Discovering Spicy Food For the First Time

Readers, a confession: I was born in Syracuse, New York, and I was raised by parents who grew up in Ohio. In other words, I didn't learn about the existence of spicy food until adulthood.

We thought onions were spicy. Black pepper--an incredibly powerful spice--had to be used with great care. There was even a joke back then that says it all about my childhood food environment:

Q: What's the definition of a long and successful marriage?
A: When you've opened your second bottle of Tabasco sauce.

And they were referring to the tiny 2-ounce sized bottle.

And then my lifetime bubble of blandness imploded during a visit to Dallas, Texas. My older sister had just moved there, so I paid her a visit during Thanksgiving weekend. I was maybe 18. She wanted to introduce me to Tex-Mex cuisine, we went to local restaurant, and I saw something on the menu that changed my life forever: a dish called "The 911 Hotplate."

I don't even remember what was in it. It was probably a mixed sampler plate with a burrito, a chile relleno and a taco or something like that. It doesn't matter. All I remember is how my entire mouth was so burned out with all the spice that I literally couldn't taste anything for the next four days.

Which was unfortunate, because this was the night before Thanksgiving dinner. Which meant that the turkey, the stuffing--even the apple pie--all tasted like Styrofoam to me.

To someone born and raised on bland cuisine, it was practically incomprehensible--even vaguely kinky--to learn that people could actually find pleasure in spicy food. More importantly, I felt like a complete pansy when I couldn't take the heat. I was determined to learn to like it.

That mouth-searing Tex-Mex meal had me hooked. And over the next few years, I made a point of sampling hot, spicy food wherever and whenever I could. It took a few years, but I eventually adjusted. Now, in Indian restaurants, I order the vindaloo without fear. I add cayenne pepper, chipotle pepper, and hot curry powder to spice up everything. And by now Laura and I are well past our hundredth bottle of Tabasco.

I'm not sure what that says about our marriage, but I'm pretty sure it means we've both adapted to spicy food.

Readers, what was your first experience with hot, spicy food? Share in the comments!

Related Posts:
Road Eats Secrets: How to Find the Best Local Food When You're On the Road
Shrimp Creole, Paul Prudhomme Style
Curried Corn
On Spice Fade, And the Utter Insanity of Throwing Spices Out After Six Months
The 911 Frittata
Fiery Sausage and Split Pea Soup


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The Bhut Jolokia Pepper--The World's Hottest Chili

It has a Scoville Heat Unit rating of 1,041, 427. That's 200 times higher than a jalapeno, and as much as twice as hot as the habanero chili.

In northeast India, at the company that is the sole exporter of the bhut jolokia chili, workers wear goggles, face masks and protective clothing when handling them.

And in the US and Israel, these chilis have been considered for use in riot control.

This is the hottest chili pepper on Earth.

Even one of the US-based websites that sells powdered bhut jolokia peppers will issue this discouraging warning before you buy: "when you eat it, it's like dying."

I can't wait to get my hands on one.

Take a look at the feature article on this tongue-melting chili in today's Weekend Wall Street Journal for more on this brand-new favorite of spicy food fans everywhere.

Related Posts:
The History of Tabasco
An Ode to Tabasco Sauce
Braised Pork in Guajillo Chile Sauce
How to Make Your Own Tabasco Sauce

Related Links:
Dave's Gourmet (home of Dave's Insanity Sauce)
Burnmegood.com ("it's like dying")
Fiery-foods.com, The Fiery Foods and Barbecue Supersite
Frontal Agritech, Ltd (the India-based sole exporter of bhut jolokia peppers)
Scoville Heat Units

How to Make Your Own Tabasco Sauce

Sometimes you can stumble onto something on the internet that truly satisfies one of your fantasies in life.

How 'bout a recipe to make your own Tabasco Sauce?

This post comes courtesy of The Simple Dollar, which is a personal finance blog with some other subjects--including food and cooking--mixed in. Be sure to take a look at his exceptional series on Building a Better Blog.

And of course when my favorite non-alcoholic beverage comes up, it draws my attention. Here are the instructions:

Tabasco sauce
Grow two hot pepper plants in a pot on your windowsill (I use dirt from the yard, a coffee can, and my own seeds). I like to use red tabasco chiles, but most small, hot, red chile peppers can be used. Harvest all of the peppers from them, chop them up, and weigh them. For each pound you have, add two cups of distilled white vinegar (had for pennies at the store) and two teaspoons of salt. Put it over heat until it’s about to boil, then let it simmer for five minutes. Dump the mix in a blender, puree, then put in a glass jar and sit it in the fridge to season for about two weeks. For about $0.25, you have enough Tabasco sauce to fill four or five of those little Tabasco bottles. Once it’s steeped, I usually put it in a number of small baggies and freeze it, then refill small bottles when needed.

Note that this post also contains a recipe for homemade BBQ sauce and a "recipe" for a Crisco-based chapstick and handcream.

I think I might take a pass on trying those last two.

Related Posts:
How to Make a Mole Sauce: Intense, Exotic and Surprisingly Easy to Make
Braised Pork in Guajillo Chile Sauce
Cajun Meatloaf
The History of Tabasco

How can I support Casual Kitchen?
If you enjoy reading Casual Kitchen, tell a friend and spread the word! You can also support me by subscribing to my RSS feed, or submitting this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to bookmarking sites like del.icio.us, digg or stumbleupon.

The History of Tabasco

There was a well-written book review in today's Wall Street Journal that I thought was worth sharing. It's about the history behind my favorite non-alcoholic liquid, Tabasco. The controversy behind the trademarking of the name alone makes it worth the read. There's a link below directly to the article as well as a few of the more interesting passages from the article itself.

The book is called McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire. And any readers who want to take a closer look at the book itself, just click the book links to head over to Amazon.

Enjoy!
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Ingredients of a Family Fortune by Mark Robichaux (Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2007, page D11).

"...As the legend goes, a Louisiana banker named Edmund McIlhenny -- his family's Avery Island plantation in ruins after the Civil War -- took the seeds of a Mexican pepper given to him by a Confederate soldier and began a condiment business in 1869, the forerunner of today's company and the origins of a brand name now recognized throughout the world."

"Given Tabasco's three simple ingredients -- vinegar, pepper mash and salt -- competitors who had been using the Tabasco pepper in their own sauces were stunned in 1906 when the McIlhennys were awarded a trademark for the word "Tabasco." It was as if someone had claimed the word "mustard." ... The trademark was later successfully defended in court and today stands as an American business rarity: a trademark that is also the name of a generic ingredient. The McIlhennys have vigilantly enforced their rights ever since."
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Carolina Barbecue!

Today's post is about that uniquely American food, barbecue. Specifically Carolina Barbecue, which we lustily ate last week on the way to our vacation on the North Carolina shore.

My secret for finding solid barbecue is this: wherever we're staying, I ask the girl at the checkout desk (in this case it was the Hampton Inn in Edenton, NC--and it was quite nice and clean by the way) what her favorite barbecue place is. She told me to head over to Captain Bob's about 15 miles away in Hertford, NC.


We knew this place would be great the minute we saw the cheap chairs, formica tables and paper placemats.


Heck, my hopes started soaring the minute I saw the gravel parking lot full of American-made cars.


Sure, NYC has its BBQ places, most notably, Virgil's and Blue Smoke, but there's something deeply irritating about paying $100 for dinner for two. It just doesn't seem appropriate to charge that much for barbecue--it kind of ruins the vibe (I'm thinking about Blue Smoke specifically here, Virgil's is a bit more reasonably priced).

Better to spend $19.89 for dinner for two (okay, it was $25.00 including tip) at Cap'n Bob's for some of the best BBQ we've had in a while, complete with delicious hush puppies and of course, mooshy beans!


Keep in mind, we're now on vacation from our normal diet, which is based primarily on quasi-vegetarianism. Thus there's just nothing like sitting down to a big plate of shredded meat with a bottle of Texas Pete's in hand. Some might call this just another example of mindless eating, but I see this as more of an example of following Rule #10: Let down your guard once in a while.

And of course I can't leave out that this $25.00 dinner also included a 2,000 calorie slab of peanut butter pie. Calling it a "piece" of pie would be a gross understatement. I could tell by the glint in her eye that Laura was only going to let me have a very small taste.

Cajun Meatloaf: A Meatloaf Recipe that would Burn June Cleaver's Tongue Off

Coming from a nice suburban WASP family, I've of course eaten my fair share of meatloaf.

Ah, meatloaf. One of the most derided foods of midwestern American cuisine.

But I'm here to tell you that today's recipe is no ordinary meatloaf. This is Paul Prudhomme meatloaf, baby. This is the kind of meatloaf that would burn June Cleaver's tongue off and wilt her bouffant!

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Cajun Meatloaf:
(slightly modified from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen)

Spice Mix:
2 whole bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne (hot) pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Other Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup scallions, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, either minced or pressed

1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce (yep, you read that right)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup catsup

1 1/4 lbs ground beef
3/4 lbs ground pork (note: you can use 2 lbs ground beef and no ground pork if you prefer)

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup dry bread crumbs

Directions:
1) Combine the seasoning mix in a small bowl and set aside.

2) Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, green pepper, scallions, garlic, seasoning mix, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Saute on medium-high heat until vegetables begin to soften, about 6-7 minutes. Stir well and be careful not to let the mixture stick to the bottom of the pan.

3) Stir in the evaporated milk and the catsup, and cook for 2-3 minutes more, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool (I usually put it in the freezer for 15 minutes to speed up this process).

4) Mix the ground beef and ground pork well in a 9x13 inch baking pan (I use a lasagna pan). Add the eggs, the bread crumbs and the cooked vegetable mixture (don't forget to remove the bay leaves). Mix thoroughly by hand, and then shape the mixture into a loaf that is about 2-3 inches high, 7-8 inches wide and 11-12 inches long. Leave an inch or two of space around the edges of the pan as shown in the picture below:

5) Bake uncovered at 350F for 25 minutes, then turn oven temperature up to 400F and cook for another 35 minutes longer (the extra cooking time at high heat will crisp up the outside of the meatloaf. Delicious!). Easily serves 6.

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Finally, I'll make two very minor modification suggestions for readers out there with tender palates:

1) If you can tolerate some heat, just add 1/2 a Tablespoon of Tabasco, rather than the full Tablespoon.

2) If you really can't stand hot food, leave out all the Tabasco.

Note that in both cases, I'd leave the spice mix alone with its triumvirate of cayenne, black and white ground pepper. Don't be a total wimp.

Mmmmmmmmmmm, Tabasco!

Pasta With Ken's

This is something I make on the weekends for lunch if neither of us is really up for cooking. It tastes great, it's laughably cheap, it's relatively healthy, and it's a great source of carbs for energy. Best of all, it takes almost no time to cook.

Basically this recipe is so simple that it can't really even be described in traditional "recipe format." Just cook up some pasta, drain off the water, and then add some Ken's Steak House Caeser salad dressing to the pasta. Make sure to go easy on the dressing at first and don't add too much--this tastes best with a light-to-moderating coating of Ken's.

Then add a few generous shakes of one of my favorite non-alcoholic beverages, Tabasco. Give it a couple of good stirs and you're done! You can eat it right out of the sauce pan for maximum expedience.

Any kind of pasta will do. We tend to favor linguine or thin spaghetti in our household.

Granted this isn't exactly a balanced dish or anything, so you can't eat this every meal for weeks on end. But once or twice a week this is a great way to cut corners for an easy and quick meal.

Also, you can use this as a base for a a more complex "pasta salad" by adding pieces of hard cheese and fresh vegetables. Chopped green peppers, tomatoes, celery, red onions, fresh spinach leaves, sun-dried tomatoes... any of these could work well in the dish.

Today, however, I'm just looking for some fuel to last me until dinner, so making a whole pasta salad sure sounds like a lot of work. But the option's there if you want it.

How to Make Fried Rice

This post contains simple instructions on how to make fried rice. This recipe is so easy and so laughably cheap that I just have to share it with the world. It dates back to my college days when a friend of mine named Tracy taught it to me. Money was tight back then, so needless to say this recipe instantly entered my heavy rotation--and it's been there going on 17 years now.

But the best thing about this meal is that it costs less than one dollar to make. Seriously.

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Fried Rice

Ingredients:
1 frozen sausage link (either sweet or spicy Italian-style sausage)
Two cups (roughly) of day-old rice (best if made the day before in a rice cooker: here's one to consider)
Soy sauce
1 egg, beaten
Tabasco and/or cayenne pepper to taste
Frozen peas (can also use other frozen green veggies, like broccoli)

Directions:
1) Slice up the sausage link into small chunks and fry on medium heat in a non-stick pan.









2) Add the rice. Be sure you break up any clumps of rice. You can add cayenne pepper to the rice if you want a spicier dish.

3) Crack egg into a glass and beat with a fork. I add a few good splashes of Tabasco to the beaten egg.

4) Add egg/Tabasco mixture to the rice and sausage in the pan. Stir with a spatula until combined evenly.

5) Shake four or five healthy splashes of soy sauce onto the egg/rice mixture (err on the side of caution here and don't add too much or the dish will be too salty--you can always add more soy sauce later if need be).

6) Turn burner up to medium-high. Continue stirring constantly and be careful not to let the rice burn.

7) Dump in a couple of handfuls of frozen peas. Cook for another 4-5 minutes more on high heat, stirring constantly.

Serves two.




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Related Posts:
Mock Wild Rice: An Insanely Easy To Make Side Dish
Eight Tips to Make Cooking At Home Laughably Cheap: The Economics of Cooking, Part 2
Two Useful Cooking Lessons From Another Cheap and Easy Side Dish
How to Tell if a Recipe is Worth Cooking With Five Easy Questions

I can't end this post without backing up my "less than one dollar" claim. So here it is: you can buy an entire pound bag of frozen peas for $1.50 and you'll use just a handful or two per batch (you can of course use other types of veggies, I just like peas because they're easy to handle and keep well in the freezer). You can buy an entire package of a dozen Italian-style sausage links for $3-4. You're going to use about 5-10c worth of rice. Add in an egg at $2.29 a dozen and a few splashes each of soy sauce and Tabasco, and here's how the math works:

Peas--------------------------15-20c
Sausage, 1 link--------------33c
1 Egg-------------------------19c
Rice--------------------------10c (at most)
Tabasco, Soy Sauce--------10-15c (again, at most)
Total-------------------------87-97c

I knew that MBA would pay off eventually...!

If you're looking for other inexpensive recipes like this one, you can visit here, here and here.

Cookbook Review: Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen

Today I’m going to shamelessly recommend to you one of the best cookbooks I own: Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen.*



I mean, look at this guy! You can just tell he loves food.

This cookbook has been a dream for me because I’ve always loved Cajun and Creole cuisines, but never really had the courage to try to make either in my own kitchen.

I never guessed what an exceptional teaching tool this book would turn out to be. It gave me the confidence to make my own vegetable and seafood stock (silly me--that turned out to be way easier than I expected). It clearly explains how to make roux with really useful color pictures (you’ll have to buy the book to see what I’m talking about), and it gave me an unbelievable meatloaf recipe that would literally burn June Cleaver’s tongue off.

And of course it contains the glorious chocolate mousse recipe I posted the other day.

I’ll caution you that the recipes in here aren’t all that easy. We’re not talking about 365 Ways to Cook Pasta here. Some of them are easy, but many are quite complex and time consuming. For example, the Shrimp Etouffe recipe in this cookbook involves multiple steps, a long list of ingredients--and a disturbingly large amount of butter. It may take you a few hours to make, but the finished product is well worth the effort.

Every one of our friends has literally laughed out loud when we’ve shown them this cookbook. It’s just that the picture of Paul on the cover says so much. Sure, it’s obvious that the guy loves to eat, but what’s so wonderful is the look of pure joy he has on his face while he’s surrounded by all those pies and sausages and meat!

How I came to own this cookbook is kind of amusing. My mother bought it when my parents and I went on a vacation to New Orleans back in 1989.

Now let’s just say that my parents’ palates are tuned for mild food. So when they innocently (and scrupulously) fixed a couple of recipes from Chef Paul’s book, they simply could NOT eat them because they were so spicy.

Thus, this cookbook pretty much disappeared into my parents’ basement bookshelf, where I happened to find it one day. When I asked my mother if I could borrow it, she told me I could keep it!

Try out this cookbook and let it expand your cooking horizons. And stock up on the Tabasco!

* Full Disclosure: if you purchase this book using any of the links provided, I get paid a miniscule affiliate fee. :)