What do you do with Serrano and Carribean Red Hots

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.