Sometimes you want to add a little bit of habanero or scotch bonnet flavor to a sauce or salsa, but you're not feeling like white-hot-screaming-plunge-your-face-in-the-snow pain for dinner, thankyouverymuch.

Driving through Nashville yesterday, I stopped at my favorite fried chicken joint, famous for its cayenne-laden, demonically spicy "hot chicken." Having had the "medium" and "hot" before, this time I went for the "x-tra hot."

The woman behind the counter looked me up and down and said "mmm hmm."

That should have been a warning.

Now I love spicy food. Love it. Drown my scrambled eggs in Valentina hot sauce, eat the extra jalapeños out of my friends' enchiladas, order my lamb vindaloo "as hot as possible. Seriously, as hot as possible."

But this chicken darn near killed me.

Biting into its crispy, cayenne-orange skin, a mushroom cloud exploded in my sinus cavity, my lips went numb, my feet began to sweat. I stuffed my mouth full of white bread and Diet Coke to stifle the battery acid burn on my tongue and gums and prayed I wouldn't pass out. Seriously, I can't believe that chicken isn't regulated by the government as a chemical weapon. When the pain finally subsided and I could move, I slunk back to the counter and ordered a "mild."

The woman behind the counter laughed.

Next time, I'll order the regular "hot."

So I was wondering: what's the hottest dish you've ever tasted? And what are your favorite remedies to cool the heat in your mouth (I've tried milk, bananas and bread in the past)?

When I peeked into my Inbox yesterday, I saw an email that was promoting a recipe for Spicy Citrus Caramel Chicken Wings that Martha Stewart will be making on her show this Friday. As I read through it, my protective senses were alerted. Martha's recipe is very similar to the Sticky Chicken Wings I shared with everyone yesterday! Though Martha bakes her wings in the oven and I, of course, deep-fried mine, the sauce recipe had similar ingredients and the same technique! Could Martha Stewart have designed her recipe based on my Sticky Wings?! Because, you know, I am sure that Martha Stewart surfs Slashfood and browses recipes (or rather, that she tells her assistants to surf Slashfood).

If you want to make Martha's wings, the recipe is after the jump, but don't tell me about it because it'll hurt my feelings that you picked hers over mine.

For a fun finger-food rich in Omega-3s and protein, check out this spicy mix of almonds and hazelnuts, courtesy of the show everyone loves to hate/hates to love, 30 Minute Meals.

Sesame Five-Spice Roasted Nuts

1 cup peeled whole almonds
1 cup whole hazelnuts
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons five- spice powder (ground star anise, Szechuan peppercorn, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed)
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 cup smoked almonds. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees F, and roast the nuts for 7 minutes.

Toast sesame seeds over medium heat in a skillet for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Add butter, five-spice powder, and hot sauce, then add roasted nuts and smoked nuts and toss to coat in butter. Add sesame seeds and toss with nuts. Serve warm.

Writer and editor Jade Walker posts a favorite recipe on her web site every once in a while, and this month it's the Buffalo Wing Sandwich.

Buffalo Wing Sandwiches

1 pkg (9 oz) southwestern chicken strips
1 cup butter, softened and divided
2 tbsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp bbq sauce
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp parsley, minced and fresh
4 cups shredded lettuce
2 tbsp celery, chopped fine
2 tbsp blue cheese dressing (on the side)
salt and pepper
4 hoagie buns

My friend and fellow blogger Joe Distefano is always going on about Asian snacks and candy. We try to beat out the other in finding the best, strangest, and tastiest Asian snack to munch on and talk about. I remember when I dared him to buy a bag of small candied crabs a few years ago and put them in a candy bowl in his desk at work to see what the reaction would be.

Well, today I ran across a tasty little snack when i was out shopping. I have been suffering from the flu related blues for a few days and had to get out of the house. Most people go shopping for clothes or power tools when they need a pick me up. I go food shopping, especially at ethnic markets. This snack is Asian Best brand "Crispy Snack Sesame Anchovy Fish." They are headless anchovies that are fried, candied, and covered with a chili powder and sesame seed coating.

They look kinda strange, these 1-2 inch long golden, shiny fish all studded with sesame seeds with red hints of chili powder. The smell is slightly fishy but the taste barely makes you think of fish at all. They are crunchy sweet at first, with the sesame taste coming through like those sesame brittle candies. Then the chili burn comes along, followed by a hint of fried fish. They are super tasty little snacks and great beer or cocktail munchies. Surprisingly they are low in fat and calories, and have tons of calcium. I can't wait to put them out as snacks at my next cocktail party.

A Mexican man, Manuel Quiroz, loves chilies with a passion. Perhaps disturbingly so. Not only can he "down dozens of Mexico's spiciest chilies," but he can "rub them on his skin and even squeeze their juice into his eyes without so much as blinking." Why on earth anyone would want to do that on a regular basis - or how they came up with such a bizarre idea in the first place - remains to be seen, but Manuel to showcase his unusual... talents. He believes that he can eat more chilies than any person on the planet and wants to prove his claim with a title. Unfortunately, there are no contests to crown the "World Chili-eating Champion" just yet, so Manuel will have to wait. With the popularity of eating contests, however, he many not have to wait long. The International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFCoE) seems like they are always keen to add new events and if they can get any of their current champs to agree to participate, you can bet that they'd be willing to sponsor such a contest.

Kobayashi vs. Quiroz, anyone?

Hot food may not be the first thing that springs to mind in hot weather, but believe it or not, sweating will cool you off faster than you might think. Some Like It Hot: Spicy Favorites from the World's Hot Zones serves up some of the spiciest foods in the world, all in one cookbook. Author Clifford Wright provides lots of information on the origin and uses of various chiles and spices in the book. The recipes range from the familiar, like Enchiladas Verdes, to the more exotic, with recipes from countries like Bolivia and Africa, where the cuisine is less familiar to most diners. The recipes also do cover a range on the spicy scale, so those with slightly more sensitive palates can work their way up to the more fiery dishes.

The recipes are organized by type of dish and include salads, sauces, seafood, meats, vegetables and - most intriguingly - eggs, which are not often made into their own category. Check out the recipe for Indian Chile Eggs before trying any of the others.

And remember to drink plenty of water (or the other cooling drinks Wright provides), too.

It's almost some form of culinary masochism - but in the summer when it's really hot, I love to punish myself by eating supremely spicy foods that make me sweat even more than I already am. My friends and family think I'm psycho. Of course, there is a completely logical, physiological reason why spicy foods are eaten when it's hot, but there are also other health and preventative reasons why spicy foods are good for you. Let's just take a look at those reasons so we can use them when we go for the Korean yook-gae-jahng in 100% humidity.

• Cancer-fighting and cancer-prevention - A recent study shows that capsaicin can be used to fight pancreatic cancer. It slowed the growth of cancer cells and in some cases, even caused cancer cells to die off.
• Alleviate inflammation - Arthritis and psoriasis are cause by nerve damage and cause pain on joints. Capsaicin supposedly helps to ease that pain.
• Relieve chronic pain - In some cases, spicy foods containing capsaicin greatly reduced pain caused by headaches or osteoporosis.
• Heart-health - Cayenne and chili peppers can help to reduce cholesterol. Additionally statistics show that cultures that eat spicy foods (e.g. some Asian countries) frequently have a much lower rate of heart attack and stroke.

So break out those jalapenos! 

It is quite untrue to say that no casserole is a good casserole. After all, they have enjoyed fairly consistent popularity over the course of the last century, though the concept has been around much longer. If all casseroles were horrible, we wouldn't still be making them. Recipes for casseroles, however, can be downright scary. A can of sauce, a frozen chunk of miscellaneous meat and less than appetizing vegetables, possibly added to conceal a look of produce past its prime.

We all know that downing some milk or ice cream is a great remedy for an overspiced tongue. But, what about combining these two elements together: the cool and the spicy? Get ready for some Hotscream, the habanero infused ice cream. The creators say they came up with the idea when scooping out some ice cream after eating some hot wings. Introduced in 2002, Hotscream has had some recognition including a mention on the food network, and debuts at tastings. I know I've had weirder ice cream flavors (garlic anyone?) and seen some of wacky ice creamson Iron Chef. I think the mouthfeel of the habanero would probably remind me of a strong cinnamon flavor. Anyone tried Hotscream yet?