Chocolate Bhut

Above is a picture of my Chocolate Bhut Jolokia chile, different look same great heat and flavor. I just had a bite right off of the end, no where near the membrane that contains the real heat, and my mouth is on fire. First my tongue is burning and spreads to the rest of my mouth then my throat feels some of the heat as well since I swallowed it. Drinking liquids does not quench this heat, not even crackers are helping much. My face and neck are starting to sweat as my tongue continues to burn. 15 minutes into this the pain is starting to recede and I am returning to normal with only a slight numbness replacing the pain. I eat habanero based chile powder every day and this bite of bhut really lit me up. I would not recommend this if you do not have a tolerance for habanero level heat.

I have been making a smoked habenero chile powder for some time now and I use it on everything as do the people I have shared it with. The last few batches I have dehydrated several of my hottest peppers including the Bhut Jolokia and Devils Tongue peppers and added them to the mix, I am calling it Volcano Dust ™  and the heat level has gone up to the next level and I am loving it. If you are interested let me know and I will figure out a way to get it to you since I do not have an online retail outlet yet. Tim

Product Review: I use the Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator, which I purchased for around 50 dollars from Amazon.com, to dehydrate my chile peppers and it works great. One thing I have found is that if I cut them prior to dehydration I get them completed a lot faster 8-12 hours. When I dehydrate them whole it can take up to 2 days. If you follow my link I will get some credit so if you are thinking of doing some low volume dehydrating I would give this product the nod.

World Herald article

Volcanic peppers made the news, the link is listed below. Please read the article from the living section of the Omaha World Herald by Nichole Aksamit, food writer. Nichole stopped by my booth Saturday and we discussed the different qualities of chile's, very nice person to talk to. Thanks Nichole!

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100922/ENTERTAINMENT01/709229959

Recipe:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100922/ENTERTAINMENT01/709229957

Peppers for tomorrows market

Bringing the heat tomorrow, hope to see you there.

Peppers for salsa

Pictured are a few peppers that went into my latest salsa. Starting at the left is the Roberto's Cuban Seasoning pepper, not hot but great flavor. Next is the Bhut Jolokia or Ghost pepper bit of a fruity flavor, very hot. The last pepper on the right is the Scotch Bonnet, a key ingredient in jerk seasoning but also great to add flavor and heat to any dish, quite hot. These were 3 of 9 varieties of peppers used to make my salsa. If you have not ever made a salsa with a variety of sweet and hot peppers I would advise it as the flavor is incredible. I have to make two batches, one for me and my son and one for everyone else as the heat level can be intimidating. I also made a batch of smoked peppers that I will be grinding this week, be sure to ask about it this Saturday if you make it to the market.

1st ripe bhut jolokia

Well what I have been waiting for the famed Bhut Jolokia or Ghost pepper. My friend Sean says I have to eat it tonight but i want to take it with me to the market tomorrow. I guess we will see if it makes it through the night. I also have a handful of the smaller variety to sell tomorrow. Two weeks from now there should be more than plenty of these and the other scorchers ready. I will be posting pictures and reviews as they become ripe.

I am pleased with the progress of my Bhut Jolokia or Ghost peppers. I can't wait to have some turn ripe so I can try them. Last year I only had red jolokias and they were a small type. This year I have a variety of yellow, brown and red of the larger variety and I can't wait to give each a try. I also have some of the smaller version from last year as an alternative. I expect to have some available at the August 14th market but I can't say for sure as they ripen slowly as most hot peppers do. I will try not to use too many myself and have some available to you. I hope to see you there.

Market table

Today was the first market at Village Pointe. About half of the garlic was sold and all of the peppers. It was good to see some returning customers from last year and I got the feeling they were anxious, as I am, for more of the hot varieties to be ready. The next market I will be at is on Aug 14th and I am looking forward to seeing you there.

First pepper Harvest

 

Well tomorrow is our first market for this year. The peppers are coming in but not many are ripe yet, just a handful. Fortunatley we also have some garlic, carrots and a few onions that will be available. I see a lot of fruit on the plants and I am excited for the next market we are scheduled for on Aug 14th as I expect a larger variety will be ready by then.

Dates for Farmers Market at Village Pointe

The schedule I have for our attendance at the farmers market are listed below. There will be one additional day, probably in September and I will post that once I know for sure.  If you would like more details about the market I attend the link is http://www.voterealfood.com/
Hope to see you there.
7-24
8-14
8-21
9-4
9-18
9-25
10-2

Ripe and unexpected pepper

So I have this plant that is bearing fruit of the kind seen in the photo and I have it labeled as a Cayenne (red hot) pepper. The cayenne pepper I was expecting is about half the size of this pepper and I am just not sure what I have here. I picked one and, of course, had to try it. The flavor was actually a little sweet and it had a nice kick to it. This could turn into being a surprise winner. I guess the next step is to try and figure out a name for it and where it came from.

The seeds that I used for this plant came from fruit out of last years harvest so I am wondering if possibly this is a mixture of two different plants or if the seeds I recovered have reverted back to a pre-hybrid state. Either way it is interesting to have an unexpected plant with, what turned out to be, a tasty fruit. If anyone recognizes this pepper and has an idea of what it might be feel free to leave a comment.

Garlic

Just pulled garlic to sell at the farmers market at Village Pointe. Our first date there will be July 24th. I am expecting to have banana, habenero, jalepeno, cayenne (including red slims, red hots and kung pao), poblano and sweet crimson peppers available on that first day.  This is the first year for Garlic and I am hopeful that the garlic will go over well. I have used it a few times already and there is no comparison. The first use was for a homemade spaghetti sauce, it really added a lot of flavor. We also roasted some by drizzling olive oil on the top and then adding some pepper and salt, wrapped it in aluminum foil and baked for 20 minutes at 350...delicious.

Hot banana peppers.

Can be eaten yellow but I read they are really good when they turn red. I will be sure to try it both ways. Habenero plants are starting to get fruit along with several other varieties. I hope to have a nice variety by July 24th.

First pepper of the year. Sliced onto a burger. Quite tasty.

First Blog

Welcome to the first blog entry for Volcanic Peppers in Omaha, NE. I intend to post information related to the progress of our garden and especially the varieties of chiles that we grow and sell. I also plan to share dates that we are at the farmers market and what we will have available. Our first date is scheduled for July 10th and I hope to have a nice variety available. The picture to the left shows some of our produce from last year.

Chile peppers are somewhat slow growing plants, we start ours from seed in January and nurture them indoors until they are ready to go outside. My daughter and I have a great time growing and selling them at the Village Pointe Farmers Market in Omaha. We take pride in our efforts to grow them pesticide and herbicide free using compost to feed the plants and predator insects to help with the pests. We specialize in hot peppers including a variety of Habeneros, a fan favorite was the chocolate Hab, it does not taste like chocolate but it sure is tasty and hot. I had one customer tell me he chopped and added one to a batch of brownies and said it was awesome. We also have jalepenos, cayenne, hot lemons, fatali and of course the famous bhut jolokia (ghost chile). Several people asked for some milder options this year so we have added some poblano, bell and sweet crimson plants. We also grow a variety of herbs, garlic and tomato's and sell them as they are available. Last year we experimented with dried and smoked peppers and these babies are HOT. Many customers purchased and gave positive feedback so this year we are taking it a step further by drying, smoking and grinding these peppers making a powder that will knock your socks off. I have already shared with family and friends and they love it almost as much as I do and I look forward to sharing this with our patrons.

Well this is my first entry and I hope you have enjoyed it. I look forward to sharing more as the season progresses.

Tim