Serrano chiles - Printable Version +- Cuisine at home Forums (https://forums.cuisineathome.com) +-- Thread: Serrano chiles (/showthread.php?tid=55747) |
Serrano chiles - labradors - 04-17-2008 Even though Honduras has some excellent produce, it's surprising how few types of peppers the stores have: bell peppers (green, red, orange, and yellow), poblanos, jalapeños, and Scotch bonnets. Things like guajillos, Anaheims (what most people know as the basic "green chile"), cubanelles, banana peppers, New Mexicos, bird chiles, and pepperoncini are just not to be found, although some people grown their own tabascos. Today, however, one of the grocery stores had beautiful serrano chiles in one-pound packages! Needless to say: I bought some. I'll definitely cut up some of these with some tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and lemon juice to make a salsa. Also, at one time, I found a recipe for making Tabasco-style sauce (but it needed a LOT more tabasco chiles than I had at the time), and I think I'll try using the same recipe with serranos, instead. Other than the above, do any of you have any favourite, tested recipes that use serrano peppers? I already searched the forum, and didn't find very much (in fact, the longest discussion was about a recipe that used serrano ham (also very good, in it's own right), but not the peppers. Any other ideas? Thanks! Re: Serrano chiles - luvnit - 04-18-2008 Okay Rob, now i have a few questions about you. Of course you don't have to answer if they are too personal. Do you live in Honduras by yourself? Who do you cook your wonderful meals for? Of course cooking for yourself is certainly fine. I just think it would be a shame to have others around you missing some of the dishes you make. Still, I think you are having quite a unique experience by living in a foreign country. Very exciting. Wish I could help you with pepper ideas. We don't get much variety here, so I seldom cook them and barely know the difference between them. Re: Serrano chiles - labradors - 04-18-2008 Most of my cooking is for myself, but I do make a few things for some friends, occasionally, and also sell a few things (including pizzelles, pizzas, biscotti, cookies, muffins, and soups) now and then. In particular, one set of friends is a couple who own an art gallery (the wife in that couple is one of the painters) where they also have a little café and have just opened a bed and breakfast, and they buy many of the above items to serve to their customers. Re: Serrano chiles - Lorraine - 04-18-2008 I think Jean used to make a serrano pesto. Re: Serrano chiles - cjs - 04-18-2008 good memory, Lorraine...how old are you??? Yes, here's my serrano pesto, Labs and I think I have a couple other favorties - just love serranos. SERRANO PESTO QUESADILLAS Recipe By: a Chef's Journey Vegetable oil 4 10" flour tortillas 6 ozs shredded pepper Jack cheese (1 ½ cups) 6 ozs Crab -- canned & drained or fresh 1 can diced mild Ortega green chilies -- (4 oz.) 3 Tbsps minced cilantro 3 green onions -- chopped, including green part GARNISH: Sour Cream and Serrano Pepper Pesto Serrano Pepper Pesto: 8 medium Serrano peppers 11 med. cloves garlic 1/4 cup olive oil 3 Tbsps cilantro Preheat oven to 425°F. Arrange 2 tortillas on heavy large baking sheet, rub one side with oil and turn the tortillas over. Sprinkle each tortilla with half the cheese, crab, chilies, cilantro & green onions. Top each with another tortilla, pressing to adhere; rub the top tortilla with oil. Bake quesadillas until cheese melts & filling is heated, about 8 min. Transfer quesadillas to plates; cut into wedges. Serve topped with the pesto and sour cream Serrano Pepper Pesto: Put all the pesto ingredients in a food processor and and process just until the the pesto is mixed together and finely chopped. Description: "I discovered' Serrano peppers while we were living in Issaquah, Washington in the late 1980s and I spent months putting them in everything I could think of. This pesto was the best, I think." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SESAME EGGPLANT SALSA 2 lbs eggplant 3/4 c green onions -- packed, minced 2 1/2 Tbsps fresh ginger -- minced 2 Tbsps garlic -- minced 1 sm Serrano pepper -- minced 3 Tbsps light brown sugar 2 tsps fresh lemon juice 1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar 2 Tbsps tamari or soy sauce 1 Tbsp canola oil 1 1/2 tsps dark sesame oil 3/4 c tomatoes -- chopped, seeded & peeled 3/4 c fresh cilantro -- packed, minced fresh cilantro for garnish Sliced green onions Prepare the Pita Crisps (if using) up to 3 days ahead. Preheat oven to 425° Cut stem ends off eggplants & prick well all over w/knife. Place on a baking sht & roast for 30-45 min. depending on size. Turn at least once while roasting. The eggplant is done when a fork sinks easily into the thickest part. It s/b completely soft. Remove from oven &, when cool enuf, scrape the creamy pulp from the skin into food processor. Pulse quickly just till it is pureed. Combine the minced gr. onion, ginger, garlic, & chile in a bowl. Combine the b.sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, & tamari (or soy sauce) in a small bowl & whisk to blend. Place a large sauté pan over med-hi heat & swirl the canola oil around to coat the pan. Add the gr. onion mixture & sauté till softened w/out coloring, ~45 seconds. Add the sugar mixture & bring to a simmer, stirring rapidly. Reduce heat & add eggplant puree. Stir well to blend & heat thru, 1-2 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat & stir in sesame oil, tomatoes, & cilantro & fold to blend. This may be served immediately, but it tastes better if made 1-2 days before & refrigerated. Bring it back to room temp. before serving. Yield: "4 c" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Serving Ideas : Serve w/Pita Crisps (see recipe) Garnish the top w/minced cilantro & sliced gr. onions & surround w/Pita Crisps (or chips of some sort) NOTES : Best if made at least one day in advance. ------- CILANTRO & SERRANO CHILE RICE Cilantro and Serrano Chile Rice Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups chicken broth 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup white aromatic rice (Texmati brand) 1 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1/2 medium white onion, finely minced 1 to 2 Serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and finely minced 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped Preparation: In a 1-quart saucepan over high heat, combine the chicken stock, salt and rice. Bring to a boil, stir well and cover the pan. REDUCE the heat to very low and simmer until all the water is absorbed, about 15 to 18 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl using a wooden spoon, mix the butter, minced onion, Serrano chile and cilantro until combined. Using a fork or two chopsticks, stir the cilantro mixture into the hot rice until the butter melts and the ingredients are well distributed. Cover the pan and let stand for 5 minutes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hey ya'all, remember SweeTooth????? I sure miss her. RASPBERRY SALSA - SweeTooth 1/2 cup fresh raspberries - washed 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper 2 Serrano peppers - minced fine 1/4 cup chopped red onion 1/2 cup chopped -- seeded tomato 2 tsp. fresh chopped cilantro 1 pinch salt -Gently combine all the salsa ingredients, carefully mashing some of the raspberries, but leaving a few whole. -Allow to set for at least 1 hour. Serve with spring rolls - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - hmmmmm, I seem to have gotten carried away... have fun, Labs and be sure to freeze those you can't use fast enough. Re: Serrano chiles - labradors - 04-18-2008 Lots of great ideas, there. Due to personal preferences or the lack of ingredient availability, the only one of those recipes I'll be able to use completely is the one for the rice (and I have real basmati rice, so I won't have to resort to Texmati). The pesto does sound really good, but I'll probably use it with something other than those quesadillas, since real crab meat is out of my current budget range, and I haven't seen the imitation crab in several months. Maybe I'll try it with some other fish, when I get a little extra money. Otherwise, it could be interesting to use with chicken on a pizza. Re: Serrano chiles - cjs - 04-18-2008 that pesto is good on anything! Re: Serrano chiles - labradors - 04-18-2008 Okay. I have reserved the necessary serranos to make the pesto, rice, salsa, and another salsa, and have just made a "Tabasco" sauce recipe, but substituting the rest of the serranos in place of the tabascos. Here is the recipe for that one: Homemade Tabasco Style Sauce Ingredients:
Two years ago, I had chosen this recipe from the web to try to make "Tabasco" sauce with some tabasco chiles someone had given me. Unfortunately, they were SO light that I didn't have anywhere near a pound, so I scaled the recipe down proportional to the number of peppers I DID have. The result was not enough for the blender to be able to do anything, so I just chopped it up a bit more and put it onto some chicken I had already cooked. It was FANTASTIC, and I wish I could get enough of those chiles to make the sauce. Thus, I decided to borrow the recipe for use with these serranos. So far, so good, but we'll see how the final product turns out in two weeks. In addition to making this sauce, I will also make the recipes of Jean's that I already mentioned, plus one other salsa that caught my fancy: Salsa de Molcajete (Mortar and Pestle) Ingredients:
I'll keep everyone posted on the progress and my opinions. Here is the source where I found the "Tabasco" recipe, and here is the original source for the salsa recipe. Re: Serrano chiles - firechef - 04-18-2008 All saved and ready to try when I can. I'll be looking for updates when I check in so hope it comes out good. Re: Serrano chiles - cjs - 04-19-2008 Many years ago I found a 'taco sauce' recipe that the whole family loved, but darn it, can't remember where it was/is. The ones you posted I think I'll have to play with. |