Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Warming Spices

 How to make a dish even hotter? Add some heat. It could be sliced jalapenos or a heaping teaspoon of red pepper. This makes for a blood warming meal that will get you through the cold days ahead.

Of course chili is one of the hottest dishes to make. Many make it with just a one alarm rating yet it can be made to be super hot. A five alarm is a fiery change.This means adding more spices and peppers to your already established recipe. Jalapeno is added a long with teaspoons of chili powder ,cayenne pepper and red pepper. if it's too eye watering it can be cooled down with individual dollops of sour cream or guacamole. Another Mexican favorite mole sauce can also be spiked up another levelIt a dark chocolate sauce made with such cocoa .Usually made with cumin and tomatoes. it can be varied with a good kick of ground red pepper. It's usually serve with chicken or beef but can be good with vegetables too. if you want to add more heat then thick about jalapeno cornbread to any of these dishes. Add half a cup of fresh sliced one for an extreme bite or pickled ones for a lesser zing.

Pasta can be fiery too. Arrabiata sauce can bring in blood warming fire. It's a red sauce, rich with tomatoes and the extra kick of red pepper flakes. A teaspoon o them  toasted in butter should bring out the flavor and give the sauce the appropriate taste. If you want you can add any protein too to give it more oomph. Think chicken beef or shrimp. Keep in mind that pizza sauce can also be made arribiata. Add some spicy pepperoni too or ventricina ,a spicy Italian salami as topping.  for a really elegant hot dish , make lobster arrabiata . This is made with two three pound lobsters and four dry red Chiles. The lobsters do have to be roasted first and the meat and juice added to the creamy sauce. It's usually served with spaghetti but also works with any of the "long" pastas like fettucini and linguini.Indian food is also full of heat. Try a chicken curry that combines ginger - another biting spice and chili flakes to create a blood warming dish.Again ,if it's too spicy then serve with Indian flatbread like naan or roti.

If you want to be toasty hot during these cold days, then cook with heat. These dishes will keep you warm .They're not only not but also delicious.