VACATIONS FROM HOME: HOT HOT HOT TIMES IN THE JUNGLE

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

HOT HOT HOT TIMES IN THE JUNGLE

MAKING PEOPLE GASP AND SNEEZE
THE JUNGLE

Janet said I should make hot sauces that people can eat. This is quite impossible as I am spending the summer making hot sauces from the hottest peppers on Earth.

This year in our back deck oasis we are growing (in ascending heat index) Jalapenos, Tabasco, Cayenne, Habaneros, Ghost, Trinidad Scorpions and Carolina Reapers! The last three peppers top the Scoville scale with the Carolina Reapers heating up the kitchen at over 2,000,000 units. In comparison Jalapenos come in varying between 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville units.

Don't believe me? Here's a great site comparing the heat.

THE HOTTEST PEPPERS

IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE

Affectionately dubbed “the Jungle”, each summer we transform our back deck, at the middle-class garret we call home, into an extra room to enjoy. Emblazoned with ferns and flowers on the deck itself and lights ringing our rails, it is as if the rest of the world doesn’t exist.

GHOST PEPPERS

Included in this wonderfully peaceful setting is a coffee tree growing from a bean we harvested in Monteverde Costa Rica and I figure in about 4 years or so we’ll get our own home grown cup of joe.

We have expanded our “plantation” to include the immediate area just off the deck and we grow our array of peppers in several pots positioned to capture as much sun as possible.

This year’s harvest has been good, and we have made several variants of hot sauces.

Here’s a quick list of the pepper sauces we, er I, Janet won’t touch them, that have been made:

BAJAN HC

BAJAN STYLE HOT SAUCE – From Barbados this mustard and Habaneros hot sauce is a great compliment to chicken.

DEATH BY SCORPION - Incredibly intense flavors of the fruity Trinidad Scorpion peppers with lemon and cilantro.

GET AWAY FROM ME GOLDEN BOY - Carolina Reaper sauce with some cilantro to help ease the pain

CAROLINA REAPER HOT SAUCE – Just plain f-ing hot

CAYENNE PEPPER HOT SAUCE – In the Tabasco style of sauces, just vinegar, salt and the peppers… but with some onions and garlic

CAROLINA
REAPER

JALAPENO HOT SAUCE – Flavorful, but without the crazy heat.

GHOST PEPPER MEDLEY HOT SAUCE – Add a Scorpion and some Habaneros and tomatoes and you get this beauty.

The Tabasco peppers haven’t ripened yet so that will be yet ANOTHER concoction coming!

Sometimes I strain out the leftover pulp and seeds, sometimes if I want a thicker sauce, I bottle it all!

Janet orders the bottles on Amazon and they come with sealing caps that I heat up with a hair dryer.

GET AWAY FROM ME
GOLDEN BOY

We also make a PINEAPPLE/HABANERO JELLY which is excellent as an appetizer over Mascarpone, or cream cheese. I think we got the gelling thing down this year.

We also make JALAPENO POPPERS. Stuffed with cream cheese and cheese, wrapped in bacon and coated with panko crumbs they are also a great appetizer. They also will freeze for later times when the cold winds blow!