Ground Kung Pow Chilies

[RidgebackRanch]

Finally got around to grinding up the Kung Pow chilies hanging in the garage. After picking off the best ones I put them through a small cheap food processor.

This being my first attempt ever I got lucky and it turned out very well. After grinding the whole dried chilies I took about half and sifted them to get the seeds out and them reground what was left and ground and sifted again.

So now there is a 12 ounce jar of whole ground and a 8 ounce jar of just powder (no seeds). That should hold until next years crop. Tomorrow I'm going to pick upsome Remond salt and see how well it blends with the chili powder.

 

[thistlebloom]

Ridgeback, were you able to ripen the Kung Paos in your climate? How long is your season? That's been my problem with peppers is not enough season to get good color.

Of course I'm guessing you get more sunny days and maybe more heat than I do, that would help!

When you ground them, did you need to do it outside?

 

[digitS']

. . . When you ground them, did you need to do it outside?

And, you survived, RidgebackRanch?

I'm a little paranoid about the grinding, etc. and still haven't done anything other than dry & bag a whole lot of Super Chilies :/. There's still frozen paste from 2011 so, I've got that.

It occurred to me the other day that I may be able to just grind regular sea salt but I don't know. There really isn't much reason for me not to get the right kind of salt.

Steve

 

[journey11]

. . . When you ground them, did you need to do it outside?

And, you survived, RidgebackRanch?

I'm a little paranoid about the grinding, etc. and still haven't done anything other than dry & bag a whole lot of Super Chilies :/. There's still frozen paste from 2011 so, I've got that.

It occurred to me the other day that I may be able to just grind regular sea salt but I don't know. There really isn't much reason for me not to get the right kind of salt.

Steve

I learned the hard way a few years ago...LET IT SIT A LONG WHILE BEFORE TAKING OFF THE LID! Especially brutal with contact lenses in.

Have fun with your versatile homemade cooking spice. Who knows where you'll go from here!

 

[NwMtGardener]

Wow, i'm so glad i read this before attempting to grind my dried thai hot dragons. I got a gorgeous new blender (with a COOKING function!) for Christmas, now i will be forewarned to let the dust settle after grinding.

And Steve, what is the right kind of salt?

 

[lesa]

We had a similar experience with horseradish. I swear we couldn't open our eyes for awhile there! I thought we had blinded ourselves- thankfully we don't wear contacts...the thought of that really makes my eyes water! Enjoy your new spice!

 

[digitS']

Wow, i'm so glad i read this before attempting to grind my dried thai hot dragons. I got a gorgeous new blender (with a COOKING function!) for Christmas, now i will be forewarned to let the dust settle after grinding.

And Steve, what is the right kind of salt?

As best I understand, Heather, we should use powdered salt. It is the same as the popcorn salt - I believe. It sticks to dry food rather than having to melt in.

So! You can blend and cook a Cream of Asparagus Soup with the same appliance?!

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

So! You can blend and cook a Cream of Asparagus Soup with the same appliance?!

Yes! How cool is that!? Yesterday i picked up some turnips and rutabagas, then roasted them in the oven with a sweet potato and a whole head of garlic I had at home. Put some turkey stock that i had in the freezer in the blender and got it boiling (!) then added the roasted veggies and blended them up - it was delicious!! Plus i'm having my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, so now i've got soup! The dang blender will even SAUTE your garlic and onion. I've still got some leeks in the garden, i'm thinking about a creamy leek and spinach soup next week...

 

[RidgebackRanch]

Our growing season is gives us at least 120 frost free days more often than not. The trouble is that overnight temperatures often get a bit on the cool side ( 45-55). That can make if difficult for some peppers and tomatoes to do their thing. This year we caught a break and all the peppers and tomatoes did better than usual.

After this plant had dried about 25% of the peppers were still green but because there were so many on the plant there were plenty to harvest.

As for grinding I did it on the stove top with the exhaust fan going full speed and was very mindful of exactly what I was doing. When dealing with very hot peppers there is very little room for error. You will know when it happens i you know what mean.

After reading Steve's comment I am going to crush the salt with a mortar and pestal and see how well it blends with the chili powder.

 

[RidgebackRanch]

I ended up using about 1 part chili powder to 8 parts salt. It seems to blend well and taste pretty good (not too hot).

One unexpected side effect is that after shaking it on food DW and I both sneeze a few times