Thursday, December 15, 2011

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard.........12/15/2011

This past week I finally got around to grinding some of the dried peppers hanging around the kitchen. This task has been on my "to do" list for some time now. When you run out of Paprika in the pantry and Christmas is quickly approaching, you get the motivation to do it.

The Paprika is easy. All you have to do is remove the tops & seeds from the dried peppers

place them in a bowl, break them up into smaller pieces and

grind

And you have some beautiful ground Paprika Powder for cooking!

Making the requested Habanero Powder for my sister in-law is a little harder though. You will need a couple of additional items.

A mask & gloves!
Please don't try to do this without them.

The first thing that I did several months ago was dry them. I did not have success hanging them to dry as I do with the other peppers.

I cut the peppers in half, removed the seeds and tops and placed them on a rack.

Since I don't have a dehydrator, I dried them in the oven using the convection setting and set the temperature as low as I could. Once they were dried, they were cooled and stored in a glass jar until I got around to grinding them.

Here it is, Habanero Powder!
Another tip is to put a dish towel over the grinder when grinding hot peppers. This helps keep the powder out of the air.

What's been going in or out of your Cupboard lately??

 

24 comments:

  1. Robin - I had no idea how paprika was made. I have habeneros in the freezer from several summers ago. I don't use them very fast because I don't need much to get the heat into a dish.

    My daughter Sarah arrives home from China on Tuesday and Emily & Matt arrive late that evening too. The whole family together. It's been a long time.

    Have a Merry Christmas! It was good to meet you this past summer. I'll be back posting in the new year!

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  2. It was nice seeing your paprika, we have been growing them for a couple years now in hopes of making our own powder but they just don't ripen up enough for us. Next year.:)

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  3. Marcia, It was nice to meet you too! It sounds like you are going to have a very special Christmas this year! Enjoy!

    Mr.H, The paprika peppers don't have to be completely red when you bring them in to dry. I have harvested some that were only parially red and they will continue to ripen while hanging. I just thread with cotton thread and hang them in the kitchen. Don't forget to make several slices in them after they are red. That will give them air and you will have less of a chance for them to get mold inside.

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  4. Robin,

    I love your post. I just dried a batch with the seeds still inside. Do you think they will still work, or should I cut them in half now and try to shake the seeds out?

    Erik

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  5. Thanks Erik, I dry all my peppers except the habaneros with the seeds inside and then remove them. I would remove the tops and seeds before grinding.

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  6. I like your grinder. I just use a coffee grinder but I like yours more. Looks like yours keeps the powder in the cup.

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  7. Robin,
    I usually grind my Habenero's with garlic for a paste to make a dish I call "Spaghetti Medley" ..I love your idea of drying them and then grinding into powder. I'm going to try it ..

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  8. Hot peppers I can't do but what kind of peppers did you use for your paprika? Both look good however.

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  9. Jane, that grinder must be 25 years old. I use it all the time. It does keep the powder in the cup. You'll have to keep your eyes open for one at a flea market or yard sale.

    Ginny, We don't use a lot of habaneros around here. My sister in-law requested the powder as a X-Mas gift. I'm sure it will come in handy!

    Wilderness, They are Hungarian Paprika peppers and are not hot. I have a lot of seeds. If you want some shoot me an e-mail.

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  10. Love home grown paprika, you're very brave to grind habanero.

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  11. Wow, my tongue is burning just thinking about that!!

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  12. Mac, The extra heavy gloves and better face mask worked great. I didn't cough one time...and no burning hands or skin!

    StoneyAcres, I'm sure that it is plenty hot. We haven't used any yet.

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  13. Thank now I feel more motivated to grow peppers this summer so we can make our own paprika. We have difficulity to germinate habanero seeds though.

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  14. Malay-K, Thanks for joining in. Your recipes really sounds great! I hope that you have success growing paprika peppers!

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  15. I need to get busy doing this, I have dried strings of peppers all over waiting for me LOL!

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  16. Love your jar of paprika powder. Gorgeous color.

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  17. I thought i left a comment, but now i cannot remember if i did or not...lol I am sure it was something awe inspiring....Love the paprika!

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  18. Erin, It's one of those things that you just put off until you really need to do it. I still have my cayennes hanging in the kitchen.

    Thanks Norma, Everything is better when you make it yourself!

    MrsP, I think that you are too young to be having one of those senior moments! You probably did leave a comment and it just didn't post. I have had that happen to me.

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  19. That habanero looks deadly! LOL! You should use it on any potential home intruder!

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  20. Thanks for posting this - I was contemplating making chilli powder and have been overthinking it deciding that there must be more too it than there is.....I like the face mask advice - great idea!

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  21. Hi liz, I hope that you had a nice camping holiday! Yes, always wear a face mask when grinding any hot peppers. I learned the hard way! A towel around your face will not do the trick and you will be coughing forever! Good luck and happy grinding!

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  22. The very thought of grinding habaneros makes my poor asthmatic lungs hurt. I think I would use my respirator and grind them outside. I still have peppers to grind, but for now they are staying in their jars.

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  23. Daphne, That sounds like a great idea. The face mask that I used this time actually worked and there was no coughing!

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