Matt Bray – Page 98 – PepperScale

Smoky Sweet Chipotle Dry Rub

Rich and intense flavor for your BBQ meats.

Chipotle powder is one of those spices that once you try it, it’s hard not to crave it. That smoky heat is special, and it’s also a ton of fun to experiment with, especially with barbecue. This chipotle dry rub recipe layers that flavorful smokiness with the earthy sweetness of brown sugar and the pungency of garlic and onion powders. Most any well-stocked kitchen can pull this together out of the spice rack, and it’s simply delicious on grilled steaks, pork, chicken, and seafood.

Purple Jalapeño Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, uses

by Matt Bray

What are purple jalapeño peppers? When you think of jalapeños, your mind likely first jumps to green chilies. For those that have grown them or bought them late in the season, you may also envision some red. But a purple jalapeño pepper? That’s not a …

Kung Pao Pepper: Putting POW In Pao

by Matt Bray

Versatile, with very eatable heat…

Scoville heat units (SHU): 7,000 – 12,000
Jalapeño reference point: Equal to 5 time hotter
Origin: Asia
Products and seeds: Kung Pao pepper on Amazon

If you’ve ever dined at (or ordered from) a Chinese restaurant, you’ve likely seen on the menu a few dishes labeled “Kung Pao”. Let’s set things straight out the gate – these dishes aren’t named for this chili. Kung Pao pepper is a recent hybrid chili, and Kung Pao dishes have been around for generations. But Kung Pao pepper does taste great in this dish – and it’s perfect for using in Asian, Thai, and Sichuan cuisine – as it’s an excellent less spicy alternative to Thai peppers and cayenne.

Creamy Spaghetti Chipotle With Sausage

by Matt Bray

Rich, smoky, and savory.

If we had three words, that’s how we’d describe this creamy spaghetti chipotle recipe. The smoke and spice of the chipotle chili is matched well with the savoriness of the hot sausage and bacon. It’s an easy meal to whip up that’s big on flavor. If there’s too much heat, lower the amount of chipotle or choose regular sausage instead of hot.

Aji Panca Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are aji panca peppers? In Peruvian cuisine, the aji panca (a.k.a. aji brown) is only second in popularity to its golden bright cousin, the aji amarillo. But that’s in no way a comment on its flavor. In fact, the aji panca is just as flavorful …

Smokin’ Hot Habanero Burger

by Matt Bray

A burger with big ol’ bite! This one’s not for those with moderate spicy food tastes. This habanero burger is over-the-top and smokin‘ hot. It’ll knock your tastebuds to another zip code. There’s so much heat here, and in so many ways, that it’s a must to …

Peppadew® Piquantè Pepper Guide: Heat, Flavor, Uses

by Matt Bray

What are Peppadew® Piquantè Peppers? A little bit sweet, a little bit spicy, and quite a bit of pickled tang are the hallmarks of your typical PEPPADEW® Piquantè Pepper. It’s a unique flavor – so unique, in fact, that the growers have trademarked the name. Peppadew® …

Spicy Cocktail Sauce

by Matt Bray

Add fuel to the fire with Tabasco.

Who doesn’t love the ketchup tang and horseradish kick of a good cocktail sauce? But why have the flavor explosion stop there? Adding a little Tabasco hot sauce will help light your world on fire. Of course, control the heat by the amount of hot sauce used, but we think there’s only one way to go…up, up, up! Try it with shrimp cocktail, fried shrimp, oysters, or crab.

Cascabel Sauce

by Matt Bray

Smoky and nutty, perfect on enchiladas.

The lovely cascabel pepper offers a lot more than just good looks. Its earthy flavors – smoky and nutty – make for one flavorful sauce, especially for tortilla-based Mexican cuisines like enchiladas, quesadillas, and burritos. Try this cascabel sauce, too, with grilled chicken and beef. We like it without the cilantro to retain the full nuttiness, but some prefer the hint of freshness the cilantro brings to balance some of the earthiness.

Aji Amarillo Sauce

by Matt Bray

Brighten your table.

As far as chili-based sauces go, few are as brightly beautiful as aji amarillo sauce. It looks like captured sunshine, and its tropical flavor and medium-high heat tastes terrific on everything from chicken to french fries. Aji amarillo is a staple of Peruvian cooking, so this sauce works very well with South American cuisine and other Peruvian recipes. If you happen to have fresh aji amarillo available, use it instead of the paste.