WARNING: These recipes are not for the weak of tongue- this salsa packs some H-E-A-T!

HOT SAUCE!

My girlfriend has this massive habanero plant that is seriously like an inch thick at the bottom.  I swear this thing is growing bark and turning into a tree.  Anyway, I picked about 50 peppers off this one plant (there were 50-100 peppers left when I was done), so it’s hot sauce makin’ time.  Fortunately, my brother/roommate has a food processor because I have no idea how I would make this without it.  Roast everything in skillet.  Do this until the carrots soften up, then put everything in a food proccessor and blend it up.  I added just a little bit of vinegar, then added water until it was a good hot sauce consistency.  It’s going to be a little thicker than the stuff you get in the store. I think the carrot flavor really compliments the habanero and makes it nice and sweet.  Oh yeah, and it’s really hot.

40 habaneros
4 large carrots
onion
4 garlic cloves
vinegar
cumin
allspice
salt
pepper

SALSA!

The food processor also helps with the salsa making.  You can throw all the ingredients in there and pulse the blender until you have it the way you want it (I like my salsa fairly chunky).  I prefer to blend individual ingredients and add it into a separate bowl. This way if I decide I need more onions or whatever, I can blend it up without thinning out the salsa too much.  But then again, I guess you could just move it into a separate bowl once you decide you need more of whatever then blend it.  I guess a better reason is that other ingredients blend more quickly than others, so you don’t thin out the tomatoes while trying to blend the onions down.  Adjust the recipe based on how hot you want this, I was going to add another habanero, but I didn’t want to make it too hot for the crows, who still thought it was insanely hot…

(The only thing that wasn’t grown in my garden or my girlfriend’s was the cilantro)
12 tomatillos
20 roma tomatoes
2 habaneros
4 jalapenos
4 cayenne peppers
salt and pepper
1.5 bunches of cilantro

Kevin will also be hosting his second annual Sausage Fest this month- check it out on the events page!

Quick and Chunky Noodle Soup

Soups with broths scare me off because of the time constraints. HOWEVER, I figured out a way to make a tasty chicken noodle soup in less than an hour and a half, though it of course tastes better the next day.

1 whole chicken
bunch of celery
4 carrots
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 medium turnips (or parsnips! or both!)
cilantro! forget that nerdy parsley.
package of egg noodles
and salt and pepper, our good friends

Chop up the chicken as best you can, about five or six pieces, leave the fat on, and boil it for about a half hour, till it gets to falling apart. While that is going on, chop all your veggies up. When the chicken is done, drain most of the water, but save about three cups of the oily goodness. Add three cups of fresh water to the pot, salt the shit out of it, and then add your veggies all at once. While you have them cooking, pick apart your chicken and throw the meat in before the veggies are done. When things have about five minutes (you can tell by the turnips) add the egg noodles and cilantro. And when the noodles are done, that’s it! Pepper to taste.

Even-Quicker, Extra Smoove Roast Tomato Soup
courtesy of my man crow.

tomatoes
garlic
cup of fresh basil (from our garden! yeah!)
salt salt salt pepper pepper pepper
olive oil
and half
*makes about four portions

Slice thin enough tomatoes to fill three cookie sheets, that have been doused in olive oil. Lay ‘em out and thin slice a clove of garlic per sheet, setting those slices on top of the lucky tomatoes. Broil the sheets one at a time for about five-six minutes, until some of the tomatoes start to burn. Drop them in the food processor/blender, making sure to drain the leftover olive oil in. Then the basil, blending, and add the cream as you see fit.

My next recipe is going to be for the watermelon, tequila, lime and cayenne pepper cocktail I’ve been perfecting. Summer is ending, so it’s time I solidify the recipe to my tribute drink. Or maybe now that you know the ingredients, you can mess around with them yourselves!