The Recipe Box: Hot Pepper Vinegar

Hot Pepper Vinegar

From the recipe box of KimB

During the first lock downs and lock-in days of COVID-19 Pandemic shopping was a No Go activity. Items had to be bought on-line, especially if you are At Risk (we are all At Risk but some are More At Risk than others), and you had to Make Do with whatever was on offer and more importantly, whatever was actually delivered.

Shopping online doesn't seem to be any easier for me than shopping in person. It's actually a counter-intuitive problem. One might think that having lists of goods scrolling on the screen would make things easier, except the items scrolling on the lists are not the ones I want.

You scroll past a lot of stuff of no interest and once you do find something you want, if you misclick the selection, you get to do the whole scroll thing again.

The only achievement is the "Store AI Shopping Algorithm" that is harvesting shopping data, is logging a lot of junk data. The program which suffers from a lack of the Intelligence part in Artificial Intelligence, collects useless info while it tries to entice me to buy stuff of No Interest To Me. It is likely of great interest and high margin profit to the store, so they keep trying to sell what they want me to buy.

It becomes a game of sorts, how to by pass the AI Shopping Algorithm and get to the stuff I DO want to buy.

During this phase of the initial COVID-19 pandemic, we all learned that there was an awful lot of stuff we didn't need, we never needed, and no longer want. Some of these epiphanies remain as we move into the more challenging waves of COVID-19 WackAMut.

One thing I did want, was a decent salsa or hot sauce. The Big Box Stores that provided the food lifelines only carry the huge sizes of salsa and hot sauce used by restaurants. Nothing small and dainty or suitable for an occasional dash 'n' splash. There was also the question of ingredients and some offerings have less biological content than the amount of inert packaging. I already have enough of that air-bubble wrap, thanks.

During a moment of celebration after getting The Jab and waiting the requiste days for effectiveness, we made a foray to the drive through burger joint. We drove home with our treasure:

Burgers, Fries, Shakes. Heaven.

In the bag was a container of extra pickles and another container of Hot Peppers.

Hot Peppers. Salsa. Hot Peppers. Hot Sauce. Hot Peppers. Hmmmm...

Not having the rest of the ingrediants to make Salsa or Hot Sauce, I began to rummage through the pantry goods to see what I could make with the Hot Peppers.

Not all Hot Peppers are the same. Some are mild and some have enough fire power to launch a rocket. You have to be mindful that a few letters in the name make a big difference.

• Burger Joint peppers are Cascabella or Guerito peppers. They are both sold in jars; both look similar. They have thick walls. They are pickled. They are hot. 1500-4000 Scovilles.
  
  Cascabella can grow as ornamentals. They turn orange, red if left long enough to ripen. The commercial pickled peppers are picked at the yellow stage and then pickled.


• Cascabel is a hot pepper, brown in color with thin walls; used dried and ground. 1,000 to 3,000 Scovilles.


• Pepperoncino sold in the USA are Friggitello peppers aka golden greek or tuscan pepper. Found on sandwiches and salad bars. They are mild. 100 - 500 Scovilles.

Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food using brine or immersion in vinegar. One thing I did have was vinegar.

Since the burger joint Cascabella Peppers had already been brined, I popped them into a jar of white vinegar to see if the vinegar would capture the flavor of the hot peppers but with less heat.

In short order, the vinegar had absorbed the flavor, with just enough heat, still having that acidic bite. A few teaspoons of the Cascabella Hot Pepper Vinegar Infusion, perk up some of the blander dinner fare without the flame thrower aspect of eating them direct. I've used it instead of horseradish in a chicken salad, it worked great.

Ingredients: Hot Pepper Vinegar

A few Cascabella Peppers. (obtained from higher quality Burger Joints)
1 cup of white vinegar. (other types might work)
Glass jar with a good lid.

Optional: Burger Joint pickles.

Preparation:

1. Place the Cascabella Peppers and Pickles in the jar.
2. Cover with White Vinegar.
3. Store in the fridge.
4. Stir or shake before use to mix the flavors.
5. Teaspoon the flavored vinegar as desired.

Hot Pepper Vinegar