[veggie gal]

Hi can anyone help i have a glutton of chilli peppers and i am not sure how to store them any help would be welcome
 thanks

[LilacSandy]

You can dry them. thread them on some cotton and hang in the kitchen to dry, they look very decorative also.

[Mrs Bee]

I just stick them in the freezer.

Or make chilli jam

[sunshineband]

Pickled chillis make a colourful gift too

I do mine the same way as cold pickled onions, and cut the tops off the chillis, to make sure that all the air comes out of them

[arugula]

Another vote for dried on a thread or ristra like the oft referred to one in this thread:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=52335.msg622635#msg622635

You can take them off the thread, crush and save in a box once dry, or just leave them hanging in the kitchen.

[shokkyy]

You can string them on a ristra if you want to, but I just chuck them in a bowl on the windowsill. They dry out very well there. Once dry they'll keep for a very long time and if you want to you can convert them into powder or chilli flakes. If I put green ones in the bowl they generally turn red before drying out too.

[cheshirecheese]

I freeze mine too - they still retain their flavour and heat, although the texture isn't quite so good (they lose the crispness of the fresh ones).  However, as I mainly use them for cooking (and chilli jam of course!), that really doesn't matter 

[BigPaddy]

Sweet chilli sauce. I cannot ever get enough chillis

[VegGirl7]

What I don't use fresh stays in the bowl on the windowsill to dry out

In addition to what people have already mentioned above you can also use dried ones to flavour oil for cooking -  (nice olive oil for dressing or nut oil for stir fry chili oil)  

...in a nice bottle they make lovely festive presents    

[shokkyy]

Sweet chilli sauce. I cannot ever get enough chillis

Can you point me at a recipe for that? Right now I'm disappearing under a mountain of chillis.

[BigPaddy]

Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce.

This is the 'official' recipe. I use whatever chillis I have. Lately I have been smoking the chilli and garlic - fantastic.
 
4 serrano chillies, minced
4 Thai (birds eye) chillies, finely chopped
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Rice vinegar (White Vinegar)
2 tablespoons Finely Minced Garlic
1/2 teaspoon Sweet paprika
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon Fresh lime or lemon juice

 
Remove stems from peppers and prepare as specified - take the necessary precautions when handling hot peppers.

In a small, heavy saucepan, combine the chillies, sugar, water, vinegar, garlic, paprika and salt. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the liquid reduces slightly and thickens to a light syrup. Remove from the heat and stir in the fish sauce and lime or lemon juice. If you want a thicker sauce still you can stir in a 1/2 teaspoon of flour mixed in with some water towards the end of the simmer.



And green chilli sauce - much less heat and really nice with hot dogs, burgers etc.

Ingredients: (make 2 cup)
fresh green chili- stem and seed discarded (I do not discard seed and I don't really weigh:) )
5 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup white vinegar
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 tsp salt

Preparation
1.   Roughly grain green chili and garlic into a rough paste or coarsely chopped.
2.   Cook vinegar, salt and sugar in the medium heat. Stir until all sugar is dissolved.
3.   Increase the heat and bring to boil. Once the sauce is boiling add green chili and garlic mixture. Stir and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce reach the desirable thickness.
4.   Turn off the heat and pour the sauce directly into a sterilized jar. Let it cool down before refrigerate


With both I will use cornflour to thicken if needed.

Everyone wants these off me so much that I have queues of people with bottles and chillis each year.

[Mrs Bee]

How do you smoke your chillies Paddy?

My son suggested I use to smoked chillies to make my chilli jam.

Well it is actually Cheshire Cheeses chilli jam recipe.

Yours look interesting. Will have to have a go after Christmas.

[shokkyy]

Thanks for recipes. Kind of hard to talk about quantities with chillis, because the heat varies so much between the different varieties. How much does that sweet chilli recipe make? I suspect I'd better start off with a small quantity until I work out how hot it turns out.

The only good thing about winter is comfort food, and when the clocks go back and the nights draw in so I can't go outside and do stuff in the garden, making lush food is the only reprieve really, isn't it

[BigPaddy]

I smoke the chillis in a smoker!

Its a Brinkman barbeque I saw in some big DIY place a few years back, it is a barrel and the charcoal goes at the bottom and there is a tray of water in the middle to keep it cooler. You can also buy smokers for fish that go on the hob. When I looked at those I definitely felt I could make my own.

The amount you get is related to how thick you want it. I usually get a couple of 250-350 bottles.

Paddy