A little over a week ago, while visiting the local community organic garden, we were gifted with a whole bag of hot peppers from a friend. I didn’t think to ask exactly what kind of peppers they were, I was just so thankful for the bounty. There were a few sweet bell peppers included, too. So, when we got home I began to wonder just what I was going to do with these peppers, there were so many of them. I then remembered hearing about a recipe that called for fresh jalapeno peppers so I figured I would just substitute these…hot is hot right? (too bad you can’t hear the sarcasm right about now in my voice)
A few weeks ago I saw reference to something called “Cowboy Candy” and after doing what I do best (can you spell Google dot com!) I found dozens of recipes all over the web and they were pretty much identical. I should have noticed, though, that NONE of them used anything other than jalapenos. Anyway, I needed something to do with these peppers so why not?!? Now, since I was substituting a different kind of pepper I decided to call mine Cowgirl Candy (I may eventually rename Whoa Nellie! Candy, we’ll see). Here’s the recipe…
Cowgirl Candy
1 ¼ cups sliced (into rings) fresh Tabasco peppers (seeds removed)
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 drop green food coloring (optional)
After peppers are deseeded and sliced (I recommend wearing gloves) place them in a small saucepan and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is reduced and syrup-like, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat, and, after they have cooled completely, place them in a jelly type jar and store the jar in the refrigerator.
Now, remember the original recipe calls for jalapenos…keep this in mind. As I sat at the kitchen table slicing the peppers my son comes in the room and wants to try one. I remind him that they are probably really hot and try a tiny bit for myself…yep, just a teensy nibble and my lips and mouth are on fire. He tries a tiny nibble and takes a whole cup of crushed ice with him back to his room. I know what you are thinking, ice won’t kill the heat, he knows this, we talked about it. It just gave him an excuse to get away with crunching a cup of crushed ice chips. I went ahead and made the recipe and it came out beautiful in the jar. It did continue to thicken as it cooled, so don’t overcook it. Now the jury is still out on how it tastes…we are all afraid to try it! I picked up some cream cheese today. Maybe I’ll get my nerve up soon. I’ll let you know when I do. Maybe I’ll try half a ring chopped in small pieces first.
Before I sat down to type this I decided to try to find the exact name of the type of pepper that I had used. I am surprised by what I have learned! Did you know peppers have a heat scale they are rated on? It’s called the Scoville Heat Index and it ranks peppers from zero (Green Bell Peppers) to one million (an extremely rare Ghost Pepper is rated at over one million and is the hottest pepper in the world). Usually one of the hottest that is used on a day-to-day basis is a Habanero Chili which rates at 150,000 - 350,000. Jalapenos usually rate around 2,000 to 8,000. I looked at a few sites that had pictures and confirmed that the peppers I had were Tabasco peppers and their rating is between 30,000 and 60,000!!! This is why I’m afraid to try the ones I made, ouch! I think this would be great as it was originally written for the Jalapenos. I plan to make it again as the original Cowboy Candy, which I‘ve heard can be very addicting. I’ll let you know when I do make it again and how it turns out.
Good luck, either way you decide to make it, and mainly, enjoy!
After peppers are deseeded and sliced (I recommend wearing gloves) place them in a small saucepan and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is reduced and syrup-like, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat, and, after they have cooled completely, place them in a jelly type jar and store the jar in the refrigerator. 
Now, remember the original recipe calls for jalapenos…keep this in mind. As I sat at the kitchen table slicing the peppers my son comes in the room and wants to try one. I remind him that they are probably really hot and try a tiny bit for myself…yep, just a teensy nibble and my lips and mouth are on fire. He tries a tiny nibble and takes a whole cup of crushed ice with him back to his room. I know what you are thinking, ice won’t kill the heat, he knows this, we talked about it. It just gave him an excuse to get away with crunching a cup of crushed ice chips. I went ahead and made the recipe and it came out beautiful in the jar. It did continue to thicken as it cooled, so don’t overcook it. Now the jury is still out on how it tastes…we are all afraid to try it! I picked up some cream cheese today. Maybe I’ll get my nerve up soon. I’ll let you know when I do. Maybe I’ll try half a ring chopped in small pieces first. 
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