Spicy recipes

[landarc]

Pimiento de Padron

2 lbs of Pimiento de padron peppers
sal gris or kosher salt (I like Redmond Real Kosher Salt)
olive oil, not extra virgin.
cast iron skillet

Heat cast iron skillet until hot. Add olive oil and qucikly follow with peppers, keep moving as epidermis separates from flesh, there will be some whitening along with some almost burned spots. Remove and salt with several generous pinches of salt.

I could not get the proper Pimiento de Padron, so I am growing Shishito peppers for this use. Eat hot from the skillet. Not necessary, but a little extra virgin olive oil drizzled over the top adds some richness.

[landarc]

Sticky Pickles

1 gallon dill pickles
3 to 4 lbs sugar
jalapenos, how many is dependent on your taste.
a few dashes to a couple ounces of pepper sauce

Remove brine and pickles from jar. Slice or spear pickles, I like fancy wavy slices. Also slice up jalapenos into rings. Throw a layer of sugar in the bottom of jar, add pickle slices to create a full later of pickles, add a few slices of jalapeno. Repeat until all pickles and jalapeno are back in jar. The more sugar you can pack in, the better. The original recipe calls for 4 pounds and cramming it all in the jar. Let sit on counter and turn once every 30 minutes for four hours, the brine will develop as the sugar draws moisture from the pickles. Refrigerate for a couple days and enjoy. If you take some sweet onions and dump the dill pickle juice over them in a quart jar, in a few days, you get pickled onions too.

Recipe is from a well known BBQ judge named John Chips in Northern CA.

[peppereater]

Now, with the pickles, sugar, and jalapenos, do you top up the jar with the pickle juice, or just let the sugar pull moisture from the pickles? Also, by "turn," do you simply turn jar upside down and then turn again, or do you try to turn the pickle mix for thorough mixing?
Just want to get it right, sounds d*mn good. Ever try throwing in garlic?

[landarc]

You do not add the pickle juice back in. Let the sugar pull juice out of pickles. And yes, you turn the whole jar.

[landarc]

Green Tomato Chow Chow

Ingredients:
4 quarts green tomatoes
1 large head of cabbage
10 medium onions
5 medium green peppers
7 medium sweet red peppers
1/2 cup salt
15 cups vinegar
5 cups sugar
3 tablespoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons powdered ginger
1 tablespoon turmeric
4 tablespoons mustard seeds
3 tablespoons celery seed
2 tablespoons pickling spice
jalapeno peppers to taste


Preparation:
Chop all vegetables; combine in a large kettle. Stir in salt; let stand at room temperature overnight, or at least 8 hours. Drain.
Combine vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, ginger, and turmeric in a large kettle. Put mustard seed, celery seed, and pickling spices in a 6-inch square of cheesecloth or cheesecloth bag. Tie ends or gather and tie string and add to the kettle. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add vegetables and return to simmer for 30 minutes longer. Discard spice bag. Spoon chow-chow into hot sterilized jars and seal.
Process for 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner, or 20 minutes for altitiudes of 1001 to 6,000 feet. Over 6,000 feet, process for 25 minutes.