I hosted Thanksgiving this year for my family. Everyone who comes usually brings a dish which makes it easier on the hostess. When I host, I like to provide many of our traditional family dishes and one new dish to mix it up a bit. It is usually something that if it fails miserably it is no big deal - an extra. A few weeks ago I read an article about Tumeric and what a powerful antioxidant it is. It has been said that it may help prevent and cure cancer as well as a multitude of other diseases. So I found a recipe, Pineapple Chutney, that had Tumeric in it and it sounded good. One of the ingredients is banana peppers. My husband was stopping at the store so I asked him to get me some. I have eaten banana peppers before and always thought that they were pretty tame for peppers. These were not. Unfortunately, I didn't find this out until I had already diced them by hand and put them in the pot. The first indication was that the tips of my fingers were tingling. Then they were burning. Really burning. This went on all day. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner with burning hands is miserable! I tried milk, sour cream, lotion, aloe vera, lidocaine, hand sanitizer, ice and Advil. The only thing that put a dent in the pain was Advil, which I took like clockwork because I knew the instant it was leaving my system! On a good note, the recipe was a total success. It wasn't even that spicy. I think the vinegar and the several hours of cooking really tamed it. The men particularly liked this. I will definitely make it again, only I will wear gloves the next time when dicing the pepper!Pineapple Chutney
Ingredients:
2 cans (20 oz. each) pineapple tidbits, drained
4 cups diced onion
3 cups packed brown sugar
2 cups golden raisins or dried diced apples
2 cups vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
4 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 medium yellow banana peppers, seeded and chopped, optional
Directions:
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until chutney reaches desired thickness. Refrigerate. Serve with meat or over cream cheese as an appetizer spread.
Makes 6 cups
1 comment:
Sounds delicious!
Here in the southwest it seems we eat everything with some sort of pepper. I used lime juice when I thought I could be tougher than the jalapenos. It worked well. I don't recall ever cutting a banana pepper, must be worse!
I've also seen people coat their hands with vegetable oil instead of using gloves.
I hope you're feeling better.
Post a Comment