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

[Dave Gaul]

I have found a new passion, not replacing woodworking by any means!

I have always love the taste of peppers, and, recently, have gotten into the world of super hot peppers and REALLY hot sauces!

My favorite hot sauces are Blair's Death sauces, last weeked I opened a bottle of Blair's Ultra Death sauce.. man is that stuff hot (1.1 million scovilles), but it tastes great too!

Aside from hot sauce, I am using hot peppers in my own cooking a lot now too. I have a home made bbq sauce recipe, Kansas City style, and I've been "heating" that up nicely! My last batch included Serano Chilis, Red Fresno Chilis, and Jamaican Hots.... man was that stuff super tasty! Served it at a cookout with some grilled chicken... my chili head friends loved it!

So, any other ww'ing chili heads here?
Spicy recipes to share?

[John Coloccia]

I have a bottle of 3a.m. reserve kicking around. I also have a couple of Jolokias kicking around that I haven't tried yet.

I love spicey food and have gotten good at cooking it myself because NO ONE will make it spicy enough in a restaurant. If I go for Thai or Indian food, and they ask me how hot on a scale of 1 to 10 and I say 15, I expect it to be very spicy...not a sprinkle of hot pepper on a pizza spicy, but SPICY. I'm disappointed nearly every time. I expect my chinese food to come with whole chilis if the picture on the menu shows whole chilis, and I rarely get that anymore either.

For a real treat, take some Habaneros and stuff them with a nice crab meat stuffing (meat, some bread, spices etc). Then bake. YUMMM. Actually, I prefer doing this with Scotch Bonnets, but depending where you are Scotch Bonnets may be difficult to find. Habaneros work fine too.

For a more mild treat that even you non chilihead friends will love, my wife makes a mango and habanero salsa. Chop up mango, add red onion, lime juice, cillantro, finely chopped habaneros and if you wish, avacado (I don't like avacado so I leave it out). You can add whatever you wish to it to (salt, sugar, whatever) but we usually just keep it bare. The habanero has such a great flavor...people don't usually realize how nice the flavor is because they fear it, but this dish really shows it off and is not that spicy if you don't use too much habanero.

My one piece of advice is wear gloves. I have disposable latex gloves in the kitchen now, specifically for working with peppers like this. It's just too much trouble to try and wash it off your hands afterwards. The only thing I found that reliably works is oil, and then you have the added problem of getting the oil off your hands. With gloves, no worries, I can handle them, rub meat, whatever, and just throw them out.

[David Peterson MN]

My wife and I don't even enjoy food anymore unless it is spicy. Tabasco just isn't enough anymore. I am pretty sure I could drink a bottle of the stuff and not break a sweat. We like to grow different hot peppers in the garden and then dehydrate them. We crush them/grind them and then sprinkle them on food for an extra kick.

Several times I have taken whole habaneros and popped them into my mouth. Tastes like a jalapeno...but just with a little more kick

[David Weaver]

I don't do hot sauces (I don't like the taste of all of the stuff in them other than heat).

However, I'm big on peppers. I used to grow several different types, but I eventually only wanted to eat the habaneros - they have the best flavor, no bitterness, just heat and a little bit of a fruity flavor to go with it vs. the acid or bitter taste that things like cayennes and jalapenos have as a raw fruit. Don't like the peppers pickled - it takes their edge off and adds a lot of flavors that aren't positive.

I grow two very large habanero plants each year, and in the dead of summer, I am usually getting about 5-10 a day off the two plants (i fertilize them pretty heavily, and find the advice that overfertilizing pepper plants will leave you with a lot of leaves and not many peppers just isn't true with the variety that I plant, they make a lot of leaves AND a lot of peppers). I'll usually eat one or two of them a day when they're coming off the plants. Two of them diced raw on a burger gives the burger an extra dimension and makes it taste a lot better.

I give away what I can't eat, and in the winter I generally don't eat much hot stuff because there is some ambiguous data regarding hot peppers and stomach cancer. It's probably related to something else, but I like to split the difference. Plus, when you do that, the habaneros seem hot again at the beginning of the next pepper season.

[Dave Gaul]

I have a bottle of 3a.m. reserve kicking around. I also have a couple of Jolokias kicking around that I haven't tried yet.

I love spicey food and have gotten good at cooking it myself because NO ONE will make it spicy enough in a restaurant. If I go for Thai or Indian food, and they ask me how hot on a scale of 1 to 10 and I say 15, I expect it to be very spicy...not a sprinkle of hot pepper on a pizza spicy, but SPICY. I'm disappointed nearly every time. I expect my chinese food to come with whole chilis if the picture on the menu shows whole chilis, and I rarely get that anymore either.

For a real treat, take some Habaneros and stuff them with a nice crab meat stuffing (meat, some bread, spices etc). Then bake. YUMMM. Actually, I prefer doing this with Scotch Bonnets, but depending where you are Scotch Bonnets may be difficult to find. Habaneros work fine too.

For a more mild treat that even you non chilihead friends will love, my wife makes a mango and habanero salsa. Chop up mango, add red onion, lime juice, cillantro, finely chopped habaneros and if you wish, avacado (I don't like avacado so I leave it out). You can add whatever you wish to it to (salt, sugar, whatever) but we usually just keep it bare. The habanero has such a great flavor...people don't usually realize how nice the flavor is because they fear it, but this dish really shows it off and is not that spicy if you don't use too much habanero.

My one piece of advice is wear gloves. I have disposable latex gloves in the kitchen now, specifically for working with peppers like this. It's just too much trouble to try and wash it off your hands afterwards. The only thing I found that reliably works is oil, and then you have the added problem of getting the oil off your hands. With gloves, no worries, I can handle them, rub meat, whatever, and just throw them out.

3 AM - How does it taste? I've tried Jolakia's straight up, very smokey, very HOT!!
I'll have to try that stuff John, Thanks!
I know what you mean about gloves! First time I tried the Jolakia, I rubbed my face with the finger I picked the pepper up with, my face went numb!

My wife and I don't even enjoy food anymore unless it is spicy. Tabasco just isn't enough anymore. I am pretty sure I could drink a bottle of the stuff and not break a sweat. We like to grow different hot peppers in the garden and then dehydrate them. We crush them/grind them and then sprinkle them on food for an extra kick.

Several times I have taken whole habaneros and popped them into my mouth. Tastes like a jalapeno...but just with a little more kick

That's awesome! Tabasco is like ketchup to me anymore! I don't really like the jalapeno taste, unless it's chipoltle.

I don't do hot sauces (I don't like the taste of all of the stuff in them other than heat).

However, I'm big on peppers. I used to grow several different types, but I eventually only wanted to eat the habaneros - they have the best flavor, no bitterness, just heat and a little bit of a fruity flavor to go with it vs. the acid or bitter taste that things like cayennes and jalapenos have as a raw fruit. Don't like the peppers pickled - it takes their edge off and adds a lot of flavors that aren't positive.

I grow two very large habanero plants each year, and in the dead of summer, I am usually getting about 5-10 a day off the two plants (i fertilize them pretty heavily, and find the advice that overfertilizing pepper plants will leave you with a lot of leaves and not many peppers just isn't true with the variety that I plant, they make a lot of leaves AND a lot of peppers). I'll usually eat one or two of them a day when they're coming off the plants. Two of them diced raw on a burger gives the burger an extra dimension and makes it taste a lot better.

I give away what I can't eat, and in the winter I generally don't eat much hot stuff because there is some ambiguous data regarding hot peppers and stomach cancer. It's probably related to something else, but I like to split the difference. Plus, when you do that, the habaneros seem hot again at the beginning of the next pepper season.

David, you should try Blair's sauces if you haven't already, not just heat, great flavor. I'll take flavor over heat any day!
BTW, will you ship your extras across PA?!

[Rick Prosser]

Ok - this is a serious question. I don't do spicy hot foods. I like flavor spices in different dishes, but have no interest in the heat. My limit is probably bell peppers and black pepper corns on the heat scale.

I know a lot of people eat and enjoy HOT peppers and such, but I don't understand the pleasure obtained from the searing, burning pain in the mouth and the heavy sweating.
(I think I saw on mythbusters, or modern marvels, or something that there is no actual burning or damage to tissue)

Is it the flavor that is the benefit - or, is it the pain? What am I missing?

[John Coloccia]

3 AM - How does it taste?

I haven't tried it yet. I don't think it tastes like anything and is really meant for making your own hot sauce or putting a drop or two in chili...that sort of thing. Since I use fresh habaneros instead, I really don't have a use for the sauce and it's just a curiosity more than anything.

[John Coloccia]

Ok - this is a serious question. I don't do spicy hot foods. I like flavor spices in different dishes, but have no interest in the heat. My limit is probably bell peppers and black pepper corns on the heat scale.

I know a lot of people eat and enjoy HOT peppers and such, but I don't understand the pleasure obtained from the searing, burning pain in the mouth and the heavy sweating.
(I think I saw on mythbusters, or modern marvels, or something that there is no actual burning or damage to tissue)

Is it the flavor that is the benefit - or, is it the pain? What am I missing?

I don't like chocolate ice cream and can't figure out why other people do. I don't think I can explain it any better than that.

[Dave Gaul]

Ok - this is a serious question. I don't do spicy hot foods. I like flavor spices in different dishes, but have no interest in the heat. My limit is probably bell peppers and black pepper corns on the heat scale.

I know a lot of people eat and enjoy HOT peppers and such, but I don't understand the pleasure obtained from the searing, burning pain in the mouth and the heavy sweating.
(I think I saw on mythbusters, or modern marvels, or something that there is no actual burning or damage to tissue)

Is it the flavor that is the benefit - or, is it the pain? What am I missing?

There is some science, well, more like biology I guess behind it. All peppers contain Capsaicin, the natural chemical that causes the heat, so the more capsaicin, the more heat the pepper has. When the brain detects the capsaicin, it releases endorphins to the body to help deal with the burn, this causes a pleasureful sensation to us chili heads!

Aside from the technical mumbo jumbo, all peppers have different flavors. Jolakia, aka "the ghost pepper", is one of the hottest peppers know to man, but it has a very distinct flavor, and I personnaly love the taste!

[David Weaver]

David, you should try Blair's sauces if you haven't already, not just heat, great flavor. I'll take flavor over heat any day!
BTW, will you ship your extras across PA?!

I can try. I don't know how they'll last in the mail.

The one problem with habaneros is that once you pick them, they don't last too long. I haven't been able to figure out how to dry them without ruining their flavor (they wrinkle and then turn brown if you dehydrate them). Maybe if I pull a bunch of as they're just starting to orange.

I'll give you a heads up when they start coming off the plants. Right now, there are a few dozen that are full size, but all green. I would guess they'll start coming off in a couple of weeks a few a week, and after that, they'll start coming off a few a day.

If you can plant one inside somewhere, it should grow indefinitely and keep dropping peppers. I can't plant one inside, I just let the plants go until the first frost.

The restaurant at the bottom of the hill from my house has a couple of chef/owners who will cook with them if I bring them along. I've been giving them my extras, but I did end up throwing a lot out last year because they can only use them so fast, too. Patrons won't tolerate many of them in a soup, even if it's supposed to be hot.

[Dave Gaul]

I haven't tried it yet. I don't think it tastes like anything and is really meant for making your own hot sauce or putting a drop or two in chili...that sort of thing. Since I use fresh habaneros instead, I really don't have a use for the sauce and it's just a curiosity more than anything.

Oh ok, kinda figured that too. I prefer to use fresh peppers too, but I use the hot sauce to spice up other things. I use Blair's Pure Death on my eggs, Muerte Death on Pizza, and I recently added Ultra Death to some KC Masterpiece bbq sauce (didn't have time to make my own).

[David Weaver]

Is it the flavor that is the benefit - or, is it the pain? What am I missing?

It's the novelty, I guess, and the flavor. As you eat the hot stuff more and more, it's like an extra dimension of flavor, but you can still sort out normal flavors of the food. I remember someone telling me that habaneros have a fruity flavor, and I ate one. I thought they were nuts, I couldn't taste anything other than heat.

After getting used to them, I can tell exactly what they're talking about, they have more of a fresh fruity flavor, and combined with the heat, it makes food better, just like salt would. Still, if you just ate three or four of them raw (and chew them well), they will ruin your day.

If you don't like hot food, though, then there's no reason to try to climb up the scale and get to the hotter peppers (which to me have a lighter flavor and more heat).

[Dave Gaul]

I can try. I don't know how they'll last in the mail.

The one problem with habaneros is that once you pick them, they don't last too long. I haven't been able to figure out how to dry them without ruining their flavor (they wrinkle and then turn brown if you dehydrate them). Maybe if I pull a bunch of as they're just starting to orange.

I'll give you a heads up when they start coming off the plants. Right now, there are a few dozen that are full size, but all green. I would guess they'll start coming off in a couple of weeks a few a week, and after that, they'll start coming off a few a day.

If you can plant one inside somewhere, it should grow indefinitely and keep dropping peppers. I can't plant one inside, I just let the plants go until the first frost.

The restaurant at the bottom of the hill from my house has a couple of chef/owners who will cook with them if I bring them along. I've been giving them my extras, but I did end up throwing a lot out last year because they can only use them so fast, too. Patrons won't tolerate many of them in a soup, even if it's supposed to be hot.

Just a thought if you need help getting rid of your excess, I have plenty of willing chili head friends!

Growing my own peppers is next venture, I recently installed a Koi pond for LOML's birthday, so that's been my side project lately. I would like to grow some Habeneros and some Ghost Peppers.

[John Coloccia]

In California there's this restaurant called "Faz". They have a pizza called the Chili Head, with jalapenos, serannos and habaneros. It's quite yummy if you ever get out to Sunnyvale.

[Belinda Barfield]

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.