Beating the heat with chiles
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
As we all learned in biology class, perspiration is the body’s air conditioner. When it’s super-hot outside, one way to drop your internal temperature is to heat up your insides.
This is practiced widely in equatorial cultures. Meals are spiced with all manner of peppers, and the body’s natural responses of increased blood flow, endorphin release and perspiration are actually healthy, purifying your system and strengthening your heart, even if your tongue may never recover.
NUCLEAR WON TONS
1 pkg. won ton wrappers
1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cubed
1 can light coconut milk
3 Tbsp. Asian chili-garlic paste
2 or 3 Thai chiles
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Whisk together the coconut milk, chili paste, peppers and cilantro, then toss this with the cubed chicken. Allow to sit for at least an hour to absorb flavors. You can adjust the chili paste to taste.
Next, take a cube of chicken (or two, depending on size), center it in a won ton skin and moisten the edges of the wrapper with a little water (or water mixed with egg white). Gather the four corners of the wrapper together over the chicken and twirl until the dumpling looks like a Hershey’s Kiss. Set aside on waxed paper or a cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray.
Heat some canola or peanut oil in a deep pan or wok until very hot and deep fry the won tons a few at a time. When they float and are a golden brown they’re ready to remove. Set on paper towels to drain. When your Nuclear Won Tons are all cooked, serve them up! I usually provide a peanut sauce and a yogurt sauce for dipping. The peanut sauce is sweet (and hot) and the yogurt sauce helps cut the heat. A little.
Many people develop an affinity and somewhat of an immunity to the heat of peppers. They keep graduating to the next hottest pepper to attain the same effect. The heat of the pepper is mostly in the white veins inside it and next in the seeds. So if you want to limit the heat as much as you can, scrape those parts out before using the pepper. It’s always wise to wear gloves when you do this, and to thoroughly wash your hands afterwards.
Why eat something so dangerous? Because chili peppers are a good source of vitamins A, C and E, and are rich in folic acid and potassium, low in calories and sodium, contain no carbohydrates and they are delicious!
Rich McCormick from Jackson, Miss., gave me this recipe, the title of which just makes me laugh. I think I’ll serve this at my Halloween party!
HUEVOS DE MUERTE (The Quiche of Death)
1/2 lb. hot country-style sausage
1/2 lb. Mexican-style pork chorizo
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
10 jalapenos, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup jack cheese, grated
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup cilantro, chopped
6 - 8 flour tortillas
Fry the sausage and chorizo together. Add onion and bell pepper and fry to wilt. Drain, but save the drippings. Beat the eggs and milk together, then stir in the jalapenos and cilantro.
Using a basting brush, paint both sides of three or four flour tortillas with the drippings and cover the bottom and sides of a 10-inch pie pan, tearing the tortillas and overlapping as necessary to fill the gaps. Repeat with another layer of tortillas painted with rendered fat as before.
Spread the sausage mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle on the cheeses and pour the egg mixture on top. Bake in a 375º oven until set. Serve with salsa fresca and more jalapenos.
Speaking of jalapenos, Bob Haselhuhn from Neosho Rapids shared a nifty appetizer recipe with me. He picks some ripe jalapenos from his bountiful garden and cuts a little chunk out down one side. He cleans out the interior of the pepper, then stuffs it with a mixture of cream cheese, garlic and onion powder, a squirt of Worcestershire, and whatever else seems tasty at the time. He replaces the pepper chunk and wraps the whole thing with a piece of bacon (securing it with a toothpick). Bob then grills this until the bacon is crispy. Delicious!
Would you like to make your own pepper sauce? It’s not that hard. This recipe is from Kevin Birchfield somewhere out there in cyberspace. I’m going to have to hide it from Andy, though or he’ll make 60 gallons of it.
KB’S HELLISH HAWAIIAN HABANERO SAUCE
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups carrots, diced
2 cups onions, chopped
20 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped
3 cups water
3 roasted red jalapenos, chopped
3 roasted green jalapenos, chopped
10 Habanero peppers, chopped
1 Tbsp. ginger, minced
2 cups mango, diced
Juice from 6 large limes
6 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 Tbsp. sea salt
Heat olive oil in an 8-quart stock pot. Add the carrots and sauté until almost soft. Add onions and continue to sauté, adding the garlic for the last minute.
Turn down the heat and add remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer, and using an immersion blender (“boat motor”), blend to a pourable consistency. You could also use a blender or food processor.
Bottle contents in sterilized jars or bottles. This recipe makes between 3 and 4 pints, so you can give some away as gifts, or cut the recipe down a bit.
Holy Frijoles, that’s hot! Hope you like these recipes, and stay cool by heating things up. Next week we have some special State Fair recipes and the week after that we’ll get some winners from the Pumpkin Cook-Off down at the market.
If you would like to compete, all you need to do is bring your best dish made with pumpkin, a serving utensil (if needed) and I will take care of dishing it all out to the Market goers. Please have your name and telephone number on your dish and a copy of the recipe. Bring it between 7:45 and 8:00 a.m. to the kiosk in the parking lot at 7th and Merchant streets.
You don’t need to stay the whole time; we should be finished with the voting between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Call me if you have any questions, and let’s get cooking!