Matt Bray, Author at PepperScale

Jamaican Jerk Wings

So many flavors: Spicy, earthy, and aromatic… Jamaican jerk seasoning is one of the more unique spice rack mixes – equal parts spicy, earthy, and aromatic with an undeniable warmth brought on by the cloves, cinnamon, and allspice in the mix. This Jamaican jerk wings recipe pairs …

Cherry Bomb Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are Cherry Bomb peppers? Boy, the Cherry Bomb pepper comes loaded with a lot of expectations due to its moniker. You may be thinking here comes a mouth explosion! But, really, this hybrid chili carries more of a modest boom, about the heat of …

Sriracha Peanut Sauce

by Matt Bray

A quick, creamy peanut sauce with Sriracha, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and an optional squeeze of lime, stirred together in 5 minutes for satay, noodles, spring rolls or salads.

Cajun Meatballs

by Matt Bray

Meatballs with Southern spice flair… This Cajun meatballs recipe may seem simple, but there’s a heck of a lot of flavor here. Cajun seasoning contains lots of delicious Southern spices like paprika, cayenne pepper powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. We top …

Chilaca Pepper: A Rare Delight

by Matt Bray

The pasilla in fresh form…

Scoville heat units (SHU): 1,000 to 2,500
Jalapeño reference point: Equal heat to 8 times milder
Origin: Mexico
Products and seeds: Chilaca pepper on Amazon

While the long and curvy chilaca pepper may not be the most recognizable (or findable) chili outside of Mexico, its dried form certainly has a fast growing following. When dried, the fresh chilaca chili becomes the popular pasilla pepper, part of the Holy Trinity of chilies used in traditional Mexican mole sauces. Yet there’s more to the chilaca pepper than being behind the scenes of a pepper scale star. There’s a family-friendly heat and a robust meaty flavor here – rich and slightly floral – that’s delicious in salsas.

Pasilla Vs. Poblano: PepperScale Showdown

by Matt Bray

Here’s a case of mistaken identity, times two. For two chili peppers that look truly nothing alike, there’s a lot of confusion that surrounds pasilla and poblano peppers. Supermarkets, in fact, often mislabel pasillas as poblanos (and vice versa), but how can that be the case …

A mason jar of vodka with floating jalapeño rings beside an empty bottle, a funnel, a shot glass and a fresh jalapeño on a butcher-block counter

Homemade Jalapeño Vodka

by Matt Bray

Plain vodka infused with sliced jalapeños for a mild, fresh heat. About 10 minutes of work and a few days of waiting, and it’s ready for Bloody Marys and martinis.

Wiri Wiri Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are wiri wiri peppers? Sometimes it’s the littlest things that hold the biggest surprises. For instance, the Guyanese wiri wiri pepper may look little – like colorful cherries – but inside it contains sun-like heat rivaling habanero peppers and scotch bonnets (100,000 to 350,000 …

Spicy Gingerbread Cookies

by Matt Bray

So many spices, plus an extra kick!

Traditional spiced gingerbread cookies already feature many delicious festive spices, like cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. All three are here, plus the addition of cayenne pepper powder for a spicy kick. Paired with the ground ginger powder, that’s a delicious amount of heat in these cookies. Be sure to label these cookies as “hot!” when serving to family and friends!

Two Bloody Marys over ice, dusted with spice and garnished with celery stalks, lime wedges and a green olive

Cajun Bloody Mary

by Matt Bray

A Cajun Bloody Mary with Cajun seasoning, cayenne, Tabasco and horseradish, plus how to set the heat, why you stir instead of shake, and how to batch it for brunch.