Entries tagged with 'Serious Heat'
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How did you develop a spicy tolerance? Through a mentor? By force-feeding yourself jalapenos?
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Note: On Wednesdays, Andrea Lynn, senior editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by with Serious Heat. [flickr: _rockinfree] For the artistic-challenged such as myself, the best thing about carving a Halloween pumpkin isn't the glowing masterpiece that comes at the end--it's the surplus of seeds that come out process. With a shake of seasonings and a quick stint to roast in the oven, there's a delicious, munch-worthy treat. I like a combination of chili powder and paprika to jazz my pumpkin seeds up. But you can use your favorite spices from a Cajun blend to an Indian spin. Check out my recipe for roasted spicy pumpkin seeds ยป What seasonings do you use?...
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What to do when you don't have the right chile. You know the drill. You've clipped or printed out a recipe that's supposed to be tonight's dinner. Except, the grocery store betrays you—not having those few essential items you need. As an editor at Chile Pepper magazine, for me that usually means a certain chile necessary to test or develop a recipe. For example, in certain regions, some chiles like cayenne are impossible to find fresh. The key to finding an adequate chile replacement is knowing its heat level, sweetness, and smokiness. We pooled our resources to come up with a substitution guide for whole chiles. While it focuses on whole fresh or dried chiles, you can always use a...
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Note: On Wednesdays, Andrea Lynn, senior editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by with Serious Heat, with additional writing by Lillian Cho. [Photograph: Bill Milne] Think a lone jar of Dijon or squeeze-bottle of yellow in your fridge covers all your mustard needs for the Labor Day grilling holiday? Well, we were under that assumption too until we went on a quest to find the best spicy mustards around. From orange to white, smooth to chunky, mild to weepingly hot, each mustard we sampled was so original that by the time we had reached the end of the taste-test, we were mustard maniacs. These are our top favorites. But we're still open to opinion. What are your favorite mustards that...
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Note: On Wednesdays, Andrea Lynn, senior editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by with Serious Heat. [iStockphoto: Juanmonino] Come on now, let's be adventurous. Why fill that pepper grinder with just black peppercorns when you can spice it up with a variety of options. Penzy's offers a great selection of mixed peppercorn blends. But how do you know the difference? Here's a breakdown: Black Peppercorns Grinding black peppercorns create a strong flavor, aroma and heat. Harvested before the berry is fully ripe, they are boiled briefly and then dried by machine or by sunlight (which causes the wrinkly skin). Most generic black pepper sold in grocery stores contains Brazilian black pepper that isn't as pungent as other varieties. Tellicherry Peppercorns...
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Note: On Wednesdays, Andrea Lynn, senior editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by with Serious Heat. Photo from jcwadeaz on Flickr Last month, I took two of our interns to New York City's Fancy Food Show to hunt the aisles for spiciness. We separated, and when I met up with them both, they had--separately, mind you--taken a small but scorching sample of a dried bhut jolokia, the hottest chile on Earth. They were both stunned by the heat, gulping up any drinks they could find and ruining their palates for the day. "Did I not teach you anything during your internship?" I asked. Lesson number one of a Chile Pepper internship: Don't eat a sliver of the bhut jolokia unless...
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Note: On Wednesdays, Andrea Lynn, senior editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by with Serious Heat. Photograph from thebittenword.com on Flickr I find that barbecue sauce partiality is heavily influence by how you were raised. So it's no surprise this Alabama gal craves pulled pork with that tangy white sauce of Big Bob Gibson's, famous in the Northern part of the state. There are other barbecue sauces I love, of course, but nothing transports me to my childhood like that mayo-like white sauce speckled with pepper. That is, until I recently tried Big Bob Gibson's Habanero Red Sauce for a round-up of favorite sauces in Chile Pepper's May issue. How can you improve upon a championship red flavor? Add a...
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Note: On Thursdays, Andrea Lynn, senior editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by with some Serious Heat. This week, she joined forces with travel writer Kate Mulcrone to discover the mystery of a Moroccan spice blend. Photograph from WordRidden on Flickr With the start of summer, the hunt at the local farmers' markets begin for my seasonal chile addiction--pimientos de Padron. In season from mid-June through September, what makes this crinkly, small green chile pepper originally from Spain so magical? It's playing Russian roulette with your food. While a majority of the chiles are mild, there will be about 1 out of 10 that will deliver a pow to your taste buds. Quickly cooked in olive oil and brushed with...
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"Ask as politely as you want, but Morocco's famous hospitality does not extend to revealing the spices or proportions contained in this legendary spice blend." Note: On Thursdays, Andrea Lynn, associate editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by with some Serious Heat. This week, she joined forces with travel writer Kate Mulcrone to discover the mystery of a Moroccan spice blend. Sifting through unground ras el hanout. Forget the baffling, labyrinthine streets of the medinas in Marrakech and Fes—the true mystery of Morocco is found in the pantry. Right next to jars of cinnamon, cumin, and dried ginger you might find ras el hanout, a blend of anywhere from ten to 100 spices that is the carefully guarded secret behind...
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Note: On Thursdays, Andrea Lynn, associate editor of Chile Pepper magazine, drops by to drop some Serious Heat. I just returned from a trip to Morocco with an extra bag packed with spices--ras el hanout, dried ginger root, long peppercorns--the options were seemingly limitless. While I lugged my spices around Morocco, a friend on the trip said she would just keep ordering all hers from Penzey's. Fair enough—Penzey's does produce first-rate spices. My supply of spices comes from a few different locales. In New York, my go-to source for spice is Kalustyan's. Whenever I'm in Atlanta, I make sure to hit up the DeKalb Farmer's Market. And when I'm in Alabama, I steal some chile powder from my mother. She...
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