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Grandma's old recipe, passion for gardening, plant seeds for couple's own pickling business
By Lisa A. Abraham
Beacon Journal food editor
Published on Wednesday, Aug 13, 2008
ROOTSTOWN TWP.:
But the story of Stevereno's Peppers is more of a love story than a business tale — a man's love for gardening, the love of his friends and family for his grandmother's pepper recipe, the love of his wife that propelled him into business, and her desire to help her loved ones who suffer from multiple sclerosis.
It all started when Steve Cummins was growing up in Munroe Falls and learned to garden alongside his grandmother, Mildred Grubb.
Cummins, 49, was bitten by the gardening bug and has been planting ever since. Sometimes, it was just a tiny patch with a few plants, other times it was a large plot. Always, there were peppers.
By the time Cummins was in his 20s, he began canning peppers according to his grandmother's recipe — a refrigerated pickled pepper that produces a crunchy result.
He'd give the peppers away to family and friends, who, over the years, nicknamed them ''Stevereno's Peppers.''
About 10 years ago, Cummins and his wife, Kristen, began dating. Both divorced with children, Kristen Cummins likes to tell how the first time they introduced her two sons to his daughter, they got the kids together to pick peppers from Steve's garden and can them.
''They were 6, 7, and 8 at the time,'' she said.
The Cumminses were, in a lot of ways, a match made in the garden.
Kristen, 43, was raised on a farm in Rootstown Township and lives across the street from her parents' farm. The location of her home was no accident. Kristen's father is in a wheelchair, having been diagnosed with MS 22 years ago, and she lives close by so she can help out. Her sister was diagnosed with MS 13 years ago.
''He had the recipe for peppers and I had the farm,'' Kristen jokes.
Roots of business
Kristen often told Steve that he should sell his peppers. Steve, who works for the Ohio Department of Transportation, had toyed with the idea, but always figured it might be a nice business after he retired.
Kristen was not about to let the idea drop. She figured it would take a while to build a business, so if it was going to be around when they retired, they needed to get it going now.
After they married in 2002, Kristen began working with a small-business incubator in Athens, gathering information on how to start a business.
''I basically gave him the papers and said, 'Here,' '' she said. In 2004, they bottled their first batch of peppers.
As they looked over the 24,000 pepper plants they have on five acres at her parents' farm, the Cumminses talked about how much they have learned in the past five seasons, and how their business has grown.
Starting each July, the couple picks about 12 bushels of peppers every afternoon and takes them to a rented commercial kitchen in Rootstown where they, and a handful of employees and volunteers, scrub, cut, bottle and pickle peppers for about three hours.
''We do about 45 to 50 cases a night,'' Steve said.
Their staff is made up of about a dozen friends and family who work for small wages. The whole process is done by hand, not machine.
Tweaking process
As with many small businesses, the first year was fraught with problems. They sold their peppers in a quart-size jar that customers rejected as too large. They've since downsized to a tall, 16-ounce jar.
They also reconfigured their recipe from a cold-processed refrigerated product to a heat-canned pepper that could sit on a shelf.
Neither of them was happy with it. The taste was the same, but without the refrigeration, the pepper lost its signature crunch that separates it from all of the other jarred peppers out there.
The following year, they went back to the original cold-process method.
They won't say what's in their recipe. Each jar gets a clove of garlic and a sprig of fresh dill before being loaded with pepper strips, but that's as much as they'll reveal. Steve won't even identify the variety of peppers that he plants, because he said their thicker walls are part of the secret to the peppers staying crunchy.
Kristen said it's the crunch that usually helps her seal the deal when soliciting new business. Their business has grown every year and is now Kristen's full-time job.
'Bigger purpose'
It was during the first year's road trips to Athens that Kristen noticed that she wasn't feeling well. She'd come back from the drive exhausted. In her heart, she knew what was coming, but her official diagnosis of MS didn't come until summer 2005.
Since finding out she has the same disease as her father and sister, Kristen said the business has become all the more important to her.
Her hope is that someday Stevereno's can donate a chunk of its profits to help MS research.
''I feel like there's a bigger purpose here, something larger,'' she said.
Her accountant, however, keeps reminding her that Stevereno's has to make a profit first.
Kristen predicts that won't be far off. Sales have tripled since 2004 and this year they expect to turn a profit, selling 18,000 jars of peppers — mild and hot — and hot-pepper slaw.
They recently added Akron's West Point Market to their list of retailers, which also includes Buehler's grocery-store chain, Whole Foods stores in Ohio, DeVitis Market in Akron and Krieger's Health Foods Market in Cuyahoga Falls.
And they're adding a new product to their lineup: a hot-hot pepper.
Kristen said her time spent giving away samples in grocery stores and other events has taught her that people are always looking for a hotter pepper.
The peppers retail for about $6 a jar and also can be purchased online at http://www.steverenospeppers.com.
Their Web site is full of recipes for adding the peppers to lots of dishes, like these.
STEVERENO'S COLE SLAW
1/2|a medium head of green cabbage, finely chopped or shredded
3/4|cup Miracle Whip salad dressing
1/3|cup brine from a jar of Stevereno's Peppers
4|tbsp. sugar
1/4|tsp. pepper
In a large bowl mix Miracle Whip, brine, sugar and pepper. Mix until creamy.
Add the cabbage. Refrigerate. Serve cold.
Note: Brine can be replaced with 1/3 cup of vinegar plus 1/3 cup of chopped Stevereno's peppers or pepper slaw.
Makes 6 servings.
STEVERENO'S PEPPERS AND FRESH HERB FRITTATA
3|tbsp. olive oil
2|tsp. salt
generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper
2|tbsp. chopped parsley leave
2|tbsp. chopped chives
2|tsp. chopped fresh basil leaves
2|tsp. chopped fresh oregano leaves
12|eggs beaten
1/2|cup sliced Stevereno's Peppers
1/2|cup crumbled goat cheese (or cheese of your choice)
fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Pour the oil into a 10-inch nonstick, ovenproof skillet and place over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, add the salt, pepper, parsley, chives, basil and oregano to the eggs and beat well. Pour the egg mixture into the hot skillet, reduce the heat to medium and cook about 3 minutes, occasionally pulling the egg away from the sides of the pan.
Add the peppers and goat cheese, remove the skillet from the heat and slide it into the top half of the oven. Cook until the center of the frittata is set, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes.
Slide a spatula around the edges of the pan and underneath the frittata to loosen. Shake the pan to loosen the bottom and gently slide onto a serving platter. Slice into 12 wedges, garnish with basil leaves and serve.
Makes 12 servings.
STEVERENO'S PEPPER SCALLOPS
11/2|lbs. large sea scallops
2|tbsp. olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
freshly ground black pepper
1/2|16-oz jar of Stevereno's Peppers
In a bowl, combine the scallops, olive oil, lemon zest and black pepper, to taste. Preheat the broiler or prepare coals for outdoor grilling. Cut the peppers lengthwise into 3/4-inch wide strips. If cooking in a broiler, place the peppers cut side down on a baking sheet.
Broil or grill the peppers until blackened, 6 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a paper bag, close the top and let steam for 10 minutes. Remove the charred skins. Wrap a pepper strip around each scallop to cover completely, overlapping the pepper ends. Secure the strips by running a 10-inch metal skewer through the scallop and pepper.
Use 6 skewers; add scallops to each skewer until filled. Grill skewers over a medium-hot fire, turning once, until scallops are almost firm to the touch, 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Alternatively, cook under the broiler for about 3 minutes per side.
Makes 6 servings. — Stevereno's Peppers Web site
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
ROOTSTOWN TWP.:
Get the full article here.
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