Hot garlic dill pickles have become an obsession. I use the same tried-and-true recipe with minor variations at times. This small personal batch has been slightly perverted with the addition of the powdered cayenne being introduced directly to the jar and not in the vinegar solution. Also, I added ghost peppers, scorpion peppers, habanero, big hot chilies, and tabasco peppers to the jar in addition to the usual cayenne pepper flakes. I have said in the past that “you can’t really get them too hot..”, but in the case of this run, I may change that statement.
I carefully chose the nicest peppers out of my dried collection from the garden. Most of these are for cooking only. They are really too hot to eat alone. However, in the case of this fresh pack pickle batch, they will be working in a “hybrid” culinary culture. They won’t be eaten. They will be infused with the cucumbers along with the dill and garlic.
In a few days, I’ll cool these down in the fridge and try a few out. I’m excited to see if they are going to be as hot as I suspect they’ll be. Holy Hell Batman!!
1 pound pinto beans
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon (vegetable oil)
1 pound cooked andouille sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
(alternately use other sausages like Kielbasa)
1 large onion, finely chopped (about 12 ounces)
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (about 8 ounces)
4 ribs celery, finely chopped (about 8 ounces)
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper (depending on how hot you like it)
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper
1 smoked ham hock (optional)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 bay leaves
Hot sauce to taste
Cider vinegar, to taste (optional)
Cooked white rice, for serving
Directions
Place beans in a large bowl and cover with 6 cups (1.5L) cold water. Add 2 tablespoons (30g) kosher salt and stir until dissolved. Set aside at room temperature for 8 to 16 hours. Drain and rinse.
In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat until oil shimmers.
Add andouille sausage and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add onion, bell pepper, and celery.
Season with salt and cook, stirring, until vegetables have softened and are just starting to brown around the edges, about 8 minutes.
Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 45 seconds.
Add cayenne pepper, sage, and a generous 10 to 12 grinds of fresh black pepper.
Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add beans, along with enough water to cover by about 2 inches (roughly 6 to 8 cups), ham hock (if using), thyme, and bay leaves.
Bring to a boil and reduce to a bare simmer. Cover and cook until beans are completely tender, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. (Older beans can take longer.)
Remove lid and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has thickened and turned creamy, about 20 minutes.
If the pot starts to look dry before the stew turns creamy, add a cup of water and continue simmering. Repeat as necessary until desired level of creaminess is achieved.
Discard bay leaves and thyme stems.
Season to taste with hot sauce, a few teaspoons of cider vinegar (if using), and more salt and pepper.
For best texture, let cool and refrigerate overnight. Reheat the next day, adding a little water to loosen to desired consistency. In other words, the leftovers get better, just make some fresh cooked rice to go with.
It’s no secret that the level of hot pepper usage in North American cuisine has risen dramatically. Hot chilies have been around for centuries in South American and other tropical areas. However, there is more to the picture than meets the eye. Hot Peppers have noticeable health benefits along with their lively taste. The spicy element of hot peppers is due to a chemical in them called capsaicin.
Capsaicin is located in the placental area of peppers (the fleshy, pithy part that holds the seeds). The internal membranes contain some to a lesser degree. The seeds themselves do not produce any capsaicin. Most of it is in the pithy white portion of the interior of the pepper. Capsaicin does not actually “burn” tissues. It creates the same mental sensation via the nervous system as an actual burn, but no actual damage is done. The inflammation caused by exposure to capsaicin is believed to be the body’s reaction to nerve stimulation. This seems to be a natural reaction that is produced by the brain because the sensory excitement is translated by the brain as a physical burn or abrasion.
The Increased Demand for Spicier Foods in America
The Asian hot sauce Sriracha has recently taken on an more prominent role as America’s favorite hot condiment. Recently, Sriracha sales have grown noticeably every year without any major advertising by their distributor, Huy Fong Foods. Dining establishments have begun featuring Sriracha in many of their dishes, Lay’s, the potato chip manufacturer, have it as one of their top three new chip flavors. Subway has started offering Sriracha chicken and steak melts on their menu. Sriracha is just one component in the spicy foods movement that has gained popularity in the U.S. Chipotle, tobasco, habanero, and jalapeno are on the list of foods that have recently become more prominent in snack foods, as well as on restaurant menus. Doritos brand has 102 different varieties of corn chips. Out the 102 flavors, the majority of these have spicier flavors added. These include Doritos Fiery Habanero, and Chile Limon.
Restaurants and food trucks that feature Mexican or Asian foods now comprise a large number of newly opened restaurants. One thing in common with these cuisines is their tendency of cooking spicy dishes, which is now satisfying America’s growing desire for those hot dishes. Over half of consumers mentioned that spicy or hot foods are appealing, compared to less than half a short 4 years ago.
Health Benefits of Hot Peppers
Cayenne peppers, better known as the red hot chili pepper, are full of the antioxidant vitamins A and C.
Hot, spicy peppers can also work as a pain reliever for some people. The pain receptors within your mouth can get desensitized, nerve receptors in the body can also be desensitized. This is the theory behind using capsaicin and pepper extracts as pain relievers. When applied to the skin, topical capsaicin has been shown to ease symptoms of headaches, shingles, and osteoarthritis. Capsaicin is being studied as an effective treatment for sensory nerve fiber disorders, including pain associated with arthritis, psoriasis, and diabetic neuropathy. When animals injected with a substance that causes inflammatory arthritis were fed a diet that contained capsaicin, they had delayed onset of arthritis, and also significantly reduced extremity inflammation. Red chili peppers, such as cayenne, have been shown to reduce blood cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and platelet aggregation, while increasing the body’s ability to dissolve fibrin, a substance integral to the formation of blood clots. Cultures where hot pepper is used liberally have a much lower rate of heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism.
Spicing your meals with chili peppers may also protect the fats in your blood from damage by free radicals – a first step in the development of atherosclerosis. In a study involving 27 healthy subjects (14 women, 13 men), eating freshly chopped chili was found to increase the resistance of blood fats, such as cholesterol and triglycerides, to oxidation (free radical injury).
In cultures where people enjoy lots of food laced with spicy flavor, there is a lower incidence of heart attacks. Could capsaicin be the heart-helping ingredient? Researchers once thought that capsaicin would send blood pressure sky-high, but the opposite could be true. As mentioned above, capsaicin can be a shock to your system at first, but over time, you can get used to it. Evidence is preliminary, but there’s a possibility that capsaicin could be used as a treatment to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Eating meals with capsaicin-rich peppers may also help to regulate blood sugar levels and lower the risk of diabetes. And when you lower your diabetes risk, your blood pressure, and your cholesterol, you lower your overall heart health risks!
Generally speaking, the hotter the pepper, the higher the capsaicin content. So, spice your foods with hot peppers and gain the health benefits that folks in the tropical locales have enjoyed for a long time. Hot peppers can spice up salsas, salad dressings, soups, and vegetables. They also work as a balance to bitter foods like greens. To cool the hotness of those peppers, mix spicy peppers with more neutral tasting foods. These foods may include, yogurt, avocado, mango, papaya, or cilantro. Try a variety of peppers from the capsicum family: anaheim, bell, cayenne, jalapeno, pepperoncini, poblano, serrano, habanero, and tabasco. Chili peppers have a mistaken reputation for contributing to stomach ulcers. Not only do they not cause ulcers, they can help prevent them by killing bacteria you may have ingested, while stimulating the cells lining the stomach to secrete protective buffering juices.
Red Chili Peppers have significant amounts of the following vitamins and minerals:
Vitamin E – Excellent
Vitamin A – Very good
Fiber – Very good
Vitamin B6 – Very good
Vitamin K – Very good
Copper – Very good
Iron – Very good
Manganese – Good
Vitamin B3 – Good
Vitamin B2 – Good
Potassium – Good
Many people adhere to the Scoville organoleptic test to determine heat or capsaicin content; however, the test is flawed in that it is highly subjective. Currently, a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is used to measure the capsaicin content of the various hot chili peppers that exist. This laboratory procedure gives an exact measure of capsaicin, which is given in American Spice Trade Association pungency units but typically converted to and stated as Scoville Heat Units, as these are better known. These are not published publically and the American Spice Association charges for these published results. It is quite expensive to perform these tests.
Read more Chilli Misconceptions 5: Heat Level X
For most of us, we can get a relatively good concept of the heat (capsaicin) content of hot peppers by simply following the Scoville Unit list.
Scoville Units in some of the more common hot chili peppers:
2 jalapeno (for hotter use serrano or tobasco) peppers, seeded and chopped
1/2 t. black pepper – fresh ground is better
1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher or pickling salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Preparation:
Prepare 8 pint (or 16-1/2 pint) jars, lids, and rings
Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till time for processing
Make sure to fill a water bath canner and get the water to a simmer
Core the tomatoes and strain the pulp through a fine mesh strainer
Cut all the vegetables and measure out spices
Set aside
Cooking:
In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine tomatoes, celery, onions, green peppers and hot peppers
Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently
Reduce heat, cover and boil gently until vegetables soften, about 30 minutes
Working in batches, transfer mixture to a blender or food processor fitted with a metal blade and puree until smooth
Return pot to heat and low boil, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reduces by half, about 45 minutes
Add vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, and spices to the tomatoes
Increase heat to medium and boil gently, stirring frequently, for about 20 minutes
Using the process before in batches you will again blend till smooth, return to the heat until its the consistancy of a commercial barbecue sauce, about 1 hour
Filling the jars:
On a dish towel place your hot jars and using a funnel fill each jar
Leave 1/2” headspace
Remove air bubbles and refill to the 1/2″ headspace if needed
Taking a clean papertowel and wipe the rims
Extract the lids from the hot water and place them on jar rims using tongs
Add the rings to each of the jars and finger tighten
Processing:
Make sure a rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath
Make sure the water covers the jars by an inch or two
Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling
Once the water has come to a boil start a timer for 35 minutes
When the 35 minutes are up, remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool
When it comes to classic southern cuisine, a relish called chow-chow, used as a condiment added to food like pinto beans or black-eyed peas, is a great addition to the dinner table. It is also an excellent hot dog relish. Chow-chow is also called piccalilli, an English version of the relish. The exact origins of the name are somewhat obscure. There are also countless versions of the sometimes sweet and other types hot and spicy relish. Traditional chow chow recipes include cabbage. The name “chow chow” is believed to be derived from the French world for cabbage, “chou”. 17th century French colonists, the Acadians, migrated down south to settle in Louisianna and their chou relish recipes came with them. Included below are just a few of the chow-chow recipes to prepare.
Old Fashioned Chow-Chow Recipe
2 cups diced green bell pepper
2 cups diced red bell pepper
1-1/2 diced green tomatoes
2 cups sweet onion
1-1/2 cups diced green cabbage
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 heaping cup raw sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 tablespoon crushed red cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
In a large non-reactive skillet, bring water, salt, sugar, and spices to a simmer
Add vinegar and bring to a boil before adding vegetables
Stir to coat all the vegetables, reduct heat to medium and continue to cook and stir for 5-10 minutes until vegetables become tender
Transfer to glass jars and refrigerate
Will keep 2-3 week in the refrigerator
Hot Chow-Chow Recipe – 1 Quart
6 large tomatoes
1/4 cup hot pepper
1 large onion
1/3 heaping cup raw sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon salt
Peel and chop tomatoes and put into a stainless steel pot
Chop peppers and onions and put in the pot Note: Cut ingredients into sizes you prefer, but about 1/4″ pieces (or smaller) work well
Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil stirring often
Cook on medium heat until thick (approx 45 minutes to an hour)
Put into canning jars
Place rings and caps on jars and process in hot water bath for 5 minutes or refrigerate when cooled
Cajun Chow-Chow Relish Recipe
2 Sweet onions chopped fine
1 stalk celery chopped fine
5 fresh hot chili peppers (jalapeno, Serrano, Tabasco)
2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon raw sugar
Process in food processor all ingredients
In saucepan over medium heat, add the prepared vegetables and bring to a boil
Turn down to simmer and allow it to contiue simmering for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Place in canning jars and refrigerate.
Hot Pepper Chow-Chow Makes about 6-1/2 pints
1/2 pound of jalapeno and hot chili peppers chopped finely
1 medium red onion chopped fine
4-5 small “gherkin type” pickling cucumbers chopped fine
3 cups cabbage chopped fine
1-1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/4 heaping cup raw sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon pickling salt
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon powdered turmeric
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
Mix all ingredients in stainless steel pot and bring to a boil
Simmer for 8-10 minutes
Place in clean jars and seal
Process sealed jars in hot water bath for 5-10 minutes (or refrigerate after cooled)
Chow-Chow Hot Mustard Style Pickle Makes 12 pints
1-1/2 cups pickling salt
1-1/2 gallons water
1 very large cauliflower broken up into small florets (about 2 quarts)
2 quarts small cucumbers cut into small chunks
1 quart small onions chopped thin
6 red peppers cut into small squares (seeded)
4 medium sized hot peppers (jalapeno, Serrano, Tabasco, hot chili) add to suit your taste
Mustard Sauce
1 cup all purpose flour
6 tablespoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons Turmeric
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 ounce celery seed
1 ounce white mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon powdered cayenne pepper
Chow-Chow Preparation
In large container, stir salt into the water to dissolve
Add all of the chopped vegetables
Weight the vegetable down to submerge and leave overnight
Drain vegetables into a large pot
Heat salt water to boiling
Place vegetables in a colander in sink
Pour boiling water over vegetables to scald them
Mustard Sauce Preparation
Whisk flour, dry mustard powder, cayenne, and turmeric together
Stir in 1-1/2 cups cider vinegar to make a smooth paste
Meanwhile, into the large pot over medium heat combine the remaining 3 pints of vinegar with the sugar, celery seed, and white mustard seed
Add the mustard paste
Whisk over heat until thickened (about 1/2 hour – don’t let sauce scorch)
Add all of the vegetables and heat until hot, but not boiling
Get canning jars ready
Ladle hot mustard pickles into the jars
Place jars in hot water bath for 15 minutes (or refrigerate)
Corn Chow-Chow Makes about 5 half pint jars
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/4 heaping cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
6 cloves of garlic minced
2 teaspoons coriander seed
1 teaspoon mustard seed or dry mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne flakes
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 cup finely minced red bell pepper
3 cups of corn kernels
2 cups finely diced green tomato (cabbage may also be used instead or with)
1 cup finely diced yellow onion
Directions
In 2 quart stainless steel pot, combine the vinegar, water,sugar, salt, garlic and spices
Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes
Add red peppers and simmemr 2 minutes
Add the corn and simmmer for another 2 minutes
Add the green tomato and onion and turn off the heat
Transfer the chow chow to a bowl and chill or can in jars
This batch ended up as 36 quarts. Here is the breakdown for the batch:
40 pounds of fresh pickling cucumbers
Over 15 Quarts of Water
Over 25 Cups of Apple Cider Vinegar
Over 4 Cups of Salt
2 – 1/4 Cups Dill Seed
4 – 1/2 Cups Garlic Chips
4 – 1/2 Cayenne Flakes
Fresh Dill Heads and Tabasco Peppers
Comments: The cucumbers were fresh and excellent in color, shape, and taste. This seems to be a great year for produce in general. Since there was very little waste, I packed these as tightly as possible.
ULTRA HOT Garlic Dills
I had some pickling solution leftover when making the regular batch of hot garlic dills along with some cucumbers. I located several more jars and decided to pump up the heat. I added powdered cayenne to the pickling solution and added dried red hot chilies to the jar. They are not too hot, but they are a bit spicier than the regular hot garlic dills. The taste is still real good!