There’s nothing like seeing the tiny seeds you gently nurture grow into thriving, robust plants bearing some of the hottest eats in the world. Start the seeds indoors in containers, preferably in a sunny windowsill or on a countertop that gets lots of light. Your seedlings will need at least six hours of sunlight. Most hot peppers grow best in warm environments, so the warmer the spot, the better the seedlings will do.
Cayenne pepper is one of the most popular chilies in the world, and not only for its life as a staple spice in your rack. In fact, if you use it only to spice your food, you are missing out on many practical – and often creative – uses of this hot pepper, whether that’s in fresh, dried, or powdered form. Here are nine top cayenne pepper uses that’ll give you a new take on this chili.
Growing cayenne pepper is relatively simple, providing you manage a few variables carefully. Like many peppers, their biggest problems are temperature and water content of the soil. However, care and attention easily keep these problems from becoming your problems and allow for a good harvest.
A surprisingly versatile chili – from decorative ristras to olive oil and beverage infusions – the chile de àrbol makes one tasty salsa too. There’s a nutty smokiness here that mellows the tomato tang and deepens the overall flavor of this smooth salsa. And it has a very eatable spicy kick – the chili falls nicely between the serrano and the cayenne pepper on the pepper scale. We love this salsa on tacos and burritos, and it’s savory enough to marinade steaks. Or just go simple and use it when you next need some tortilla chips and dip.
Come on, ketchup is the first ingredient listed, so how good could it be? And how can you even call it a hot sauce being ketchup-based?! But once you get past these simple arguments and just try Dat’l Do It; it’s magic in a bottle. Sweet, with rich molasses undertones, and a tasty – and not overwhelming – datil pepper bite. It’s not your typical hot sauce, and that’s what makes it special. You’ll likely find yourself reaching for it more often than you’d ever imagine.
You can grow chilies – even with little space. If you love heat in your culinary creations, you’ll be happy to know that growing hot peppers in containers is not only possible, but easy. It doesn’t matter what your chili of choice is – whether jalapeño, habanero, …
Looking for a dip with a little kick, a little smoke, and some decent tang? A smoked paprika aioli fits the bill quite nicely. Whip this up instead of your basic aioli the next time your looking to dress up your fried appetizers. It’s a terrific french fries dipping sauce, and it’s a perfect spicy condiment for crab cakes, fried shrimp, calamari, and hamburgers, just to name a few.
The savviest heat-lovers grow their own chili peppers, and rarely have to go without that extra kick. That’s especially true for some of the hottest chili peppers, like the habanero, that may not be available at your local store. If you seek the heat of this spicy chili more often than most, growing habanero may be your best choice. Below, you’ll find some simple tips that’ll help you grow these chilies at home.
Heat-lovers already know hot sauces are delicious in all their many varied forms, but what exactly are they doing to your body? Is hot sauce good for you? Or is the flip side true? Is hot sauce bad for you?
The short of it: Hot sauces are actually very good for you, but there are a few caveats. Read on to get the skinny about these kickin’ condiments.
Habanero peppers are hot, make no mistake. They’ll kick you around. But a Carolina Reaper? It’s like a solar flare erupted in your esophagus. Yes, there’s a humongous heat difference here, but is there more to compare? How different do they taste? Does the heat act similarly? What about products in the marketplace? We dive in with another PepperScale Showdown.
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