My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
In case you didn’t know it, I’m huge on Pinterest! Okay, well, my Pickled Hot Cherry Peppers recipe is huge, anyway. One of the things I miss most about living in Connecticut is being able to find both fresh and pickled cherry peppers at the …
Summer is barely past us and I”m already thinking about what veggies and flowers I want to grow next year! It’s part of my winter ritual to browse online and through catalogs, finding something new and different to grow. I love growing stuff. And eating …
I grew Ghost Peppers a few years ago and can tell you the Scorpion plants are much smaller and faster-growing. As far as peppers go, the Scorpions have a slightly smoky flavor, whereas the Ghost Peppers are much fruitier.
I made some Ghost Chili Salsa that year and it remains one of my most popular recipes. So what does one do to follow up an almost-famous recipe? Make an even hotter one.
Makes 3 pint jars
Sterilize canning jars, lids, and bands; keep hot until ready to pack salsa.
In a large pan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so that the salsa is still simmering and continue to simmer for 15 minutes.
Pack hot salsa into sterile jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace, wipe rims clean and seal with sterile lids and bands. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes, making sure water is at a full boil before adding jars of salsa. Also, be sure that water covers the jars by at least an inch.
When processing time is up, carefully remove jars and place on the counter. Leave undisturbed for at least 24 hours.
Just like my Ghost Chili salsa, this stuff is crazy hot, although this is honestly hotter. Great flavor and fun to give as gifts.
Another fun idea to do with Scorpion Peppers is to make my homemade hot sauce with them. Both the salsa and the hot sauce are great ways to preserve your peppers and they’re both delicious.
Enjoy!
Let’s talk about homemade tomato sauce. Somehow, in this world of amplified food awareness, it’s become this complicated, convoluted dish and it really doesn’t have to be. I like to make this sauce in the fall when I have an abundance of tomatoes from my garden. Actually, …
Most of my cooking is inspired by what’s fresh and available, either from my garden or at the store and this recipe is a perfect example of that. Portobello mushrooms, as popular as they’ve become, are not always readily available where I live. Often, when I …
Here’s a shot of the beautiful apples we were given:
Now, I know you want to know what kind of apples these are, but I honestly don’t know. I can tell you that they’re really huge and a little tart and gifted to us from a friend who has a tree. That’s all I’ve got. Oh, wait…and they’re delicious.
Now, I know there are a lot of recipes out there for applesauce and almost as many ways to make it: canned applesauce, slow cooker applesauce, stovetop applesauce…but really, the fastest and easiest way to make applesauce is in your microwave. Like, literally less than 10 minutes.
This is but isn’t a recipe for microwave applesauce. Well, not an exact recipe anyway. It’s really just a general guideline..you’re going to have to play with your food and discover your perfect applesauce. Here’s a list of the ingredients you’ll need:
How are you doing so far?
Oh, sure, you can add some sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg and whatever else floats your applesauce boat but all you really need is apples.
Wash, peel, core, and dice your apples and place them in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and cook on high for 4 minutes. Stir apples, cover again and cook for 2 more minutes. Stir.
Now, the rest depends on how small you cut your apples and how strong your microwave is. It can also depend on the type of apple, simply because some have more water content and more sugar content than others.
I just continue to cook mine on high, pausing every 45-60 seconds to mash and stir. Once it begins to resemble applesauce, I (very carefully – this stuff is lava) taste test to see if any sugar, etc. is needed. If your applesauce is too chunky for your tastes, you may want to add a little water to help smooth out the consistency.
Cook until you’ve achieved applesauce…usually less than 10 minutes.
Ta da!
Nice work…you’ve achieved applesauce! (easy, quick, homemade, microwave applesauce)
You are now free to get on with the rest of your life.
Apple overload? If you live just about anywhere in the U.S. right now, you’re well aware that it’s apple season. We’ve been very blessed because, for the 2nd year in a row, a friend has gifted us with a huge bag of great, big, beautiful …