February 11, 2010

Manzano Chiles

I discovered that my local grocery got in a shipment of Manzano Chiles over the holidays and I bought around 15 of them to stow away in my freezer. Manzanos are similar in heat to habaneros, but have a sweet, citrus finish that is very distinctive. You only use one at a time, like the habs, so what I purchased should last me a good year.

I'm planning on using them to make jerk chicken, jamacian spicy lamb and a few other dishes.

Meanwhile, I'm sad to say that I lost all my chile plants this year. It has been a far colder winter than anyone can remember and my overwintering efforts were in vain. In a way though, this is not a bad thing. It will allow me to start from scratch this coming spring. I think that this next year I want to grow more bells, milder chiles and perhaps only one very hot chile that I can dry and powder. I'd also like to grow a few more herbs to flesh out my little salsa garden.