Bhut Jolokia

So I know it is no longer the hottest chile on the planet. I don't really care about that. I became fascinated with the ghost chile a while ago due to the hype of it being the hottest. Sure, it is usually around three times hotter than a habenero, but the flavor is what interests me. I love a habenero for the flavor. So delightfully fruity and sweet. Of course, you have to take the heat with the sweetness, but that is merely a minor drawback. I am wondering if the ghost chile will be the same and I cannot wait to dig into the pepper to find out. Now off to find a recipe.

I purchased my pepper at the Ballard farmers' market from Alvarez Farms from Yakima. They usually have a large assortment of chilies and they are organic. With no time or luck finding a recipe, I went to an old faithful that Jennifer and I use with the habenero.  This recipe, which we drop the tortillas from (and the mint) is a great topping for vanilla ice cream. So after finally procuring a pint of ice cream, I made the sauce. Not before having a few bites of the chile raw of course. After the first bite (about one square cm of flesh), I felt it compared equally to the habenero. The second bit was a different story. I got the hiccups, and felt he heat in my upper sinus as well as my chest. Something I had not felt before. I quickly grabbed a spoonful of yogurt to mellow it, but it was too late. The sauce combined with ice cream however, was quite mellow with mild heat. Hard to place a definition on the taste of the Bhut Jolokia too. I though upon initial bite that it might taste like a cherry. But when laying down to sleep after eating it, I thought perhaps apricot? It had a sweet taste that reminded me of a tree fruit, although I could not place which one. Once in the pineapple sauce, it did not express flavor as well. Perhaps I didn't use enough?

Vegetarian Chili

From what I understand of the history of chili, is that it was mostly a meat dish and the beans were added later. Of course this wouldn't make sense with a vegetarian chili, so I rely heavily on beans.

Truth be told I used to be a big user of the Fantastic Foods vegetarian chili. We purchased it in bulk and always had at least a pint of it in the house for making chili on short notice. In the last few years I've moved away from using it because I just felt like I was not making my own. Even though I would modify it heavily, I never really adjusted the seasoning.

Before Jennifer went to sleep this morning she asked for something hearty for dinner. I didn't think potato leek soup was what she had in mind, so I decided to make some chili. We had some Light Life Tex Mex Grounds that I was looking to use, so that became the meat. I was thinking of leaving out a meat substitute, but I know we needed to use the grounds. I also thought of adding the new Light Life smoked sausage which we had recently acquired on sale.

I still don't do my own seasoning for the chili, although perhaps just a little bit. I mostly sauteed onion in olive oil and then added some spinach. (This is my new effort to hide spinach or kale in any meal where I can hide it.) I then put fajita seasoning on it which I buy from World Spice. I added the grounds at this point and then some of my pickled peppers from the garden, about two jalapenos worth. Then I added three cans of beans, one each of red kidney, pinto and black. I added a large can of hominy and then a large can of crushed tomatoes and let it simmer a bit. Before simmering it had a little too much tomato bite, but that mellowed out over time. I also added perhaps a tablespoon or two of Zane and Zach's Chipotle Sauce. I felt like my weak PNW jalapenos really didn't add too much heat or flavor, so it needed a little kick. I could have used a dried chipotle, but I really didn't think of it.

When plating I put a little cheese on top of mine. Jennifer likes sour cream and cheese. Although I think that has as much to do with dropping the heat of the peppers as it does her enjoying dairy products. If we have sweet onions in the garden, I'll often use one in the chili and reserve some chopped raw for garnish.

Snack Time!

So most people are not into chilies like I am into chilies. That is fine. Recently I have been just taking some pickled chilies out of the jar and putting them in a bowl to eat as a snack. (And last week I ate a fresh habanero while watching TV, although I don't recommend that as a snack, I couldn't resist it in the store and then didn't want it to go bad once I got it home and couldn't find a use for it.)

Last month I purchased a jar of Peri-Peri Peppadrops from Trader Joes. They are pickled in vinegar. I have seen and used similar peppers called peppadew for the same purpose. They are "cherry peppers" with just a little heat that often come cored and with the stem removed. They are great for stuffing. When I first started using peppadews as a snack I stuffed them with Gorgonzola or goat cheese. This time around I used feta. (Higher ANDI score.) A fun snack that also looks pretty nice at parties.