Monday, August 20, 2012

Hot Hot Hot!




I like to cook and enjoy spicy food.  My tolerance for heat is pretty high.  I cook with jalapeno peppers all the time and eat them raw.

I was intrigued when a friend offered me some habenero peppers she'd grown in her garden.  I'd never eaten or cooked with them before, only tasted them as an ingredient in hot sauce.  I wondered how hot they'd be fresh.

HOLY CRAP!!

I chopped one up and tossed it in my pesto sauce on pasta.  One medium-sized pepper made the dish as hot as humanly-possible to consume.  And I can take a punch.

For a long time, habeneros were considered the hottest pepper on Earth.  Now I know why.  They're virtually lethal.

Have you ever eaten one of these devilish peppers?

23 comments:

  1. I have never eaten one of these peppers in their entirety! Did you drink a glass of milk after?

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  2. I love jalapenos. I can't eat my chicken pizza without them and some fresh onion, but I have yet to tackle the habenero. I'm new to enjoying spicy food. It mostly started as a way to choose foods people I lived with wouldn't eat, but now I adore spicy(er) food and eat it often. I'm also rather obsessed with the spicy General Tso's chicken<3 30-50k scovilles is my limit though.

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  3. I cannot eat spicy foods! You are seriously brave. Just eating hot wings makes my eyes and nose water, lol :) Heather

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  4. I've never had one! Actually, when I first met my ex boyfriend, who is now my best friend, two years ago, he LOVED spicy foods and I did not. He introduced me to some and I got a taste for them--even urging me to eat jalapenos, which I hadn't before (I have a tendency to assume that I won't like green vegetables). Now I love them and he, somehow, has lost his taste for spicy things! I have no idea how it happened!
    Still, I tend to take it slow in terms of spice :)

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  5. I have never put a hot pepper in a pesto pasta! I grew some jalapeno's this year so maybe I should try it? :)

    My co-worker makes me a small batch of salsa and he throws in a habenero, and it is really good. We are actually growing habeneros too, but they were potted so they are a lot smaller than the ones in your pic. I am excited to eat them :)

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    Replies
    1. Definitely toss a jalapeno in your pesto, Sara! It adds a nice zing.

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  6. Habenero is a bit much for me, but I do like jalepenos!

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  7. Earlier this year, I made the most amazing (vegan) soup with jalepenos, ginger, noodles, and mushrooms. I used to not like the taste (I can handle spicy, so I don't know what was up). Now I eat them occasionally. I don't believe I've tried habanero, although I know when I was in AZ, we made some salsa with all these fun kinds of peppers we don't usually see up in MN.

    You should come cook for me.

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  8. wow i never eat a whole raw chilli, you are awesome! XD

    http://mithakomala.blogspot.com/2012/08/story-about-you.html

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  9. I can't handle the heat- most definitely not with the seeds!

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  10. i'm a total wimp when it comes to spicy food. i do remember an old neighbor had made a pot of chili, and i swear to god fire was coming out of my ears. i couldn't even swallow. i don't know how people could eat that!! must've been those habeneros!

    [oomph.]

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  11. I love the spicy! I made killer habanero garlic dill pickles with my Ukrainian great-auntie - and they're getting hotter with time.

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  12. I LOVE spicy food, but I usually work with more Asian chilies and spices. I do LOVE jalapenos and habaneros though, too!

    ♥ laura
    the blog of worldly delights
    the shop of worldly delights

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  13. I love spicy food too and always make sure I have hot sauce in my office at work. I haven't tried habaneros so I'm glad I know not to try them lol! Sounds a little too hot for my liking :)

    B

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  14. I've never tried said same, but when I was pregnant with my son I craved Jamaican hot peppers (blue bonnet?) with tuna fish. Go figure. Food has to be flavorful for me. Lots of garlic, spices, ginger etc. I love to cook and am always trying to add to my repertoire. Wanna exchange recipes?

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  15. I've had the chance to try some several times, but from the reactions I have seen...no thanks! Your brave :)

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  16. I'm prepared to go for the little Thai chilli on a regular basis and had great fun one summer with a variety of chillies. One of them was the habanero and I quickly decided to use it as weedkiller (quite seriously - macerate and then use the liquid) rather than attempt any further use! Ooo it's hot!

    But I'm big on using herbs and spices with food. So much variery,so many cuisines....

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  17. Spicy food rocks. I love chillies and hot peppers in my food.

    Lately I've been addicted to jalapeno stuffed green olives.

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  18. No way. I couldn't eat a raw jalapeno either.

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