I love peppers of all kinds, of all heat and sweet levels. But there are so many, and often I get caught up in chasing the rare (ghosts and other super hots) or the seasonal (Hatch, which just appeared in Wegman’s yesterday) that I forget about those peppers that are available year round in grocery stores across the USA. And one of those I keep passing over? Long hots, also known as Italian peppers.
Long hots are like jalapeños in one way: they are described as “pepper roulette”, because some are not hot at all, and some will fill your head with fire! A local Italian restaurant (Arcaro & Genell’s) offers them as an appetizer: seasoned with garlic and oregano, fried in olive oil, stuffed with provolone, and either hot (they are REALLY HOT), mild, or mixed; so someone somewhere along the line knows which are which ;-). And at Borgata’s buffet (for us East Coast gamblers) the long hots served next to the sirloin steaks are BANGIN’. But what you’ll get in most groceries are mild flesh and hot ribs/seeds, about like medium jalapeños, with an initial punch and not much sustain. They’re not as fleshy as jalapeños, but they are nice and crispy. They have a distinctive flavor, too, slightly earthy and pleasantly savory. They go well with a lot of things. They can be eaten fresh, sautéed, pickled, or jarred, packed in oil.
I picked up a pound of red and a pound of green. The red are sweet, and even eating the seeds and ribs, they aren’t too hot, less hot than Tabasco sauce. The green are crisp, vegetable-y like a good green pepper, with mild flesh and medium hot ribs and seeds; if you are capsaicin averse, trimming the ribs and seeds would make these mild, and fine. Otherwise, they’ll get your attention, but not send you running for the dairy either.
You saw the eggs. You know where I’m going with this:
Of course it was delicious! But I kind of bought these at the wrong time, too. I made two days’ worth of chicken cheesesteak wraps yesterday, this weekend is the Italian Festival in Scranton, then Labor Day weekend I’m making that brisket, then next weekend is the Chicken & Ribs class at Mason Dixon BBQ Supply, then we are going away for a few days… I’ll probably cold pickle these, and use them on burgers and sandwiches over the winter.
Long hots are like jalapeños in one way: they are described as “pepper roulette”, because some are not hot at all, and some will fill your head with fire! A local Italian restaurant (Arcaro & Genell’s) offers them as an appetizer: seasoned with garlic and oregano, fried in olive oil, stuffed with provolone, and either hot (they are REALLY HOT), mild, or mixed; so someone somewhere along the line knows which are which ;-). And at Borgata’s buffet (for us East Coast gamblers) the long hots served next to the sirloin steaks are BANGIN’. But what you’ll get in most groceries are mild flesh and hot ribs/seeds, about like medium jalapeños, with an initial punch and not much sustain. They’re not as fleshy as jalapeños, but they are nice and crispy. They have a distinctive flavor, too, slightly earthy and pleasantly savory. They go well with a lot of things. They can be eaten fresh, sautéed, pickled, or jarred, packed in oil.
I picked up a pound of red and a pound of green. The red are sweet, and even eating the seeds and ribs, they aren’t too hot, less hot than Tabasco sauce. The green are crisp, vegetable-y like a good green pepper, with mild flesh and medium hot ribs and seeds; if you are capsaicin averse, trimming the ribs and seeds would make these mild, and fine. Otherwise, they’ll get your attention, but not send you running for the dairy either.
You saw the eggs. You know where I’m going with this:
Of course it was delicious! But I kind of bought these at the wrong time, too. I made two days’ worth of chicken cheesesteak wraps yesterday, this weekend is the Italian Festival in Scranton, then Labor Day weekend I’m making that brisket, then next weekend is the Chicken & Ribs class at Mason Dixon BBQ Supply, then we are going away for a few days… I’ll probably cold pickle these, and use them on burgers and sandwiches over the winter.
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