Freezing Herbs (Cilantro)

I try to buy fresh herbs whenever possible, but even the smallest bunch will go bad before I can use it all. I did some research and experimented a little and this is what I came up with.

Cilantro Cubes!
So easy to make and will save you money as well as cut down on waste. I made mine with cilantro, but likely this would work with any fresh herbs. When they thaw they will be soggy, and wont look too nice. So the cubes can be used for salsas, sauces, soups, and stews, but not for a garnish.

Overwintering Chili Plants - Part 2

I posted in October about overwintering my plants. http://rachelreznor.blogspot.com/2010/10/overwintering-my-chili-plants.html
Just thought I'd give you an update. I had 4 super-chili hybrid plants that I trimmed down to just the main stem, and a jalapeno plant I pretty much left as is, and I left them all sitting by the window. I only watered them when they started to look droopy. I lost one hybrid chili plant (I think he wasn't getting enough sun), but otherwise the rest of them look great. The plants I trimmed down have been growing new leaves, and I sometimes find the odd flower. I also picked up some new seeds. Needless to say I am VERY excited for spring!

Chili!

I couldn't have a spicy food blog without a chili recipe!


Here's what you need:

• 1lb ground beef
• 1/2 spanish onion
• 1/2 green pepper
• 2-4 jalapeno peppers
• 1-2 cloves garlic minced
• 2  28oz cans diced tomatoes
• 3 cans of beans (I used: kidney beans, black beans and Heinz Chili Style beans)
• 1/2 to 3/4 of a can of beer (drink the rest)
• 3/4 cup coffee
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 package of chili seasoning, OR 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tsp cayenne

 What you do:

• In a frying pan: brown the ground beef. Add finely chopped onion and peppers as well as minced garlic. Cook for 5 minutes.
• Transfer the beef, onion and peppers to a big pot. Add the tomatoes and beans. Let simmer for 2 hours
• Throw everything else in the pot and let simmer for another hour or so.
• Enjoy! :)

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

Here's what you'll need:

•  1 Chicken breast
• 2 Italian sausages (I used Hot)
• 14oz can of tomatoes
• 1/2 of a green pepper
• 1 jalapeno deseeded
• 1/4 - 1/2  of a yellow onion
• 1 rib of celery
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1.5 cups rice
• olive oil

Serves: 2 with left overs

This is how you do it:

• Cook the cubed chicken and sausage in a frying pan with olive oil. The sausage is easier to cut up once it is cooked.
• In another frying pan you will have: olive oil, garlic, onion, peppers and celery
• Once the onion is tender dump the veggies in with the meat.
• Add the chicken broth, cayenne pepper, tomatoes and rice. (and a little hot sauce if you like it hot!)
• Let it simmer until the rice is cooked
• Eat and Enjoy!! 

Simmering.... Mmmmmm...

We were so excited about this dish we forgot to take a picture of the finished product before it was almost gone!

Who Doesn't Love Tacos?

... Especially Cheesy Tacos!

Here's what you will need:

• 1 lb ground beef
• Taco seasoning
• 14 oz diced tomatoes 
• 1-2 cups cheese (I used a cheddar & mozza blend)
• salt, pepper and chili flakes

What you do:

• Brown the ground beef in a frying pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper and chili flakes
• Drain out any fat (In all my excitement over cheesy tacos I made the mistake of forgetting to do this. I ended up with greasy - but still delicious - tacos)
• Add the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning

• Let simmer for a few minutes
•  Add cheese

• Mix it all together

• Drain out any excess fat again
• Serve on a tortilla with your favorite toppings!

Spicy Honey Garlic Ribs

What you will need:

• some pork ribs from the freezer
• 2 teabags
  
• 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/4-1/2 cup butter
• 1 - 1 1/2 cup honey
• 1-2 tbsp chili flakes
• 1 - 2 tbsp soy sauce (I didn't have any on hand so I threw in a couple tablespoons of some VH Honey Garlic cooking sauce)
• I also added a tablespoon of VH Spicy Thai Chili Sauce and a finely chopped Super Chili pepper just because I like it really spicy - these can be left out if you don't want it as hot, or don't have them on hand
  

Step One:

• Fill a pot half way with water and bring to a boil

• Add a couple teabags - I used orange pekoe, but have used an apple cinnamon tea before and it turns out delicious!!

• Add the frozen ribs to the hot water/tea and let it simmer until the ribs are no longer frozen together (5-10 mins)

Overwintering My Chili Plants

I have 4 Super Chili Hybrid plants I started from seeds last year, and a Jalapeno plant I bought last spring. I had no clue you could overwinter peppers until a few weeks ago. I'm sure you could imagine my excitement when I discovered I could have even more peppers earlier in the season! (Especially since my Super Chilis did so well - at least 50 peppers per plant!)

I brought my plants inside about a month ago and trimmed down my Super Chilis so just the main stem was left. This is so they don't waste energy trying to grow fruits, and it will concentrate all it's energy on simply surviving the winter. My Jalapeno plant still looks really good. It's still very green and not drooping at all despite getting less sunlight and I've been watering it less. I trimmed off a few of the leaves that didn't look so good, and I'm going to pick the last couple peppers but otherwise I think I'm going to leave it as is and see what happens.