Matt Bray 
We’ve all used it before, whether at home, a pizza joint, or at an Italian restaurant: Crushed red pepper. It’s tasty, spicy, and a staple of the North American kitchen cupboard. But what is crushed red pepper (a.k.a. red pepper flakes)? What chili flakes make up …
What are Trinidad Moruga Scorpion peppers? To say the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion is hot would be like saying the surface of the sun is hot. It’s true, but you’d be really underselling it. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper is a scorching hot chili (1,200,000 to …
If you’ve tried your hand at cooking any spicy Mexican or Tex-Mex dish, you’ve likely come across the ingredient chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in a recipe or two. You’ve likely also been amazed at the spicy kick it brings to those meals. But what …
Pepper plant leaves offer some of the first and clearest indications of a plant’s health. If you notice the leaves curling, this could be a symptom of several different problems. Diseases, infestation, and water stress all show themselves in the leaves first. Here are some …
Spicy heat is enjoyable for many people, but everyone has a point where it’s too much. Beyond a certain heat level, food becomes difficult to eat. Usually, excessive heat is associated with more extreme chili peppers (like habaneros and ghost peppers), but food with too …
Now here’s a hearty sauce that’ll wake you right up! Habanero cream sauce can bring life to all sorts of dishes, from drizzling it on top of enchiladas to flavoring a hearty soup. Try it, too, on pasta or simply as a sauce topping for fresh vegetables like broccoli …
So you’ve recently bought a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for a Mexican recipe. You’ve used your tablespoon to bring the heat to the dish, and now you’ve got a whole lot left over. Nearly an entire can’s worth! What can you do with all …
If you’ve delved into Korean cooking, it’s likely the case you’ve come across gochugaru as an ingredient for an authentic Korean recipe. Gochugaru may be available at a specialty market, but oftentimes you’ll need to think outside the box to come up with an alternative. The …
Stuffed peppers are an easy-to-make, versatile dish that you can make with a variety of ingredients. This dish is a great way to use up peppers when they are in season. But sometimes, all those extra peppers can mean you have too many stuffed peppers …
Adobo seasoning is a delicious spice mix that provides a little earthy sizzle to everything from soups to steaks. But it may not be something you have readily stocked in your pantry, so where do you turn when your recipe calls for it? What’s a good …
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