(This may be more MPSIMS, but it’s about food, so feel free to move it, mods.)
I was at the grocery store yesterday, getting supplies to make some chili for a contest this weekend. I wanted to get a head start, because leftover chili is so much better than same-day chili.
Over in the pepper section, they seem to have gotten rid of the basket of habeneros. I only want about 3 or 4 to go with the handful of jalepenos, fresnos and serranos I was using. I then noticed that there’s a plastic package of habeneros - containing about 20 peppers. Who needs 20 peppers! And the cost - instead of paying about $1.27 for a few peppers, they’re trying to charge me $6.99 for a bunch of peppers I’ll never use (okay, I guess I could have frozen the unused ones.). So I went without.
I gather everything I need and head to check out. And what does the guy in front of me have? A package of habeneros! I jokingly ask him if he’s ever going to get through them all. “Heck no - there’s no way I need more than 4 or 5.” We talk about how there used to be basket of them, but the store probably went through more waste than they sold, and went with the prepackaged. I ask if he wants to go halvsies on them. He declines, but just offers me a handful of them when he’s done checking out.
That’s why I grow my own. We never need more than one for a recipe, and the store price is too outrageous. 2 plants provide enough for a year’s worth of chili and stew.
We have single ones in Publix here, but I do pick up around a dozen when I do get them. I think they’re cheaper than 6.99, too…neener
ETA: and it’s for a contest? of course i’d use more than one! I like the pure hotness of habaneros and their fruity taste. It doesn’t make my nose and eyes run nearly as bad as red pepper, oddly enough.
Well, it’s actually a soup contest. I’m not a huge fan of making soup, so I’m making chili. Even before really soaking in its own flavors, it was really good last night. Once I get it slow simmering on Saturday to really break down the beef, I think it’ll be one of my best pots yet.
I always use a whole bunch of those dried New Mexico chilis you get at the Mexican Mart. I soak them and then puree them - but I always end up with pieces of the skin that don’t break down. I decided to scrape the meat off of them last night, and that’s going to make all the difference. Would an immersion blender take care of that?
I can get those little cellphane bags of the dried habañeros up here, and they last forever (or as close to forever as I need them to; no spoilage risk at any rate). The price is usually entirely reasonable, but finding a grocery store that has them in stock is a freaking pain in the ass. Last located at a Whole Foods down at Union Square.
Yes! Now is the time for the uprising my fiery brothers! For too long you have been crushed under jalapeno oppression! Long live the capsicum revolution!
Push the mixture through a medium mesh sieve with a wooden spoon to get rid of any leftover skins or seeds. Also toasting them in a dry skillet before soaking will add additional flavor. - thanks Rick Bayless.
Heh, I made some chili last weekend, and the only heat I added at all was eight jalapenos to the whole batch, out of consideration for the heat tolerances of the other folks at the potluck. I thought it tasted fine, only just spicy enough to let you know there was some capsaicin in it, but everyone else commented on how extremely hot it was.
