Sweet Pepper Jerky

This is not your usual jerky. First, there's no beef involved, nor turkey, nor any other animal, with one minor exception. Nor is there any black pepper, as would be the case with the usual Pepper Jerky, aka a strip of dried seasoned beef (typically beef) with a liberal coating of cracked Piper nigrum. No, this is Sweet Pepper Jerky because I couldn't think of a better name for it. It's a lot easier to call it Sweet Pepper Jerky than it is to call it Dried Seasoned Roasted Sweet Peppers which is what it is.

This all started 3 years ago when I had a wonderful glut of sweet peppers, 70 pounds of good sweet roasting peppers, and I was running out of space to store the preserved versions. Coincidentally I had just purchased an Excalibur dehydrator and I was, I think, at least I should have been, trying to find ways to justify the investment. So with no more room in the freezer for another bag of frozen roasted peppers and no more room in the second fridge for another jar of Peppers Sott'Olio I figured I had nothing to lose by seeing what would happen if I dehydrated the latest and nearly last batch of fire roasted sweet peppers.

These were the results of my first experiment with dehydrating roasted peppers. My first impression was "fruit leather" but it's not fruity even though it's very sweet and "pepper leather" sounded downright yucky so "dried roasted sweet peppers" is how I labelled them. Unfortunately the experiments stopped there because it was November and the pepper plants were about done for the season.

Dried roasted sweet peppers are really good just plain. They're good to snack on and good to cook with too. I chop them up and use them in dishes when I want to have that smoky sweet roasted pepper flavor in a dish. They can't be ground up into a sweet smoky powder, they stay sticky and leathery even when they are completely dehydrated. I found that the best way to store them is in a tightly sealed jar, no need to refrigerate. I tried sealing some of them in a vacuum sealed bag but made the mistake of stacking them together and then when I removed them from the bag they had stuck together so tightly that they couldn't be peeled apart.

So, come 2016 I didn't really get much of a chance to experiment more because the pepper gods made up for the previous glut by delivering a really dismal disease and critter impacted harvest. There were only 20 pounds of roasting peppers that year, barely enough for simply enjoying in the moment much less stocking the freezer, and the fridge, and the pantry.

So, this year it finally dawned on me when I dried the first round of roasted peppers (I'm a little slow sometimes) that the texture of the dried peppers is a bit like jerky. Ah ha! Lightbulb moment! So why not go with that texture and add some seasonings to give them more of a jerky flavor. Fortunately the harvests are looking up compared to last year so I've got plenty of peppers to experiment with.

Like these lovely sweet peppers...

Shepherd's Ramshorn and Violet Sparkle

I'll say now that one thing I like about this way of preserving is that you don't have to commit to a large amount.

For my first experiment I took the seasoning mixture that I use to make seasoned dried cherry tomatoes (fennel seed, dried onion, smoked pepper, salt - all ground together to a fine powder) and simply sprinkled it on some of the roasted peppers and dehydrated them at 125ºF until leathery. I was immediately smitten. But, still it was not quite what I was looking for.

For round two I tried to different two different mixes with more of an Asian flavor profile. Mix #1 was a tablespoon of Tamari soy sauce and 1/4 teaspoon 5-spice powder. Mix two was, 1 fresh Makrut lime leaf minced, 1 small clove fresh garlic, dried coriander seeds (forgot how much, 1/4 teaspoon?) all smashed together in a mortar and then mixed with 1 tablespoon Vietnamese fish sauce. Toss the roasted pepper pieces in the seasoning and dehydrate at 125ºF until leathery, just a few hours. Each batch of seasoning was enough for about 2 large or 3 to 4 smaller peppers torn into strips.

Now these were more like it! If you like the flavor of a Thai style curry seasoning (without chile pepper heat) then mix #2 is for you. If you're more of a Teriyaki fan than mix #1 comes close. The one thing I would change in mix #1 is to add some ginger.

Mix #3 which is in the dehydrator now has the ginger in it as well as some dried onion powder (home grown and dried) but my first sample tells me that I overdid the ginger. That was 1 tablespoon Lite Tamari (50% less salt just because I don't need it), 1/4 teaspoon dried onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon dried ginger, and 1/8 teaspoon 5-spice powder. Next round I'll try switching the proportions of ginger and 5-spice. If I had had fresh ginger on hand I would have tried that instead of the dried so perhaps I'll pick some up if I get to the store any time soon.

Sweet Pepper Jerky

I think that a super easy way to make Sweet Pepper Jerky would be to start with sweet roasted peppers from a jar. Just drain, cut into strips, and toss with some of your favorite marinade or sprinkle with a BBQ rub. Then dehydrate them at 125ºF until leathery. I think you would want to avoid a seasoning that has a lot of sugar in it because the peppers are plenty sweet to begin with and dehydrating them just concentrates the sweetness.

Now, Mix #4, what will that be?

Oh, one more thing. Tomorrow, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific Daylight time, I'll be joining a group on KKUP Radio 91.5 FM Cupertino, CA on the Old Time Farm and Garden Show. We'll be spending some of the time talking about peppers of all sorts and on other garden topics as well. You can find a link on KKUP's website for live streaming if you want to listen in.

Whoops! Got my dates screwy, the show is on October 26 and I won't be there... Sorry if you tried to tune in on the 5th and didn't hear what you were expecting.