FIONA: The best I have made has been effectively apple jelly with added chiiles, frankly sometimes it is hot hot hot and other times it is mild just depending on the strength and amount of chilli I put in, I have never yet managed to make the same strength twice.
I use the whole chilli, seeds as well, I cut the chilli into thin slivers/slices and put in the apple juiice after straining and boil along with the sugar up to setting point.
When setting point is reached and the stuff is in jars I tend to have to invert the jars every 15 minutes or so for the first hour or whatever to ensure the chilli flakes remain suspended through the jar, otherwise they either all sink to the bottom or float to the top depending on what day it is and whether the wind is blowing from the east !!
Either way I end up with something that is much enjoyed either as a simple sweet chilli jelly or as something I also add in to various sauces in my cooking.
Dunno if this is any help, it isn't a sauce and maybe you do this anyway but hope so.
I have reached an age where my train of thought often leaves the station without me...
I had a problem with chillis. We had nice red ones earlier on this year and I was cautious with those as they were hot for us, a quarter of a chilli was quite sufficient in a meal. We then had to bring some green chillis in as they were getting chilly , but we covered the rest in fleece as they were not on the edge of the bushes. The first green chillis we brought home were mild and three chillis were more like small green peppers. As the temperatures are due to plummet we thought we had better collect the rest and when I was cutting one of those up for a meal I tried some just to see what it was like, expecting it to be like the last lot - bad mistake. I had already cut up two chillis for green chilli and tomato soup - well we didn't eat it, too hot!
The cornbread was good though. Today 1kg of mince later and a large amount of grated carrots and we have an edible meal.
I am drying the rest for chilli powder.
I'm with Paperman on this one - I put flaked dried chillies in one batch of my japonica jelly- works really well. As the japonica sets very fast the flakes stay throughout the jar instead of moving up/down!
Blows your britches off, mind, so use with caution.. .
Kateuk makes things at http://www.etsy.com/shop/finkstuff and sometimes she does this too http://www54paintings.blogspot.com/ and also this http://finkstuff.weebly.com/
The apple chilli jelly sounds nice. I might try something like that next time I get a glut of chillies (or find loads cheap in a supermarket). The last time that happened, I dried most of them and ground them up to make chilli flakes. I also had a go at making a chilli sauce. According to my notes:
I chopped the chillies, sprinkled them with salt and put them in the fridge for a few days. The next step was to put the chillies, 1 clove of garlic, some spices (mustard seed, onion seed) and a splash of vinegar in a food processor and blend to a purée. I simmered the purée for a few minutes before putting it back in the food processor to make a smooth paste. I added equal amounts of water and vinegar until it reached a decent pourable consistency. I've put the sauce in a jar in the fridge to mature for a few weeks before I try it.
The chillies seemed to have heat rather than flavour and the sauce was fairly potent without adding much flavour. I meant to try the sauce again using my home grown chillies but forgot to. I'm still getting ripe chillies from the plant I brought indoors so I might have a go before it's too late.
Visit my blog for food, drink, photography and hamsters.
I have reached an age where my train of thought often leaves the station without me...
1Kg chillies
Chilli oil is nice. Split open 6-8 fresh or dried chillies. Pack into a dry sterilised bottle/jar with 1tbs black peppercorns. Heat 500ml olive or rapeseed oil to about 40 degrees C, pour over chillies to cover them (or they'll go moudly) and leave to infuse for 14 days - or longer for a stronger oil. Strain and rebottle.
It is hot though - I used it to brown turkey steaks - they tasted fine but when I used the contents of the pan to make the sauce it was too hot for the boys - OK for us adults though.
Most Users Ever Online: 767
Currently Online:
23 Guest(s)
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Top Posters:
brightspark: 10535
danast: 10232
Aly: 9516
Sooliz: 8084
Hattie: 6920
Ambersparkle: 6699
JoannaS: 4800
Terrier: 4518
eileen54: 4424
Hannah: 4231
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 11
Members: 16223
Moderators: 3
Admins: 1
Forum Stats:
Groups: 6
Forums: 25
Topics: 2273
Posts: 123063
Newest Members:
expip, maximllPl, RobertasseK, EdwardDum, Suzanneclics, BrianalileModerators: Toffeeapple: 16337, AdminTA: 10, Fiona Nevile: 0
Administrators: Danny: 5517
Copyright © 2006-2023 Cottage Smallholder Our Privacy Policy Advertise on Cottage Smallholder