The Great Pepper Cookbook

With over 30 types of peppers and chile peppers, ranging from the well known and versatile bell peppers to the lesser known intense bhut jolokia and scorpion chile peppers, with delicious recipes, charts and notes await one in this very guided informative cookbook. At the beginning of the book there is the helpful, Scoville Organoleptic Test, a chart, which determines the heat units of each pepper fresh or dried. 

These focused ingredient cookbooks as simplified as they are, they are very handy. Throughout the pages and amongst the glossy photos stand delicious and inspiring recipes with helpful hints and notes. Each recipe has a pepper rating that ranges from 1 pepper to 3 peppers... 1 pepper = mellow, 2 peppers = zippy and 3 peppers = kickin'. Giving you a better understanding of how versatile peppers may be. There are many recipes that will tempt you and cover everything from appetizers, snacks and drinks, breakfast and brunches, soups and salads, sandwiches, main dishes, side dishes and desserts. So whether you like a bit of heat or a lot of heat there is a recipe that will please and suit which ever level of heat you prefer. Recipes like... The Red Hot Lemonade, Guajillo Chile Zucchini Bread, Coleslaw with Chile Lime Dressing, Portobello Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Citrusy Chicken and Peach Salad, Fiery French Toast and the Apple - Cinnamon - Chile Crumb Cake all caught my eye and my stomach, to name a few.  

The recipe that I am sharing from the book sounds delicious and summery. Looking at the recipe, you may be able to use the preserve mixture as a marinade of sorts and cook the chicken on the barbeque.   

Raspberry - Chile Chicken Thighs ( 2 pepper rating)

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Prep Time: 20 minutes / Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes / Serves: 6 (2 thighs)

12 chicken thighs (about 5 pounds)

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups seedless raspberry preserve

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

4 fresh Hatch chile peppers, roasted, peeled, stems and seeds removed, and diced

2 lemons, juiced (about 6 tablespoons juice)

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1. Sprinkle the chicken evenly with salt. Heat oil and butter in a large flameproof roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add 6 pieces chicken; sear, about 5 minutes per side. remove from pan and add remaining 6 pieces chicken; repeat procedure. Return all chicken to roasting pan. 

2. Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine preserves, vinegar, chile, and juice; cook just until boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; simmer until slightly thickened, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly.

3. Place preserves mixture in a blender*; process until slightly smooth. Pour preserves mixture over chicken; sprinkle evenly with paprika and cayenne pepper. Cover with foil; bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake until chicken is completely cooked through and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 165ºF, about 15minutes. Serve. 

*The Recipe's Notes: Be cautious when blending hot foods; the contents expand rapidly, causing a risk of scalding. To be safe, before blending, remove centre piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape), secure lid on blender, and place a towel over opening in lid (to avoid splatters)

The Recipe's Kitchen Savvy: If your roasting pan isn't stove-top safe, sear chicken in a large skillet, in batches if necessary, before transferring to the roasting pan. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Things are a bit all over the place for me this week. - JD