Campsite Cooking

[JohndeFresno]

To borrow part of a classic line from the movie, "The Graduate":
"I have one word for you. Jalapenos."

I have tried these at home and they were a hit, even with those who don't eat stuff that is too piquant ("hot"). This will add to a zesty egg or whatever breakfast on a campout!

Roasted Jalapenos DeFresno - For Five
12"x12" or thereabouts sheet of tin foil
5 large, fresh Jalapenos (not canned or pickled)
1 capful of high quality tequila
... (I tried vodka, but it just was not the same)
Slit each pepper lengthwise

Place peppers, slit side down, in center of tin foil
Fold foil to make a square tray to hold liquid
Note: it is important to keep the bottom of the
foil flat to allow the slit peppers to take marinade
Put foil package over a campsite griddle or grill

Pour in about 1 capful of tequila - enough to form thin layer
Cook until peppers and seeds start to pop inside; skin softens
The peppers won't blacken and burn; peppers will be sweet
and some of the heat will fall away, leaving great flavor

Pig Sticker Jalapenos - Condiment For 2-3 campers
So named because my wife adds these to Chinese Pot Stickers,
which I call Pig Stickers 'cuz I can't remember proper name
These are really sweet and mild and are wonderful condiments
for hash browns, eggs, squirrel tongues, or practically anything
with a mild flavor
1 tablespoon? Oil - Extra Virgin Olive Oil is best - to cover bottom of pan
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar - Use double filtered stuff; not that much $, better
5 fresh large Jalapenos, sliced into wheels - they will shrivel

Oil in bottom of fry pan, saute peppers by smell
Flip, stir, don't burn
(Pronounced vegetable or grassy smell)
Last minute - add Balsamic Vinegar, then quickly remove peppers
before they stick to the pan

You have to try these to believe the flavor. If you like Tabasco or any
type of pepper sauce at all, this will probably be a campsite staple.

[FWiedner]

I like chipolte, but mightily dislike jalpeno.

[Mac in Mo]

I love jalapenos. I grow several plants each year. I will try these. Thanks


Kevin

[Marlin32]

Jalapenos have terrible flavor and are not very hot.
My favorite is probably the Serrano and I loves my Habaneros!!! I like the piquins too.

[bdhold]

love to grill jalapenos and eat them with grilled meat

[jlchucker]

love to grill jalapenos and eat them with grilled meat

What's cookin' in the pot, bulldog?

[bdhold]

it's a dutch oven with a loaf of garlic cheese bread

[Griff]

Sounds delicious, thanks John.

[bdhold]

poppers - grilled stuffed jalapenos are also great. Sorry I don't have a recipe, but some of the best have crabmeat, cheese, bacon, garlic.

[JohndeFresno]

Jalapenos have terrible flavor and are not very hot.
My favorite is probably the Serrano and I loves my Habaneros!!! I like the piquins too.

You are quite welcome, y'all - enjoy! I have loved grilling Jalapenos the traditional way for years, but in order to get the proper flavor, the skin gets black and papery and is then unpleasant to eat and then a bit difficult to peel off. With the foil method, you eat them whole.

Serrano and Piquin peppers are a little hotter but to me, they don't carry as much flavor. I guess that is why the vast majority of eatin' peppers sold are Jalapenos - at least in Central California, where it is common to munch on a pepper with the meal; especially among the Hispanic population. And, let's face it - they are no where near the category of Habaneros in piquancy.

Now as for Habaneros: I can't count the times that I hear about somebody who says he eats them! But I have only met one person who could eat a Habanero brought to him, and then (in front of me and with me) he ate only a tiny piece of it after removing the seeds. I admit that he could eat more than me; but we both suffered to the delight and laughter of witnesses. What type of "Habaneros" do you have in your neck of the woods, Marlin32?


ABOVE: Habaneros - although the ones found in stores in my area are usually orange, like little pumpkins. According to the Scoville scale below, I would guess that these red ones are even hotter than the the orange ones. I don't know; they are now officially off my shopping list.

Let's look at the facts: I eat peppers (excluding the H word types) like candy and have met few Hispanics or other folks who can stand to eat them as I do; and most of them sweat and get reddened eyes from tearing. I've eaten them all my life, and started with Tabasco sauce soaked toast as a child. But there are a few guys (never found a lady, for some reason) who like things as hot as I do. Yet I cannot eat a whole Habanero pepper if it has been properly watered and grown.

You see, the Scoville ("heat" scale) rating of a Habanero is more than 10 times (10+ times) that of a Jalapeno; as much as 50 times as volcanic, per the scale shown below. Let me 'splain that carefully - one true Habanero, those orange little things that look like miniature bell peppers - is as hot as eating 10 or more Jalapenos at a time.



I took some home and found that I had to use them in sauces, very carefully, and they were still too hot for the family. I took one (1) pepper, cut of a tiny part of it: The diameter of an eraser atop a pencil, and just a small slice; about 1/3 of a pencil top eraser in size. My mouth, tongue and throat paid the price dramatically for probably 10 minutes. I felt the effect for hours. In all honesty, I was in so much pain that I couldn't think of anything else except that I had made a "little mistake" in judgement.

Now get this. I carefully wiped off the knife that had cut the pepper, dipping it in hot soapy water. Believe me when I told you that my wife used the knife to cut into something; I forget what; and just the tiny residue of oil left on the blade was enough to elicit her howls and complaints. I therefore assess the Habanero as unfit for human consumption, so it doesn't compute when somebody claims that they eat them. There must be some Habaneros sold that are starved of water in some way that they don't develop the levels of oleoresin capsicum (I believe it is called) that so devastates the tongues of us folks here in the Valley.

Again, not because it's a "macho" thing for me - I just love hot dishes - but my "reputation" or perhaps "infamy" among family and friends, and acquaintances who eat with me either at home or at a Mexican or Thai restaurant - is that I am "crazy" in my taste for hot food. So forgive me if I have trouble believing that you eat Habaneros without going to the hospital; at least the Habaneros that are available at supermarkets in the Central San Joaquin Valley. Are you sure you are eating Habaneros? I have never yet met a single person who could eat a whole one in front of me - even close. You would be the first!

[JohndeFresno]

Bulldog - is that grille one that is in place at a campsite, or is it two U-shaped pieces of iron with a movable grill that you carry around in your truck or vehicle? It looks like a great way to quickly throw down some briquets and make a fire. I note the adjustments on the side to raise or lower the grille.

I have an extended family that camps regularly and hauls stuff up in the pickups, including a 50 gallon barrel with hooks to slow-roast meat. They (we, when I can make it) eat better while camping than most any restaurant that you can name. I'm always looking for clever ways to carry compact but industrial strength camp cooking items for our rather large crowd (in-laws, grandpa, brothers, sons, uncles, etc).

[rock-steady]

I grew up eating hot peppers. My 76 yo father still eats a pepper of some kind with every meal. I remember my first habanero. I was helping a little old lady with some home repairs when she asked me if I liked hot peppers. I said sure and she handed me a little orange pumpkin shaped pepper. I popped the whole thing in my mouth and commenced to chewing. Nothing for a second or two then.....wham! my throat started closing up and my eyes, nose and ears started pourin sweat, my tounge started swelling and I couldn't breathe. All that saved me was about two gallons of ice cold beer. Then I got the bright idea to grow some habanero's for my old man. He would nibble little bitty bites off of one, but he never did finish a whole pepper. I made a pan of mexican cornbread and added three chopped up habaneros to the mix. It turned out too hot for human consumption. I chunked the whole pan out in the yard and the dogs wouldn't even eat it. So now I only grow jalapenos and we eat them all summer long. My favoruite way to grill them is stuffed with a piece of smoked deer sausage & cream cheese, sprinkled with Old Bay and wrapped with bacon. I could mow down about twenty of 'em right now.

[JohndeFresno]

I grew up eating hot peppers...So now I only grow jalapenos and we eat them all summer long. My favoruite way to grill them is stuffed with a piece of smoked deer sausage & cream cheese, sprinkled with Old Bay and wrapped with bacon. I could mow down about twenty of 'em right now.

Me, too. A day without peppers is like a month without sunshine.

What is Old Bay? EDIT: Oh - found it on the Internet!

[Marlin32]

I have grown the Red Savina, and usually grow the Red Caribbean Habaneros along with the orange ones. I have at one time or another grown, white, orange, yellow, chocolate, scotch bonnet, reds, you name it.

Actually will order my habanero seed today. Red Caribbeans.
The serranos are nearer 50-75,000 units, at least that is what is being advertised. I use them in every sauce, or concotion I make. Pizza Sauce, Spaghetti sauce, bbq, salsas, etc.
Great in chili, tacos, lasagne, and pizza. I use the habaneros in same manner except in smaller quantity. And yes, I can eat a habanero. Piquins too.

Pepper heat is an acquired tolerance. The more you use them, the more tolerance to the heat, then you have to add more! Once you have that tolerance and can eat a habanero, will never eat a jalapeno again.

[1894]

Don't forget about ABT's ( Atomic Buffalo Turds )
Really not all that hot so don't be scared by the name

Jalapenos : Either halved lengthwise or cored . Halved is easier so here we go with that.
Keep the pairs together .
Use a small spoon and remove the seeds and veins from each half .

Mix cream cheese with most anything you want. We just like a little crushed fruit , but also any cooked meat / seafood / spices / cheeses / etc etc all work well.

Fill each half with the cream cheese mix .
We usually put the two halfs together , but you can also do them individually .

Bacon , A slight cook in a fry pan gets some of the grease off and starts the bacon cooking .
Wrap a strip around the filled pepper using toothpics to secure the bacon.
Cook over low to medium heat till the bacon is done.

Might look like this when done :

[JohndeFresno]

I have grown the Red Savina, and usually grow the Red Caribbean Habaneros along with the orange ones. I have at one time or another grown, white, orange, yellow, chocolate, scotch bonnet, reds, you name it.

Actually will order my habanero seed today. Red Caribbeans.
The serranos are nearer 50-75,000 units, at least that is what is being advertised. I use them in every sauce, or concotion I make. Pizza Sauce, Spaghetti sauce, bbq, salsas, etc.
Great in chili, tacos, lasagne, and pizza. I use the habaneros in same manner except in smaller quantity. And yes, I can eat a habanero. Piquins too.

Pepper heat is an acquired tolerance. The more you use them, the more tolerance to the heat, then you have to add more! Once you have that tolerance and can eat a habanero, will never eat a jalapeno again.

Wow. That's worth quoting in whole. Serranos, to me, are not that overpowering. But you would be the first person I have talked to in 66 years who can truly eat a Habanero.

Lotsa folks have said that, until I have offered to bring them one when we eat. Then the baloney stops. The world is full of "fishermen."

I've been eating hot stuff since I was a pre-teen. A bout with Dave's Insanity Sauce, which I put liberally on a piece of toast and ate like I do with Tabasco and other sauces, sent me to bed for two days; nearly to the hospital. Then, my experience with the Habanero as noted was enough to convince me that there are limits. I suspect that, although there is a tolerance thing, some folk can handle superhuman heat - if what you are eating is raised properly.

I raise peppers, too, as do some friends and a family member - so I have to assume that yours are raised properly, since you can see them as they grow and know if they are robust, unlike the shipped ones we find in the market.

[JohndeFresno]

Don't forget about ABT's ( Atomic Buffalo Turds )
Really not all that hot so don't be scared by the name

Sounds good!

Rock-Steady's deer sausage peppers sound intriguing, as well.

Most of my family like the seeded variety to cut the heat. I have found the ideal device to quickly seed a halved Jalapeno - a "grapefruit spoon." It is pointed, a little smaller than many spoons, with serrations ("teeth") on the two sides of the spoon coming to a point.

When I can't find one of those, a smaller spoon like an iced tea spoon - that long handled, smaller spoon used sometimes as the name implies - works almost as well. Much faster and more accurate for removing veins and seeds than a knife.

[Marlin32]

Curious as new to the campfire dutch oven cooking stuff. How do you make that garlic bread??

Just thought I would add, my cousin last weekend for super bowl made a 7 habanero pizza for himself. He eats Ghost peppers. I have seen it. He carries ghost pepper powder WITH him almost all the time, kind of like concealed carry. Granted, he is one special case.

Tried the ghost pepper powder once, its a bit hot for me, no flavor that I can find, kind of bitter if you ask me. Not sure what the pepper itself tastes like.

[soon 2 retire]

Jalapeños are as hot as I want to go. As far as sauces go nothing hotter than Tabasco unless greatly diluted as in "a little bit in a pot of chili". Mrs. Renfro's Mango Habanero Salsa has just the right bite-to-flavor ratio for me. It must contain just a sliver of habanero.

Bob in Friday Harbor

[JohndeFresno]

Soon 2 Retire, if you check the labels, you'll find that most Habanero sauces add a lot of carrot as the mitigating ingredient. It will be one of the first ingredients on the list, indicating that they add more of it than the other ingredients. It adds sweetness, fiber, and cools down the mix.

Marlin32 - Those Ghost Peppers - aren't they the hottest known in the world?

[wecsoger]

Tabasco is good but lately I've become of huge fan of Cholula. That's the one with the round wooden top. They have a regular, and also make a chili/garlic and a lime version - all very tasty on the appropriate items.

[JohndeFresno]

Tabasco is good but lately I've become of huge fan of Cholula. That's the one with the round wooden top. They have a regular, and also make a chili/garlic and a lime version - all very tasty on the appropriate items.

Ditto. I was introduced to it at IHOP - a restaurant chain that specializes in breakfasts, formerly known as International House of Pancakes. They have it on the table; and an increasing number of California restaurants now have it available.

In Viet Nam, a large number of GI's came to like Tabasco because it was available, sometimes in the C-rations of later manufacture, but usually it was stolen from the Mess Halls by us visiting soldiers from "the field." You could put the stuff even on Ham and Lima beans (canned Korean era fare) and even it tasted good; and it was my universal remedy to those disgusting jellied "scrambled eggs" that were also canned in the '50's.

The current favorites of the entire deFresno family are Tapa Tio (also being seen more and more in eateries) and Cholula.

BTW, here's a video on somebody eating a Ghost Pepper - ya won't see me in it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDQXwlgb6P8

[JohndeFresno]

Rock-steady, I read your post to my wife - she laughed and laughed.

[Canuck Bob]

Wow my camp cooking really sucks. In my backpack hunting days it was oatmeal glue for breakfast, rock hard jerky and an O'Henry for lunch, and a can of bully beef and a can of beans heated lukewarm for supper. What's a jalepena pepper and spice?

I'll eat at your camp fires anyday!

[Mescalero]

Can't do anything hot, acid reflux.
So, the green part of green onions, chop up bacon in small slices, crisp it.
Scramble egs, mix in green onion and bacon.
Muy Bueno!

[JohndeFresno]

Can't do anything hot, acid reflux.
So, the green part of green onions, chop up bacon in small slices, crisp it.
Scramble egs, mix in green onion and bacon.
Muy Bueno!

Try barbequeing some bell peppers or those big Italian peppers (I think they are called), deseeded - no heat, lots of wonderful flavor.

[JohndeFresno]

Last night, enjoyed some big green Pasilla peppers, the ones that are cooked into Chile Relleno dishes. As with the other recipes, they were placed in tin foil, slit side down, with some good quality tequila at the bottom, on the barbecue grill. We had them as a side dish with salmon (barbecued) covered with Mango Salsa of my wife's inspiration (a whole 'nother story).

Great flavor if you like Pasillas, and zero "heat" for those with stomach problems. Another hit. That tequila is a great cooking aid. I understand that some folks like it so much, they even drink the stuff straight.

[Bosco]

JohndeFresno
Post subject: Re: OT Campsite CookingPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:19 pm

Senior Levergunner


Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2007 1:52 pm
Posts: 1880
Location: Central California
Marlin32 wrote:
I have grown the Red Savina, and usually grow the Red Caribbean Habaneros along with the orange ones. I have at one time or another grown, white, orange, yellow, chocolate, scotch bonnet, reds, you name it.

Actually will order my habanero seed today. Red Caribbeans.
The serranos are nearer 50-75,000 units, at least that is what is being advertised. I use them in every sauce, or concotion I make. Pizza Sauce, Spaghetti sauce, bbq, salsas, etc.
Great in chili, tacos, lasagne, and pizza. I use the habaneros in same manner except in smaller quantity. And yes, I can eat a habanero. Piquins too.

Pepper heat is an acquired tolerance. The more you use them, the more tolerance to the heat, then you have to add more! Once you have that tolerance and can eat a habanero, will never eat a jalapeno again.

Wow. That's worth quoting in whole. Serranos, to me, are not that overpowering. But you would be the first person I have talked to in 66 years who can truly eat a Habanero.

I have dined in Marlin32's kitchen. If he says he eats them....he eats them. He doesn't bother serving them up when I am around as my tolerance level is low. Jalapenos when soaked in vinegar or however Mrs. Redfield makes them is good enough for me. No doubt he will be encouraging me to try something higher on the hot scale soon after this discussion. If something has a better flavor I am all for it but I am not up for MUCH more heat.

[Bosco]

It appears that Vienna Hot Giardiniera peppers might be hotter than just Jalapenos 20000 - 30000 from what I can gather here on the net quickly. I just bought a case of these jars. They are a staple at my house. We have not tried much other than Jalapenos and Cayenne peppers in the garden so far.

[Old Time Hunter]

Bulldog, thanks for the appetizer's, now for the entree...



Two inches thick, two pounds, marinated in lime-garlic-crushed pepper concoction overnight in a plastic bag, one pound sautee'd mushrooms, a bunch of asparagus brazed in hot extra virgin olive oil w/crushed garlic cloves.

Meat cooked nine minutes on one side and eight on the other over a hot mesquite fire.

[piller]

Cornbread with Jalapenos in it is the best way. Remove the top, slice lengthwise, remove the seeds and veins, chop into pieces about the size of a small raisin, stir into the cornbread batter, and enjoy. They really make the cornbread taste good. I also like Pico de Gallo on tacos and burritos. Pico is a mix of jalapeno, onion, and tomato. It is best if very fresh and you should be able to taste all three ingredients. I prefer my jalapenos to have a little bite, but i am not into pain. I refuse to try a habanero or a scotch bonnet pepper. PillHer has learned that the secret to making your peppers hotter is to wait until the leaves start to curl on the plant before watering it. Apparently the stress makes them increase the capsaicin production. I am not a fan of Serrano peppers, and I think they just don't have much flavor. I like cayenne peppers, but prefer the taste of jalapenos. I hate bell peppers, they taste bad to me. Now, I think some jalapeno cornbread will go great with supper tonight.

[JohndeFresno]

Cornbread with Jalapenos in it is the best way. Remove the top, slice lengthwise, remove the seeds and veins, chop into pieces about the size of a small raisin, stir into the cornbread batter, and enjoy. They really make the cornbread taste good. I also like Pico de Gallo on tacos and burritos. Pico is a mix of jalapeno, onion, and tomato. It is best if very fresh and you should be able to taste all three ingredients. I prefer my jalapenos to have a little bite, but i am not into pain. I refuse to try a habanero or a scotch bonnet pepper. PillHer has learned that the secret to making your peppers hotter is to wait until the leaves start to curl on the plant before watering it. Apparently the stress makes them increase the capsaicin production. I am not a fan of Serrano peppers, and I think they just don't have much flavor. I like cayenne peppers, but prefer the taste of jalapenos. I hate bell peppers, they taste bad to me. Now, I think some jalapeno cornbread will go great with supper tonight.

Interesting! Will try that with my next plants!
Serranos: Me neither - a tad hotter, no big thang, less flavor.
Try bell peppers on barbecue - that's when they develop flavor.