"jalapeno" news and stories

Trader Joe's is sometimes criticized for the way that they package their produce. Much of it, with the exception of apples, is packed in little plastic containers that protect the fruit from being damaged or bruised and, in general, make it easy to grab a pre-set amount of tomatoes or other fruits and veggies. The pre-set amount is usually four or five items, depending on size, and can be inconvenient if you either need a lot of things or just want one. One of Trader Joe's newest offerings appeared in stores just this week and takes advantage of the grab-n-go nature of this packaging. It is a little kit containing all the ingredients you need to make fresh salsa: three tomatoes, a jalapeno pepper, a large shallot, garlic cloves and a lime. The instructions are printed right on the label and simply direct you to five up all the ingredients, combine and stir with lime juice.

I opted to make mine in the food processor, mincing the garlic, shallot and most of the jalapeno, then pulsing in the tomatoes and extra pepper. I used everything that was included and added a little bit of salt and pepper, too.

Not only is this the perfect Halloween goodie for anyone who prefers something a little more adventurious than a candy bar, but it would make a great addition to a scary movie marathon or Fear Factor-themed dinner, based on the names of the sauces alone. Haunted Hot Sauce combined "flesh-eating zombies with spicy food products" to produce a line of spicy sauces with names like "Flesh Feast and "Ghoul Drool." To further add to the appeal, each sauce is packed in its own cedar coffin! Their full line includes:

• Fleshfeast - Medium/Hot with cayenne peppers, garlic and other spices
• Return of Fleshfeast - Hot with cayenne peppers, garlic, coarse ground black pepper and other spices
• Revenge of Fleshfeast - Very Hot with cayenne peppers, garlic, coarse ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and other spices
• Ghoul Drool - Medium/Hot with jalapeno peppers, garlic and other spices

[via boing boing]

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"There's nothing like putting yourself through a lot of pain for no reason."

Truer words were never spoken - especially not if you're an amateur about to enter a Jalapeño-eating contest sponsored by the International Federation of Competitive eating, pitting yourself against professional gurgitators. The contest was held on Sunday at the State Fair of Texas and included 6 amateurs against pros Rich LeFevre, Sonya Thomas, Pat Bertoletti and Erik Denmark. Jalapeños are a particularly difficult food to eat because, although they are small, they can be quite painful. Some eaters reported a loss of feeling in their faces and a general dizziness, in addition to sickness, after the competition was over. The pros used some tricks that they picked up on the circuit, including drinking Pepto Bismol before the competition and using milk, rather than water, to dull the burn of the peppers' oils. Unsurprisingly, the well-prepared pros came out on top:

• First place: Rich "The Locust" LeFevre, 247 jalapeños
• Second: Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, 239
• Third: Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, 226

For comparison, the amateurs seemed to average around 50 or so.

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Do you have a specialty pan at home? It could be something as simple as a specialized bundt cake mold or a bit more unusual, such as an aebleskiver pan. These pans all have fairly limited uses, but if you use them often enough, it's worth the extra cabinet space to save time in the long run.

Some pans, however, might take the specialty concept a bit too far. The Jesus pan might be a good example, except you can still use it for many different kinds of food. This pepper griddle, on the other hand, is made from cast-iron and has eight pepper-shaped indentations that are "recessed to evenly blister the Jalapeno pepper halves." It can be used to make stuffed peppers, and little else.

Stuffed peppers are good, but do you really need a pan dedicated to making them? If so, they're only $15.95 each.

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A British couple has grown what they claim to be the hottest variety of chili pepper in the world. Dubbed the Dorset Naga, the pepper has apparently tested at between 876,000 and 970,000 Scoville heat units, according to The Telegraph. For comparison, common habanero peppers clock in at about 200,000-300,000 SHUs and jalapeños are in the low thousands. The Dorset Naga was developed by Michael and Joy Michaud in Dorset. On their website, they trace the origin of their chili to the Bangladeshi Naga Morich. Still, Dorset Naga is hotter than that, and the Michaud's aren't quite sure why. Their site features several articles about similar strains of absurdly hot peppers. According to the Telegraph article, there isn't a whole lot you can do with the Dorset Naga. Some of the Michaud's customers have actually complained that the peppers were too hot to cook with. A chef quoted in the article says that some people simply brush their foods with the pepper before eating.