Chilis Are in Season

While I still have no idea what I'm going to do with about a million serrano peppers, I did manage to strike a couple blows this past weekend against all the cayennes and habeneros which were threatening to overrun my kitchen like a capsaicin-laced Visigoth horde.

First, I made the Cajun equivalent of mustard gas.





If it wasn't bad enough cleaning about 2# of cayennes, the whole boiling in vinegar thing did the trick. No one was allowed in the kitchen for a couple hours. I'll note that I broke down this year and bought latex gloves so at least my hands were safe. I ended up with roughly quart of hot sauce which needs to be put into the basement for several months so that the marriage of the flavors can be consummated.





About half a dozen habenero plants litter my garden and I recently picked the first batch of fruit. (With tons more on the way.) And so I made some jerk paste to liven up our palates during the long winter months.





Does anyone know how to process jerk paste? I'm just keeping it in the refrigerator but would like to know how to can it. I presume one would need a pressure cooker as there's no added acid.





And methinks my food processor's blade needs to be a-sharpened.