The Watson Test Kitchen

Pepper season is on overdrive!

I’ve been getting great feedback about the lower heat salsas this fall, but I’m also getting requests for “which one is the hottest???”

So here we go. Perfect fall weather, and and over abundance of super hot peppers… let’s set new heat records for WTK!

8 PEPPER and 10 PEPPER SMOKED SALSA!

As always, we’re starting with a base of tomatoes, red onions and garlic. Then we add in

Jalapeño
Habanero
Ghost
Scorpion
Reaper
Vietnamese Purple
Sugar Sweet and
Cubanelle

And for the 10 pepper we added MORE of the super hots as well as adding Poblano and Serrano.

Finishing off with apple cider vinegar, lime juice, salt, cumin and cilantro.

These are 🔥

So I made a hot pepper fermentation last year with only super hot peppers, carrots and garlic. I didn’t “cut it” with bell peppers, and the resulting liquids is INSANELY HOT.

This is one is the ghost version, and a reliable taste tester has rated this liquid at 1.1 million scoville as is.

I plan on cutting this to reduce the heat. I picked up some fresh cherries and some peaches today, and will cook these down to sweeten and moderate the heat in the ghost concentrate.

Coming soon! Idea are:

Ghost
Ghost cherry
Ghost peach
Ghost raspberry

Any other ideas?

Our zucchini patch is very prolific this year, and is producing some watermelon sized fruit this year! I have been tinkering with a zucchini bread recipe, and I think I have found the perfect. mix...

180g all-purpose flour
180g whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup no sugar added apple sauce
175g white sugar
175g light brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
350g shredded zucchini
180g crushed pineapple (drained weight)
1 c mini chocolate chips

Preheat convection oven to 325º.

Sift flours, salt, spices, baking soda and baking powder together in a medium bowl

Beat eggs, apple sauce, oil, vanilla and sugars in a mixer until smooth.

Fold in zucchini, pineapple and chocolate chips.

Divide into 6 greased mini loaf pans.

Bake for 20 minutes, rotate in oven and bake additional 20 minutes (until internal temp is 200º, or tooth pick comes out clean)

Rest 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool.

***Technique tip***

so I happened across a loaf of seedless, rye, and brought it home. Since I still had a large slab of the homemade pastrami from St. Patrick’s Day in storage, I figured I’d go ahead and make a mock Reuben (no sauerkraut).

but I have not been happy with my slicing skills just free hand, cutting it on a cutting board. So I brainstorm using the mandolin, and it worked exceptionally well! The firmness of the pastrami, as well as it being cold, made it easy to slice. Plus, I still have not invested in a real slicer, as they take up so much space.

Went ahead made the Reuben:

over medium heat, place, half a tablespoon of butter to one side of the pan. Place a slice of rye bread in the butter, and put the Swiss cheese on the bread. In the remaining heated portion of the pan, place your slices of pastrami, add some moisture, and cover to steam about one to two minutes.

Using tongs, place the hot pastrami on top of the Swiss cheese, add some thousand island dressing or Russian dressing, and place a second piece of rye bread on top.

Melt another half tablespoon of butter in the open side of the pan, distribute it wide enough to allow the rye bread to be coated with butter, and flip the sandwich into the buttered side of the pan. 

add some additional moisture, close the lid and steam for an additional one to two minutes while the bread toasts in the butter.

Remove from heat, allow to cool, then slice and enjoy!