Nephew Night gets hot and spicy

I am the cool aunt. Yep. The aunt that takes nephews to concerts, Zombie Burger, goes to the World Food Festival with, and cooks. And why not? It's fun and rewarding to be an aunt and play a part in someone's life, especially if I can be a positive role model. I have one nephew that shares my love for heavy metal, and another that shares my passion for cooking.

Many highway miles have been traveled by my nephew Jordan and I- to Minnesota for Black Label Society and Mudvayne, to Council Bluffs for Halestorm, Stone Sour and Avenged Sevenfold. All good times and great memories. My nephew Jeremy and I share a passion for food and cooking. We share recipes, ideas, cooking videos- you name it. We go to the World Food Festival together and try weird foods we've never heard of before. And we cook.

Today we spent the day together, talking about different things, life stuff, tv chefs and of course, food. Jeremy brought over the stuff to make his awesome Steak Rolls, which we have shared here before. We had a great time talking over pounding out steak, cutting up vegetables, weaving bacon. Some time in the course of our conversation Jeremy had a stroke of brilliance- fried pickles made out of the ghost pepper dill pickles I made.

After rounding up some ingredients from the pantry for the fried pickles, he wanted to make a dipping sauce. So we browsed through the cabinets a little more and thought- why not use some of the pepper jellies I have on hand? Of course! While the meat roasted nicely in the oven, Jeremy set to work on the best fried pickles I have ever had! So brace yourselves for this zesty, spicy treat- Honey Sesame Fried Pickles with Cranberry Ghost Chili Dipping Sauce.

You will need-

1 quart whole dill pickles-Jeremy used spicy hot pepper dills

1-2 eggs

2 tb honey

dash of soy sauce

sesame oil, if desired

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup panko

2 tb sesame seed, toasted

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

dash ground ginger

cooking oil for frying

Drain pickles and cut into quarters or halves lengthwise. Spread out on paper towels and allow to dry for an hour or so. Meanwhile, in small bowl beat together eggs, honey, soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil, if using. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients. 

Heat oil for frying. Dip pickles in egg, then coat liberally with coating mixture, pressing to adhere well. Fry until golden brown, drain on paper towels and serve with dipping sauce.

Cranberry Pepper Jelly Dipping Sauce

1 cup cranberry ghost pepper jelly

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Melt jelly in small saucepan with garlic added. Simmer until slightly reduced and garlic is tender. Pour into small bowl and serve with pickles.

*Note- We used cranberry ghost chili jelly that I had made, but you can use any pepper jelly you have, or you can click HERE for the cranberry ghost chili recipe.

Try these recipes the next time you are inviting guests for dinner. The steak roll is awesome served with some grilled or roasted asparagus or sliced and served like fajitas, with all the toppings and tortillas. The pickles are spicy and crispy and the dipping sauce has a VERY Asian flavor. Enjoy!

One Hot Jelly Mama !!!!

The Mad Scientist is at it again !!!  I couldn't HELP myself !! My wonderful friend Ron Elkins has this awesome fresh pepper business in Florida, www.ghostpepperfarms.com, and I couldn't help but order some fresh ghost chiles this summer, as we did not grow any at home this year.

Well a pound of ghost chiles is A LOT of heat to work with so I knew I needed to get creative and fast. Knowing that pepper jelly is a pretty popular food and super easy to whip up, I thought  I'd do at least one batch. Researching recipe after recipe I couldn't really find what I wanted. Many called for red bell pepper, which is a readily available ingredient, but for me in small town Iowa, can be outrageously expensive. I know a lot of people make jellies from fruit juices so my little brain started thinking.......apple ? Too mild. Grape ? Too sweet. Ahhhhh CRANBERRY !!!!

So armed with 100% cranberry juice NOT cocktail, with no added sugar I began my experiment!! 

NOTE: This recipe/method is minimum 2 days prep so allow for that time.

Hotter Than Death Ghostly Cranberry Jelly

8 cups cranberry juice
4 ghost chiles
1 package Mrs. Wages pectin (just happens to be the brand I used, use whatever you like)
9 cups sugar

Start off by heating the cranberry juice to simmering. Meanwhile, CAREFULLY quarter the peppers leaving the stem end intact. Seeds and everything stay inside for now. 

Once the juice is hot, add the peppers,cover and let steep overnight. Refrigerate when it's cooled down a bit.

The next day TASTE TEST your juice. If it is way too hot you can replace some of the juice with fresh cranberry juice that has not been steeped with pepper. If you don't think it's as hot as you like, reheat WITH the peppers in the juice and allow to steep overnight, or add another pepper if you have one. The next day you will want to re-taste again before proceeding. Mine was not quite hot enough so I reheated the juice with the peppers in it, let it steep another couple hours and then it was perfect. You want a product with good hot hot hot heat that is still edible. When you have reached the right amount of heat, strain the juice through a jelly bag or coffee filter to remove all seeds and proceed with the jelly making.

In saucepan, combine juice with pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium high heat. Add sugar all at once, stir constantly and return to full rolling boil for one minute. Remove from heat, skim foam if necessary.

Ever stared down into a volcano filled with molten lava?

Ladle hot jelly into 8 or 4 ounce jars, wipe rims, fix lids and seals and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from water, allow to cool at room temperature overnight. Remember, sometimes jelly does not "jel" immediately. Give it a few days before reprocessing with more pectin if needed. Check for proper seals, refrigerate or freeze any that did not seal. Label and store in cool, dry place. After my jelly boil over and sticky mess to clean up I ended up with 13 half pint jars processed and a custard cup in the fridge to test.

Now.......you have this beautiful ruby red and hellishly hot jelly. This is NOT peanut butter and jelly stuff, so what do you do with it? Some people like to spoon it over a softened block of cream cheese and serve with crackers. I plan to use it as a glaze/sauce for sticky sweet hot wings, a glaze for pork roast or kebabs, even steak cubes. Mix a little with cubed chicken and fresh Asian veggies for a spicy stir fry. Add a teaspoon to a vinaigrette for a roaring hot kick in the pants. Use your imagination and have fun !!