What do you do with Serrano and Carribean Red Hots

Central IL Egger · August 2010

This year I planted a couple Serrano and Carribean Red Hot pepper plants along with my normal planting of Jalapeno's. Now that I've got a bunch of peppers, I'm looking for suggestions on how forum members use them in their cooking. So, how do YOU use Serrano's and Carribean Reds?

Village Idiot · August 2010

I usually just use jalapeños, but for some reason, I like serranos better in guacamole. I also put them in salsa roja. I'm not sure what Carribbean red peppers are, but if they're kin to habeneros or Scotch Bonnets, I leave those for the macho guys and gals.

JPF · August 2010

ABT's

I also freeze a bunch for winter time use too.

Central IL Egger · August 2010

Thanks, and yes, the Carribean red Hots are supposed to be souped up version of the habenero. I probably have several lifetime supplies of them :blink:

Rooster K · August 2010

Make some home made hot sauce with the Reds!

Richard Fl · August 2010

I like to take thai birds beak peppers, split length wise, place in a quart jar and add 3-4 whole garlic cloves, black pepper, little sugar, some fish sauce and cover with apple cider vinegar. Place lid on and place on shelf for a few weeks. Then take an immersion blender and pulse. Great oriental hot sauce. Your reds should do a great job also. If you want to trade for some seasonings I make, let me know.

Hoss · August 2010

Make some sweet-hot pickled peppers outta them.That's what I'm doing.

Just sub peppers for cukes in a bread-n-butter recipe.They also make good pepper sauce.Place in a bottle and pour hot vinegar over them.Let em set a few weeks.Great on turnip/collard/mustard greens.

Central IL Egger · August 2010

Awesome tips, and Richard, if you want some peppers lemme know! I have more than I'll use-

jeffinsgf · August 2010

I have an answer for you:

http://summer-recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/how-to-make-hot-pickled-peppers

and if you prefer video:

The serranos pickle as well if not better than jalapenos. I've done them both whole and in rings. I've found that my favorite batches have been mixed hot peppers -- whatever comes out of the garden chopped in rings and mixed at whatever ratio today's harvest brings.

I also made a hot pepper sauce using an Emeril Lagasse recipe. It's better than any commercial sauce I've ever used and a handful of peppers will make more than a pint of sauce.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/homemade-red-hot-sauce-recipe/index.html

Boilermaker Ben · August 2010

Central IL Egger wrote:

Thanks, and yes, the Carribean red Hots are supposed to be souped up version of the habenero. I probably have several lifetime supplies of them :blink:

Sounds like a scotch bonnet, maybe? They're a red colored close relative of the habanero. Scotch Bonnets are a traditional ingredient in jerk marinade. The marinade recipe in How To Grill by Steven Raichlen is good.

Here's a habanero hot sauce recipe:
http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=21

Years ago, I was at an upscale mexican restaurant, and had a chicken dish that had a cherry-habanero sauce. Delicious. Could give it a try with some good cherry preserves and some habanero. You can get habanero flavor without a ton of the heat, by just taking a whole chile and slitting a few holes in it, and adding it to your dish (sauce, chili, etc) to steep for a bit. Then pull the chile out before serving.

Serranos are a great all-purpose chile...good in guac, salsa, chili. I'm letting a lot of my serranos go red, and then I'm going to try that Emeril hot sauce recipe that jeffinsgf posted.

jeffinsgf · August 2010

Ben,

Be sure to pickle some of the red serranos, too. They have a distinct flavor, but similar flesh texture to jalapeno. They're a great tweak to recipes that call for pickled jalapenos.

Don't know where yours are in ripening, but I've noticed mine take forever to start turning red, but once a pepper shows a little red, it will be fully red in one or two days.

My pepper bed that has been producing so abundantly this summer took some damage from a thunderstorm Saturday night. It had grown into a jungle, but now it's even worse. The hots are all intertwined into one mass of vegetation. Still lots of peppers, though.

Boilermaker Ben · August 2010

My serranos and cayennes are turning red one-by-one...have been for a couple weeks. It's hard to get enough to make a sauce, because they're not ripening in bunches. I'm stringing up my cayennes to dry, and adding one or two chiles every few days. I haven't had any red jalapenos yet; they're all still green, and my poblanos aren't turning yet either. The tabascos (I think) are still yellow. I've got a couple banana peppers turning on me, because I'm not eating them fast enough. Habaneros are starting to pick up steam...I picked several last night...enough for a batch of jerk!

I haven't pickled anything (other than cukes) yet, going to have to go out and get some more jars. I think I'll do whole mixed chiles in pints, and sliced jalapenos and serranos in half-pints. I'll have to try adding some red serranos in with the greens, as you say.

I caged most of our chiles, and I'm glad I did. The habaneros and italian sweets are un-caged and are all over the place. I'm having problems getting red peppers from the italian sweet bush, because they're rotting on the ground before they ripen. A few months ago, my dealer demoed the eggplant fries with roasted red pepper sauce from the new BGE cookbook. I've really wanted to give it a try, but I'm beginning to despair that I won't wind up with a good batch of red sweet peppers. Lots of eggplant, though!

Coincidentally, the italian sweet pepper bush was a gift from my dealer. She's great. I hope to be able to use her peppers on the egg.

Boilermaker Ben · August 2010

Speaking of preserving...when you make hot sauce, do you just keep it in mason jars in the fridge? I'd like to do a more upright, narrow-necked bottle, like a regular hot-sauce bottle, but I'm not sure where I could find some, other than ordering them online. I think I'm going to make a batch of emeril's red serrano (perhaps using mixed peppers: serrano, cayenne), a batch of Rick Bayless's habanero sauce, and probably a batch or three of tabasco (whenever they get around to ripening).

jeffinsgf · August 2010

Nancy has an excellent eye for what NOT to throw away. We had a salad dressing that came in a flask shaped bottle with an old fashioned wire bail seal (think that's what they're called). It was perfect for my Emeril sauce. A lot of salad dressings come with lids that have a top that unscrews, but also has a flip top to shake out just a little. Those ought to work great, too.

Edited to Add:

I used mixed peppers for my Emeril's sauce. They weren't even all red. As long as most of them are red, the color will come out right.

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What do you do with Serrano and Carribean Red Hots

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