Hot black Hungarian Peppers

The black Hungarian pepper has a nice medium heat - they start out green, then turn black, and finally red and the flowers are a gorgeous purple - very pretty if you'd like to grow them on a sunny deck! They're very prolific and freeze well. I am experimenting with drying some, as they can be ground into hot paprika from the dried state. http://www.heirloom-organics.com/guide/va/1/guidetogrowingblackhungarian.html 
I plan to add them to salsa, soups, and stir fries and if I have enough,  make some pepper jelly.

And, of course, I had to make some poppers!

last of the jalapenos

I made some vegan black bean and tempeh chili today with the last of the jalapenos from the greenhouse - and cornbread using the recipe from New Recipes from Moosewood cookbook. I also added some tomatoes that I'd stewed and frozen, and some fresh oregano. Just sautee some onions and garlic with the tempeh, add chili powder, cayenne, oregano, and a spoonful of chipotle puree (kept in the freezer and chipped off as needed). Throw in some beans, corn, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and the peppers and simmer for about an hour.

scorchingly good green tomato salsa ole~!

I picked a big bowl of the last of the Early Girl tomatoes - they're still green, and still good! I decided to make a really hot green tomato salsa that will bring spiciness to food all Winter long. I added some Thai Dragon peppers to the mix, some cilantro and extra garlic for good measure. The salsa is quite hot, and a little will go a long way. It would even be great added to my regular, not so hot salsa, for extra kick. Here is the basic recipe: 4 cups chopped green tomatoes 2 cups sweet peppers (red or green bell peppers)chopped 2 cup jalapeno peppers chopped 1 cup onion chopped 2 tsp sea salt 1 1/2 cups organic apple cider vinegar 3 - 6 cloves garlic (I used 6) cilantro to taste Simmer in a large pot for 15 minutes, pack into hot, sterilized jars, put into a hot water bath for 30 minutes.