Spicy Recipes – Page 55

Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

Coconut meet peanut butter…

That’s what makes the magic of spicy Thai peanut sauce – the pairing of deliciously creamy and exotic coconut milk with nutty and earthy peanut butter. Red curry paste and brown sugar add a delicious Thai-spiced sweetness. And then there’s the touch of cayenne pepper to add a simmer underneath it all. It’s not an overwhelming heat – just enough to complement all the other flavors going on here (but add more if you want to kick it up a notch!)

This is an exceptional party sauce for chicken, beef, and shrimp satay. Or try drizzling it over salads for a real exotic flair. It’s delicious, too, simply mixed with noodles, or try it with grilled salmon. The flavors pair very well with the rich flavor of the fish.

Spicy Pomodoro Sauce

by Matt Bray

The fresh taste of tomato and basil with heat!

Sometimes it’s the simple sauces that make the best meals. Case in point: spicy pomodoro sauce. It’s the fresh taste of tomato, basil, Parmigiano Reggiano, and garlic (plenty of garlic) and then there’s that kick. A little crushed red pepper turns things up a notch.

Try it with any pasta . You can also add chicken or shrimp to make it into more of a meal. Pomodoro sauce also works very well as a dipping sauce for mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, and other fried foods.

Spicy Glazed Carrots

by Matt Bray

A sweet and spicy side…

Matching the earthy sweetness of carrots with butter and brown sugar is already a delicious pairing. But when you add in some chili powder and a pinch of cayenne powder? Now we’re talking a spicy side delight.

This is a great side dish for roasted turkey, ham, or even steak, so keep it at hand during holiday season or for dinner parties. It’s a quick recipe to make that has a lot of flavor for the effort. The cayenne pepper powder is optional, but just a little pinch brings a nice warmth to the carrots.

Papa a la Huancaina

by Matt Bray

A popular Peruvian appetizer…

Who doesn’t love the idea of potatoes with a spicy cheese sauce? That’s simply what the popular Peruvian recipe papa a la Huancaina is: boiled potatoes topped with a cheese sauce spiced up by the deliciously summery-sweet aji amarillo pepper. It’s made all the better by the addition of hardboiled eggs and black olives – very rustic in flavor.

Papa a la Huancaina is typically served as an appetizer, but it’s so heavy it can also work as meal in its own right. The recipe calls for Huancaina sauce (which you can find the recipe for here).

Huancaina Sauce

by Matt Bray

A delicious Peruvian cheese sauce…

Peruvian huancaina sauce is a must for the delicious traditional potato dish papas a la huancaina. But this mix of queso fresco, sunny aji amarillo peppers, and onions has more culinary options that that. Use it as a veggie dip, as a side to salsa for Mexican and Peruvian meals, or pour it over cooked veggies as you would any cheese sauce.

Aji amarillo peppers provide a cayenne pepper level heat and a tropical-sweet undertone to the sauce. It’s a unique, summery taste making for one terrific alternative to typical (and often boring) cheese sauces.

Harissa Tomato Sauce

by Matt Bray

Spiced bite…

Harissa tomato sauce is more than spicy ketchup. There’s a real robust spice here – a mix of cumin, coriander, and caraway provide an earthy and fresh zing. We use sambal oelek as a base for the sauce instead of going with freshly ground dried chilies like a a typical homemade harissa. It provides the needed tomato sauce base while packing plenty of heat. You can pick up sambal oelek in most grocery stores or online.

Use harissa tomato sauce as a dipper – it’s delicious with fresh or toasted pita, fried foods (like mozzarella sticks), and French fries. It’s also an interesting option as a pasta sauce for those that enjoy spicier fair.

Cheese Stuffed Cherry Peppers

by Matt Bray

Creamy, sweet, and tangy – with a touch of heat…

It’s often these simple recipes that bring the most pleasure. This cheese stuffed cherry peppers recipe takes a handful of ingredients, but delivers a delicious creamy tang that friends and family will love.

Cherry peppers (a.k.a. pimento peppers) have only a mild heat, 100 to 500 Scoville heat units. That’s at minimum five times milder than a jalapeño pepper, so this is a very family friendly chili pepper appetizer. They are deliciously sweet which pairs very well with the tang from the pickling and the herbed goat cheese.

Spicy Plum Sauce

by Matt Bray

A boldly fruity fiery dipping sauce…

Plum sauce is a delicious side to Chinese food, particularly anything that’s fried. Sweet, sour, and – in our case – fiery, this bold condiment really provides a real punch to fried egg rolls in particular.

Beyond Chinese, try this spicy plum sauce as a chicken tender dipper. The heat comes comes simply from common cayenne pepper powder, so it’s easy to control and adjust. This is an excellent alternative to your typical barbecue dipping sauce.

Spicy Sour Cream

by Matt Bray

A simple sour cream hack…

Sour cream and Mexican food often goes hand in hand. Sometimes there’s plenty of spice already in that Mexican meal, and other times…well you need a little something extra to amp things up a bit. It’s very simple to turn that sour cream you’re scooping right from the container into a topping that’s a little more fun. Our spicy sour cream recipe is as easy as it gets: just a little chipotle powder and salt and you have a delicious topper for those mild tacos or enchiladas.

We love using chipotle pepper because it’s not only spicy, it also has a delicious smokiness to it. But if smoky isn’t your thing, you can adjust the recipe using various levels of paprika and cayenne pepper powder. They can still bring some heat without that smoky undertone.

Homemade Sambar Powder

by Matt Bray

An exotic Indian seasoning…

There are a few lightly fiery seasonings that are musts for authentic Indian cuisine, and sambar powder is among one of the most important. It’s used to make sambar, a delicious lentil-based soup that’s often a precursor (or a side) to the main Indian meal. Sambar powder, too, can be a substitute to rasam powder for making rasam – a thin soup that’s typically served atop rice.

In both cases, it’s the popular Indian kashmiri chili that provides a light simmer of heat. These are mild peppers (1,000 to 2,000 Scoville heat units), but enough are called for in the recipe that you’ll feel the spiciness.