Cold Today... Hot Tamale

Yes, I just typed that.  Wow.  I'll blame it on South of the Border withdrawal (oh, Pedro, your billboards would look so nice here in Deutschland!)

So Zeke's been in Missouri since this past Friday and I've been sick ever since.  Lovesick, of course, but also yucky-sore-throat-dry-cough-can't-talk-in-the-morning sick.  But I've got some tasks to accomplish, one of which is to make hot pepper oil, as requested by my dear, sweet hubby.  We had some chili peppers in the fridge with about a week left on the shelf and I knew there was no way I'd burn through them with poor little Liam.  So I set out to make hot pepper oil, armed with some tips from Zeke and an all-too-vivid memory of what happened to me the last time I dealt with a large number of peppers (cue flashback music and Wayne and Garth doing that silly waterfall-hands thing)...

***

Back in November 2006, Zeke and I offered to cater and sing at our friends' wedding (Jory and Jennifer).  Zeke would sing and I would cook.  Just kidding.  But Zeke was my sounding board for the song I wrote for the newlyweds and I was his right-hand chica in the kitchen.  He came up with this delicious idea -- stuffing jalapenos with a red-pepper cream cheese filling, wrapping them in pancetta, and baking them.  I volunteered to gut the jalapenos for him.  Five pounds of jalapenos.  That's like a million peppers or something.

I had never worked that intimately with peppers before and didn't realize there are certain precautions one should take.  I didn't ask and Zeke didn't say -- I went about my business, jamming my thumbs through the pith and periodically brushing stray hairs from my face.  The next day, I woke up and noticed my hands and face felt sunburned.  As the morning progressed, it only got worse; I could barely feel any sensations in my fingertips (which is just perfect for someone who will be playing the guitar at a wedding later that day).

Long story short:  The food was a hit, my song went well (thank goodness muscle memory isn't a joke), and one week later, my hands and face felt normal again.

***

I learned my lesson.  This time, I was well-prepared for my date with the peppers.

Custom-made gloves. My middle name is Classy.

The reason for the gloves?  These guys:

While making the oil, I knew my safety measures were a good idea -- I could barely breathe or see when standing near the stovetop.  Pretty awesome stuff.  And amazing results, too!  I can't wait until Zeke comes home and tries it.  Let's hope Mama makes him proud.

And although Zeke and I wish we could throttle Giada De Laurentiis for wasting pages of her cookbook on recipes that we think are way too simple to put into writing, I'm going to share with you how I made the oil.  It's not difficult at all, but this way if you're wondering, you don't have to ask!

Hot Pepper Oil

Ingredients

Peppers of your choosing

Oil of your choosing (I used a canola/olive oil blend to keep the oil usage versatile)

MOP

1.  PUT ON YOUR PROTECTION.

2.  Grab a nice, large skillet and put it (empty) over high heat.

3.  Slice tops off peppers; slice peppers lengthwise.  Don't throw away any of the guts.

4.  Once the pan is hot, put the heat down to medium and carefully put only the peppers in the dry, hot pan; shake pan periodically (or stir peppers) to keep peppers moving around.

5.  Find the container you'll use to store the oil and figure out how much oil you want to use; measure out determined oil amount.

6.  After the peppers begin to darken (but before the seeds burn), turn heat completely off but leave skillet on the burner; add the oil carefully.  Stir peppers and oil gently to allow the heat to disperse without popping or burning.  NB:  your oil should not be bubbling -- not even a slight simmer.

7.  Leave the peppers in the oil as long as needed to achieve the level of heat you seek.  I kept the peppers in there for almost two hours, turning the heat on and off periodically to keep a nice, warm temperature for the peppers to do their thing.

8.  If you want a clean oil, get a strainer and funnel and use those to transfer your oil to the container.  I put one small pepper in the bottom of the container so I wouldn't mistake the oil for any garden variety cooking oil.