How to cook chili

Tips for Cooking with Chili Peppers:

Be very careful when you are handling and cooking fresh chili peppers. One of the peppers' most pungent compounds, capsaicin, can cause a severe burning sensation if it touches your skin or lips, or comes in contact with your eyes.

Because of this, some people prefer to wear thin rubber gloves when working with chili peppers. If you choose not to do this, make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after handling them. Additionally, you should wash your knife and cutting board after cutting these peppers.

Capsaicin primarily resides in the seeds and fleshy white inner membranes. If you want to enjoy the pungency of peppers but minimize their heat, you can remove these parts, although capsaicin is responsible for much of chili pepper's healing properties.

There is a range of "hotness" between pepper varieties and sometimes also within the same varieties. Therefore, each time you cook with them you may need to adjust the amount you use. Before adding chili peppers to a recipe, taste a little piece to determine the spice level, so you will know how much to add.

A Few Quick Serving Ideas:

·               The next time you make healthy sautéed vegetables, add some chili peppers to turn up the spice volume.

·               Add chili peppers to your favorite corn bread recipe to give it an extra spark.

·               Add minced chili peppers to yogurt and use as a condiment or dip.

·               Add jalapeños to your favorite tuna salad recipe.

·               If your curry dishes need a little extra zip, try adding some chili peppers.

Purée fresh chili peppers together with olive oil, garlic, coriander, peppermint, and caraway. If you would like, add your own favorite herbs and spices to this mixture to make your own version of Harissa, a condiment popular in the some Middle Eastern and North African countries.

Safety

Capsaicin can irritate or burn your eyes or hands. Chili oil can stick to the skin, so wash hands thoroughly after handling the peppers and be cautious about touching your hands to your eyes. Be aware that pepper dust from grinding dried peppers can irritate throat and eyes. You can protect yourself by wearing a dust mask and goggles.

If you find you can't take the heat, cool off with a glass of milk. A protein in milk called casein can help douse capsaicin fire.

Here are a few chili "secrets"

• Chili that is bitter can be sweetened with a little dark brown sugar. Just enough to kill  the bitterness.

• Chili that is too salty can be rescued by boiling a peeled potato in the pot. The potato will absorb a lot of the salt. Also, if your chili comes out way too thin, add some instant mashed potatoes.This will also absorb salt and is an easy way to stretch a pot of chili when an unexpected guest shows up.