those pickled peppers look great. Do you process your jars at all? Is it straight vinegar? Last year I pickled a bunch of things, and the ones I put into jars without boiling came out great, but I felt like I had to keep them in the fridge just to be safe (even thought it was 90% vinegar, 10% water).

The jars that I boiled came out kinda gross - the peppers got all mushy.

Thoughts?

Here is the recipe from Rita Heikenfeld and you can google the recipe and video on the web. I don't have a canning machine and it was very user friendly:) You don't have to chill them unless you want to but they came out fabulous.
Here it is:
Pickled peppers
I donÂt have to tell you that these are the best and easiest pickled peppers you'll ever eat. And if you grow peppers, you know how abundant they are this time of year. Now I usually don't add 2 cups sugar; I'll start out with half a cup, taste the brine, and go from there. If you have extremely hot peppers, though, the 2 cups of sugar is not too much. My sister, Christine, makes a version of these pickles and uses no sugar at all.
Sterilizing Jars:
Wash jars and lids, then place in big pan, covered with water. Bring to a boil and boil 15 minutes. Keep in hot water until you're ready to fill them. Meanwhile, make brine and prepare peppers:
Brine:
6 cups clear vinegar, 5% acidity
2 cups water
1/2 to 2 cups sugar (see note above)*
Place brine ingredients in non-reactive pan (that means either stainless, enameled or anodized aluminum, not the old fashioned aluminum pans). Bring to a boil.
To Prepare Peppers:
Wash. Leave whole with a slit down the center, or cut into slices as desired. I like to remove seeds if I slice them, but this is optional. Remember the membrane that the seeds are attached to is the hottest part of the pepper, and the seeds are the second hottest part. Place peppers in sterilized, hot jars, packing tightly. Pour boiling brine over, covering peppers. Add seasonings, such as garlic, bay leaf, slices of sweet bell, herbs, etc. as desired, or leave plain. Seal and let cool away from drafts. Store away from heat and light. No need to process these as the vinegar, if you use 5%, keeps bacteria out. That's all there is to this wonderful pickled pepper recipe. Making your own is so easy and much more crisp and tasty than the store-bought variety. Chill in refrigerator before serving

Dusty