The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

I stopped by Carmichael's in Bixby to check which kinds of peppers they are going to have this year.  They said the same as last year, including the Ghost Peppers.  The seeds for the Ghost Peppers are not in yet but they have been ordered.  They also have a locally produced hot salsa made by Pearl Snap in Coweta.  I bought a jar of Pepper-X.  It's pretty tasty if you like hot stuff.  Also, no nasty chemicals.

Ingredients
Tomatoes, Onions, Pearl Onion, White Vinegar, Sugar, Salt, Black Pepper, Cilantro, Minced Garlic, Green Bell Peppers,
Jalapeno
Cayenne Short Thin
Cayenne Long Thick
Habanero
Caribbean Red
Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper)
Dorset Naga
Butch T Scorpion
Moruga Scorpion

http://www.pearlsnapsalsa.com/default.asp

I don't get the point of ghost pepper.  Does it really add any flavor?  Something in the 1 million plus Scoville range is ridiculous.  I like heat for flavor.  I don't like heat that makes me lose control of my bladder and bowels.

Your Skeet's Helper is absolutely the perfect example of heat that can be used for flavor if used judiciously.  The main reason I use it sparingly, is I'll be sad the day I run out.

Yes, Ghost Peppers actually do have some flavor.  I grew some last year and made some salsa using them.  I scraped the inside to lower the capsaicin quantity and it was pretty tasty but it took several peppers since the Ghost Peppers' flavor is not as dominate as a Serrano, Cayenne etc.  

The Pepper-X is not insanely hot.  Well, I am used to hot pepper stuff so maybe it would be insane to some. Dipping a bit on a tortilla chip is quite acceptable.  The peppers are not the primary ingredient as they are in my Skeet's Helper which is nothing but peppers.

Oh, by the way, I use my Skeet's Helper as most people use salt and pepper.  I go through a standard spice jar quantity in about a couple of weeks.

Salt? Is that the white granular stuff that looks like sugar? Never use regular salt. A little sea salt when I season steaks, but don't remember the last time I used salt.

That ingredient list sounds good other that the ghost pepper.

Yep, that white granular stuff.  I add salt/sea salt to almost nothing.  Regular restaurant food makes me thirsty for hours.  I do sprinkle a bit of salt on sliced tomatoes but that's the only thing I can think of at the moment.  I also look for low sodium/no added salt in canned veggies.  

The last 4 peppers on the ingredient list are all kind of warm.  Do you just not like the taste of Ghost Peppers?

Edit:
I just remembered, I use pickling salt when I pickle cherry peppers and okra.

Let's say I'm a little intimidated by the ghost pepper, like Conan, I like heat that has flavor, fell in love with Hatch chili's the first time I tried them.

The discussion about Bhut Jolokia peppers reminded me of a Smithsonian article I read last year. It told something of the history of the pepper, what they are usually used for (not eating) and a very interesting competition in India to see who can eat the most peppers in 20 seconds. I think the record was five.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-gut-wrenching-science-behind-the-worlds-hottest-peppers-73108111/ (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-gut-wrenching-science-behind-the-worlds-hottest-peppers-73108111/)

Some of the battle-scarred contestants had to be hospitalized.

The Dorset Naga is supposedly hotter than the Ghost Peppers. 

My personal limit for eating a pepper just to eat it is in the Serrano, Cayenne, Tabasco range.  I'll chop a Habanero (two if they are small) into little pieces and put it in my lunch salad.  One way to attack a really hot pepper is to scrape the inside down to the meat of the shell. (Wear gloves) That will get rid of most of the capsaicin.  I did that when I made the salsa using Ghost Peppers last summer.  The stuff was still hot but not so hot you couldn't taste the pepper flavor.

Hatch chiles are good.

Learned about using gloves and they way to trim the peppers living in AZ. The ex and I used to make our own pico de gallo and ceviche after going to Mexico for fresh shrimp peppers, and tequila.

She would do the deveining, and I chopped and diced all the veggies.

Tobasco and Sriracha are a couple of condiments I used to think were too hot.  Now, I'm perfectly good with them directly on a cracker or bit of meat or as a regular cooking ingredient.  Tastes change with age apparently, still not sure I'd ever pop a ghost chili just for the fun of it.

One does get used to the hotter stuff.  Whether it is destruction of the taste buds or just acclimation remains to be seen.  I prefer to believe the latter.

It really only takes one time with the hotter peppers to learn to wear gloves.  I can dice a few habos without gloves but when I am cutting open a full dehydrator load of peppers the gloves are on from the start.

I had a dipping sauce with roasted ghost peppers last week at Hey Mambo.  I am not a spicy person, but it was fantastic.

I drank some hot Dr. Pepper once.

It was good.

It should be noted that I forget to completely wash my hands tonight after adding some Blair's mega-death sauce to some chili mac. My left eye had literally seen better days.  :D

Wiki article on Blair's sauces, which I highly recommend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blair%27s_Sauces_and_Snacks

Actual flavor in hot sauce that goes well with just about everything--including Asian foods. Screw you rooster sauce.  :P

I just hope you washed your hands before you handled the meat.  :o

[youtube]http://splashurl.com/ldpb4bn[/youtube]

Not sure folks are following the Sriracha dispute with Irwindale, CA. Look who is sniffing around for another possible poaching...

https://www.texastribune.org/2014/05/12/bipartisan-sriracha-delegation-heads-california/

We used to grow a lot of the peppers that Tabasco uses right here in Okieland.  They still source some here, but have gone further afield (China, Pacific Rim).

I always assumed they were all native to La.  Interesting.

I saw that on the news the other night Guido.  Seems like the Sriracha plant in Cali could install air scrubbers and everything would be okay.

edit: According to McIllheny’s web site, they produce the seeds at the original location in La. then they are grown in Latin America and shipped back for aging and processing.  Wiki has an article which claims the oak barrels they use for aging their pepper mash come from Jack Daniels though there is no corroboration of it on their own web site.  Apparently the char layer is removed to remove as much of the whiskey flavor as possible according to the claim on wiki.

http://www.tabasco.com/tabasco-products/how-its-made/making-original-tabasco-sauce/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabasco_sauce

They've been making it there since about 1980 without bothering anyone, but the concentration of wussies in California has increased greatly over the years.  It may be time for them to move somewhere else, and Texas boasts a rather low wussie count, and a very attractive tax structure and workforce.

How about a beer that is aged in used Tabasco barrels?

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/iron-hill-ring-of-fire-porter/87504/

I wasn’t aware anyone had done that.  I’ve had chili or chile-infused but not aged in Tabasco barrels that I’m aware of.  Peppers can really add a lot of depth to a beer if done right.

The trend of oak aging has turned out some really good imperials, but now that every microbrewery seems to be in on it, it’s looking (and tasting) a little faddish. 

I missed out on previous runs of Prairie’s wine barrel noir.  Now that I’ve had some, I’m not really sure what all the hype was about.  That’s a truly weird beer.

I love tabasco...and the whole process is fascinating!  They grow the seeds there, and send to the growers.  I am looking for a Jack Daniel's barrel...or Wild Turkey....preferably full, so I can duplicate the whole process at home, starting with emptying the whiskey barrel....

There is a distillery outside Branson that will sell you a barrel...   But they are all small.

 http://www.copperrundistillery.com/store/store-barrels/

 :D

Empty whiskey barrels aren’t hard to come by, that’s all the rage in micro-brewing now: aging beer in bourbon or whiskey barrels.

I'm thinking full vertical integration - start with the new barrels, make the bourbon, empty the barrel, then make tabasco....   Given family history and personal expertise, this would work well.

Can buy the barrel with one's own preferred char.

http://www.independentstavecompany.com/bourbon_whiskey_barrels

It's the journey...not the destination!

If I never mentioned this one before, here is the "sauce" that melted gut and caused hiccups. Oh, and it was about 5 drops in a bowl of Jambalaya pasta.

(http://www.hotsaucestore.com/images/P/Mad-Dog-357-Extract.jpg)