If you CAN take the heat, step into my kitchen!

[David Weaver]

It's hard to get all of the habanero stuff out from under your fingernails, etc. Sooner or later, several hours after you eat and you've washed your hands, you'll still manage to get some to come out from under a fingernail or something.

They are great in the mouth, but not so great when you rub your eye and get it in your eye (been there, done that, too).

Had an incident with my daughter when she was about 6 months old, too - you know how babies will turn and bite the end of your fingers when you look away, just because they're always looking for the next meal? Mine got the end of my finger just after I was shoving little bits of pepper back in my burger at my favorite restaurant (the one that will let me bring peppers and they'll put them in my food). She screamed for a while after that, and let's just say mommy wasn't real happy about my hot food habit for a while.

I relayed that it was just sensory and not a real burn, still didn't help.

[Eric DeSilva]

They are great in the mouth, but not so great when you rub your eye and get it in your eye (been there, done that, too).

Eyes? Ha!

DAMHIKT, just make sure you wash your hands really, really, really well before... er... getting rid of those beers you drank while cooking.

[Norman Hitt]

Eyes? Ha!

DAMHIKT, just make sure you wash your hands really, really, really well before... er... getting rid of those beers you drank while cooking.

Been there,.....done that too, (but ONLY ONCE).

(Should have known better after a couple of previous "Eye Mishaps")

[Ted Calver]

I am new to the world of hot. The five jalapeno plants in my garden supply the entire neighborhood. I love them stuffed with low fat cheese (cream and cheddar) and grilled. Always wear the gloves but what gets me most is my lungs and sinus just from breathing the air when they are cleaned. Holding under water does not help one bit. I found a fan was needed to blow that toxic jalapeno air away from my face. Anybody else have this issue when cleaning peppers?

[Jim Becker]

Dave, I don't go really hot...because my kids wouldn't handle it anyway...I do incorporate a bit of heat in my cooking these days after gradually getting the girls used to it. One of my favorites is long-hots. They aren't particularly hot compared to what you are playing with, but they add some nice flavor to many things that I use them in. I also use a variety of dried pepper varieties from Penzey's. What I shoot for is a nice clean effect without overpowering the rest of the dish's flavors. So far, so good!

Our CSA is due to start delivering and I'm hoping there will be some fun peppers to play with in the boxes each week.

[curtis rosche]

my girlfriends father grows his own Jolakia's and he takes some of them, and chops them up with habenaro and some others. then soaks them in vinegar with ring bologna . thus making homemade hot bologna. it tastes great

[Greg Portland]

A classic in BBQ circles is to take a jalapeno & stuff it with cream cheese and a Little Smokey (mini sausage) and then wrap it in 1/3-1/2 a bacon slice. BBQ or cook at low temp until heated through & the pepper starts to soften. You can increase the heat by sprinkling cayenne or habanero powder on the cheese.

Another good recipe is habanero and carrot sauce. I'll do 50/50 by weight and grind and blend everything together. Add some garlic, a little ginger, and salt. You can vary the ratio to meet your spice needs. Be sure to get young juicy carrots; you want the sweetness to come through. I prefer this over the mango options because it isn't super-sweet.

[Jim Becker]

Well, some of the (accidentally) extra hot mole sauce I made awhile back reappeared at dinner tonight over some pork loin medalions. Alesya, my almost 12yo's eyeballs were popping out of her head. But she ate it.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Anybody else have this issue when cleaning peppers?

Cleaning - not - but - frying them - yes.
I love hot peppers.
I limit out at the Haberneros though. The Ghost Chili are just too hot for me.

I love to mix chopped peppers in with foods that I fry, like hash browns - but - I've found they have to go in when the oil/pan isn't up to cooking temperature.
Once in a while I manage to get some in the oil after it's "smoking hot" & the fumes are unpleasant.

[Peter Stahl]

I don't eat hot stuff but a guy I worked with used to go to a place in Dewey Beach, Del to get some really hot sauces. They have a web site cleverly named Peppers dot com. The funniest one he had was call weapons of ass destruction, but far from the hottest he had.

[Dave Gaul]

Dave, I don't know the recipe off the top of my head but I have a great recipe for Jamaican Jerk Pork. For one pork loin you use 15 to 20 Scotch Bonnet peppers. I love it but have been told by many friends that it's too hot for them. When I go home this afernoon I'll share it if you or anyone else is interested.

+1 on the gloves. I was making JJP one Saturday morning and chopping the peppers without gloves. My eye itched and without thinking I rubbed it with the back of my hand. OH DEAR LORD . . . I thought seriously about plucking my eye out. Within two or three minutes the eye was swollen shut. I looked really cute at the cookout I had that night. It took almost two days for the swelling to go down.

Yes Please! JJP sounds great for my next cookout!

I haven't been wise enough to start using gloves! I made a Habanero Mango glaze yesterday, and my thumb is still tingling from cutting the peppers!

[Dave Gaul]

It's hard to get all of the habanero stuff out from under your fingernails, etc. Sooner or later, several hours after you eat and you've washed your hands, you'll still manage to get some to come out from under a fingernail or something.

They are great in the mouth, but not so great when you rub your eye and get it in your eye (been there, done that, too).

Had an incident with my daughter when she was about 6 months old, too - you know how babies will turn and bite the end of your fingers when you look away, just because they're always looking for the next meal? Mine got the end of my finger just after I was shoving little bits of pepper back in my burger at my favorite restaurant (the one that will let me bring peppers and they'll put them in my food). She screamed for a while after that, and let's just say mommy wasn't real happy about my hot food habit for a while.

I relayed that it was just sensory and not a real burn, still didn't help.

Oh boy, I bet that was not a good day!

I am new to the world of hot. The five jalapeno plants in my garden supply the entire neighborhood. I love them stuffed with low fat cheese (cream and cheddar) and grilled. Always wear the gloves but what gets me most is my lungs and sinus just from breathing the air when they are cleaned. Holding under water does not help one bit. I found a fan was needed to blow that toxic jalapeno air away from my face. Anybody else have this issue when cleaning peppers?

I only have that problem when cooking them, I don't use jalapenos, don't care for their taste, but I have had to step away from the stove when cooking with habaneros!

Dave, I don't go really hot...because my kids wouldn't handle it anyway...I do incorporate a bit of heat in my cooking these days after gradually getting the girls used to it. One of my favorites is long-hots. They aren't particularly hot compared to what you are playing with, but they add some nice flavor to many things that I use them in. I also use a variety of dried pepper varieties from Penzey's. What I shoot for is a nice clean effect without overpowering the rest of the dish's flavors. So far, so good!

Our CSA is due to start delivering and I'm hoping there will be some fun peppers to play with in the boxes each week.

I'm the only one in the house that likes the heat, so I'm on my own, and when we have cookouts, I'm always making a "mild" batch and a "hot" batch of whatever!

my girlfriends father grows his own Jolakia's and he takes some of them, and chops them up with habenaro and some others. then soaks them in vinegar with ring bologna . thus making homemade hot bologna. it tastes great

That sounds wonderful!

A classic in BBQ circles is to take a jalapeno & stuff it with cream cheese and a Little Smokey (mini sausage) and then wrap it in 1/3-1/2 a bacon slice. BBQ or cook at low temp until heated through & the pepper starts to soften. You can increase the heat by sprinkling cayenne or habanero powder on the cheese.

Another good recipe is habanero and carrot sauce. I'll do 50/50 by weight and grind and blend everything together. Add some garlic, a little ginger, and salt. You can vary the ratio to meet your spice needs. Be sure to get young juicy carrots; you want the sweetness to come through. I prefer this over the mango options because it isn't super-sweet.

I just might try those! What do you use the habanero carrot sauce on?

[Belinda Barfield]

Yes Please! JJP sounds great for my next cookout!

I haven't been wise enough to start using gloves! I made a Habanero Mango glaze yesterday, and my thumb is still tingling from cutting the peppers!

I'll send you the recipe tonight, or post it here. Sunday night I baked jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and Andouille sausage, topped with sharp cheddar cheese. The peppers weren't even mildly hot.

[Belinda Barfield]

Decided to post the recipe here in case anyone else wants to try it. Had the numbers wrong on the peppers, it's up to 20 for 2 tenderloins.

Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin
2 pork tenderloins (about two pounds)
2-20 Scotch Bonnet peppers - stems removed
2 bunches of scallions trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
1/2 medium onion
1" piece of fresh ginger thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp fresh thyme (or 2 tsp dried)
2 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I used dried, same amount, without a noticeable change in taste)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup white vinegar
3 tbsp soy sause
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp kosher salt or coarse sea salt

1 cup hardwood chips

Finely chop peppers, scallions, onion, ginger, and garlic by hand or in a food processer. Mix in all remaining ingredients (except for wood chips of course). Cut multiple holes in tenderloins. Spread this mixture over tenderloins with a rubber spatula, stuffing mixture into holes in tenderloin, and marinate in refrigerator for a least 8 hours.
Soak wood chips in cold water for 1 hour. Place woodchips in a foil pie pan and place directly over coals to the side of, not under, the pork. Grill 10 to 15 minutes per side. Keep grill covered. Turn every 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately, sliced on the diagonal.

If you don't have all the ingredients on hand you can leave some out but it is critical to have the peppers, ginger, garlic, nutmeg, cinnamon, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Plain old salt works just fine also. I included the instructions with the hardwood chips but I have just grilled this and it came out fine. As a matter of fact, I have included a little liquid smoke in the marinade and cooked it in the oven.

Let me know what you think if you try it!

[Dave Gaul]

Thank you Belinda! That sounds delicious, I will definitely try it soon! I may mix in some habaneros for extra heat, but will try the scotch bonnets for sure.