The first thing you notice when you begin a diet is that the food is decidedly less appealing than what you were eating. The reality seems to be that flavor only exists in the realm of foods you shouldn't eat. There is a reason that mom's all around the world after several thousand years of human history still have to tell their children to "Eat your vegetables!" When was the last time you had to urge your child to eat macaroni & cheese or pizza?
Heat Satisfies
Beyond simple flavors, their is a satisfaction component that seems to be lacking in the typical.... Let's call it a "Wellness Eating Plan" instead of diet since I am sick of the word diet. So there is a satisfaction component to your typical wellness eating plan (WEP) that always seems to be lacking. Sugar and fat are satisfying, they are satiating, they are GOOD! I have found one other element that satisfies in a similar way and that is heat. My love for heat virtually guarantees that it will eventually be determined to cause cancer in laboratory technicians, but until it does, I like it!
I have found a number of ways to add a little kick to my low carb edibles, most of which will be familiar to the average consumer. Franks > Lousiana > Crystal > Tapatio > Tabasco - Sriracha is as fun to eat as to say. There is a DELIGHTFUL chili garlic paste made by my favorite restaurant owner Lae Tran at Thai Delight which is so good that I desperately wish she would just sell it to me and by the case. She is pretty generous with it otherwise I'd go nuts. Chipotles whether whole in adobo sauce or pureed or added to one of the aforementioned hot sauces are very nice and smoky.
Sometimes though, you need something without the vinegary delivery in a hot sauce or the garlicky pungence of Sriracha or the rich smokiness of the chipotle. These sauces by and large are made to go with robust ingredients like meat and beans and starchy sides like rice. They don't mesh well with the one set of foods I should be eating in the largest portions, veggies and the greener the better.
Adding Heat to Veggies
In this I turn to the simple green and hot pepper. Jalapeno has an earthiness that pairs well with various foms of squash and greens and cucumbers and many, many more. this all makes sense since it belong in the same family. the problem then becomes how to deliver the jalapeno flavor on command and in the correct potency. For me that involves breaking it down to a powder.
I am going to share with you how I do this and I hope to make this a series that I add to over time. I have several neat tricks (I think) to add flavor where it is needed most.
Safety and a chance to laugh at other people's pain. - First I want you to understand that working with hot peppers always has an element of hazard so please keep that in mind. I recall with perfect burning clarity the first time I worked with jalapenos. I knew enough to not touch my eyes but I did not consider the effect of capsacin on the soft tissues of my body and used the restroom after cutting the peppers without thoroughly washing my hands FIRST (rest assured I did afterwards once the pain subsided enough for me to focus on more than just crying silent manly tears of distress).
What you have to understand, even if you have worked with fresh hot peppers is that there are additional dangers when dehydrating and working with the powder. It is safe enough so long as you take appropriate precautions and understand where the danger lies. Heed my warning and you will not have to suffer the same indignities I did.
Jalapeno Seasoning
Required Items
Jalapenos & possibly some poblanos or anaheim chiles
Onion Powder
Empty seasoning shaker
Rubber gloves
Food processor or blender
Dehydrator or oven
Active Time - 15 - 20 minutes
Total Time - Several hours
Process - To begin with you have to consider heat, since jalapenos are not manufactured and there is no quality control you are dealing with a wide range of potential heat. Jalapenos are rated 15000 approximately on the Scovile scale of heat. To put that in context the habanero is around 300-350k and the green bell pepper is zero.
Most of the heat in the pepper is in the ribs and the seeds. These components also lack flavor so I get rid of them, if you want to seriosuly amp up the heat then keep them or better yet, get rid of them and add a habanero or tow to the mix. I like to keep things mild enough so that my pansy... I mean delicate flower of a wife can also enjoy the powder provided she uses it sparingly.
In order to accomplish this, (safety note) put on your rubber gloves (preferably the snap tight kind that allows finger dexterity) and you will split and remove the seeds, stem and ribs at least and if you really want it milder you can add in some supporting players like the anaheim or poblano pepper which have about 1/5th of the heat. I would suggest a 1:2 - 1:1 ratio by mass of the milder peppers (e.g. 10 oz jalapenos to 5 oz milder pepper upwards of 10 oz to 10 oz)
Safety Note: Capsacin is not water soluble but is sugar soluble. So when working with large batches of peppers I always prep a simple syrup (1/2 c. water to 1/2 c. sugar) in case I need to wash some skin where the pepper juice has gone awry or to thoroughly remove the capsacin from my fingertips. It will continue to burn for quite a while on the skin if not removed.
Using a Dehydrator
I will assume if you have a dehydrator you will be able to translate the oven instructions so you guys are on your own.
Using an Oven
Lay your split peppers out on a cookie sheet skin side down, just make sure they aren't overlapping as it will slow down the process. Sprinkle some coarse salt over the peppers, this can be skipped if you don't intend to add salt to your finished seasoning, but if you are adding salt anyway it will help draw the water out of the peppers.
Place the trays into an oven and turn on to the lowest setting (no more than 200° F). At this stage it is a waiting game. My experience has been that peppers differ significantly in their water content so there is no fixed time here. You can safely leave them in for 3 - 4 hours to begin with before checking on them.
Remember you are drying, not cooking the peppers. After that first check use your best judgement as to what to set the timer for next. The peppers will shrink to a little less than half their size before they are done. You virtually can't go wrong since at this temp you can't really burn them, however they will start to lose flavor at a certain point just keep that in mind, it isn't fast, but if you leave them in several hours after they are dry then you will start to notice they have less jalapeno flavor, the heat never goes away (in my experience).
Dried and Ready
You will know they are ready for the next step when you bend them and they snap easily. any excess moisture will potentially cause mold and or clumping, though if you are mixing with salt it is not really a concern.
A SAFETY NOTE on dehydrated peppers and blenders: ALWAYS USE A LID OR YOU WILL REGRET IT. Also, NEVER REMOVE THE LID UNTIL THE POWDER HAS SETTLED.
Put the dried peppers into a blender or food processor. To verify the dryness I start with the largest pepper I can find and run it through once, if it doesn't powder easily that means you still have some drying to do.
Run your peppers through in batches, I wouldn't fill the jar more than half full or you'll have to remove the lid (SEE SAFTEY NOTE) to tamp it down.
Once you are done and the powder has completely settled remove the lid. Thie first time I did this I removed the lid while the powder was still swirling and got a lung full of it. I do not recommend you try this.
After you have processed all of your peppers you will be left with a fine gray green powder that looks a little like powdered sage. I generally taste at this point to determine the heat level and saltiness to determine how much salt to add. I am sure you can guess that you just stir the salt, onion powder and jalapeno powder together.
I try to keep the powder on the low wned of saltiness since I can always adjust my seasonings when I am actually using the finished product and you can't take any out once it has been added.
Stir carefully (don't want dust) and stir thoroughly, it's easy to not equally distribute the ingredients and get salty pockets or un-salty as it were. Also, because of the density and gravity of the different ingredients they will tend to separate over time. to ameliroate this, use a finer salt grain. Personally I am not bothered by shaking up my seasoning whenever I use it and I prefer kosher salt so that is what I use.
If you are less lazy than me, you could also take the salt you like and run it through the blender to break it down finer. Just remember that if you have one of the more powerful blender you can end up with a ridiculously fine powder that is difficult to shake onto foods and immediately turns goopy when it touches water (think onion powder, in fact I use granulated onion powder for this reason)
Final Notes
There are other flavors that you can mix into this that I have tried and like very much.
- Mix in lemon pepper and it is soooo good on cucumbers or popcorn.
- Add tomato powder (same process)
- Add garlic
- If you have a smoker and you love yourself then make smoked salmon with the jalapeno seasoning. Your life will never be the same
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