chili pepper

Harissa is a punchy North African chili paste. This version is made with an assortment of fresh chilies that are charred and blended together for smoke and spice. It's simply seasoned with the traditional additions of caraway and coriander, but feel free to jazz it up with anything from diced preserved lemon to pungent raw shallots.

Fresh Chili Harissa Recipe

red bell peppers (540 grams) (see note)

poblano pepper (100 grams)

Fresno chili peppers (160 grams)

serrano chilies (30 grams)

(10 grams) neutral oil,

(4 grams) coriander

(3 grams) ground caraway

(45 grams) lemon

(25 grams) extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and set the bell, poblano, fresno, and serrano peppers on it. Rub the peppers with the oil. Place under the broiler and cook the peppers, rotating as needed, until evenly charred all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer the charred peppers to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam. 

Meanwhile, in a dry sauté pan, toast the coriander and caraway over medium heat until fragrant. Set aside. 

Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove their skins, seeds, and stems with gloved hands. Place the cleaned peppers in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Transfer the pepper paste to a bowl. Finish the harissa by mixing in the toasted coriander and caraway, salt, lemon, and olive oil. The harissa is best the next day and keeps in the refrigerator for a week.

In a 2010 love letter to the food processor, Mark Bittman gave the machine the ultimate compliment: “I upgraded its position in my kitchen from a cabinet to a spot on my itsy-bitsy counter,” he wrote. Here, he uses the machine to chop and grate vegetables, cutting down on prep time (and any possibility of shredding your knuckles on a box grater). The end result is a quick side dish, full of flavor from the ginger and soy sauce.

Stir-Fried Sweet Potatoes

scallions,

garlic

ginger (1-inch long), peeled

hot chili (like jalapeño

sweet potatoes,

peanut oil

Salt

black pepper

soy sauce, more for serving

Put scallions in food processor and pulse until finely chopped; remove. Add garlic, ginger and chili to the processor and pulse until minced; remove. Fit the processor with grating blade and grate sweet potatoes.

Put oil in a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add garlic-ginger-chili mixture and fry for 30 seconds. Add half the scallions and all the potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring or tossing, until the potatoes are lightly browned, about 10 minutes; the potatoes need not be fully tender.

Add soy sauce, toss once, and transfer potatoes to serving platter. Garnish with remaining scallions and serve immediately with additional soy sauce, if desired.

How to make oven baked jerk chicken with a Jamaican jerk marinade made with scotch bonnet peppers, onions, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, ginger and more! Moist, tender and delicious!

Oven Baked Jerk Chicken

chicken

jerk marinade

Cut up the chicken into 6 pieces (2 legs/thighs, 2 breasts, 2 wings)

Place in a large bowl and cover in jerk marinade. Turn the chicken around to make sure that all the pieces are coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in th fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375F and place chicken pieces on a baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until the chicken is cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165F

This is another creamy corn dish that has no cream in it – in fact, it has no dairy at all. I simmer the corn cobs to make the stock. When the corn is sweet, so is the soup, and I love the contrast of the sweet, creamy potage against the spicy roasted peppers.

Creamy Corn and Poblano Soup

corn (5 cups kernels)

water

extra virgin olive oil

white onion, chopped

garlic cloves,

poblano chilies

cilantro chives (optional)

Take the corn off the cobs. You should have about 5 cups kernels. Set aside 1 cup of the kernels.

Place the corn cobs in a large soup pot and add the water. Make sure they are covered or at least floating in the water; you can break them in half if they are very large. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, partly cover and simmer 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Remove and discard the cobs. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Strain the broth and measure out 5 cups. Freeze any leftover broth.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy soup pot and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until it is tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds, and then add the 4 cups of corn kernels and salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, for 4 to 5 minutes, until the corn is just tender. Add the corn broth and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile roast the chilies, either directly over a gas flame or under a broiler, turning often until they are uniformly charred. Transfer to a plastic bag and seal, or transfer to a bowl and cover tightly. Allow the peppers to cool, then remove the charred skin, rinse and past dry. Remove the seeds and veins (I recommend that you wear plastic gloves for this) and cut in thin strips or dice. 

Steam the kernels set aside for the garnish for 5 minutes, until tender. Set aside.

Working in batches, purée the soup in a blender, taking care to remove the insert from the top and cover tightly with a kitchen towel to avoid splashes. Return to the heat, taste and adjust salt, and heat through.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Combine the steamed corn kernels and diced chilies and place a spoonful in the middle of each bowl of soup. Garnish with a sprinkling of cilantro or chives if desired, and serve.

A bright toss of cilantro leaves and scallions, this dish, called lao hu cai, is somewhere between a salad and a garnish, adding coolness, salt and juice to the mix.

Tiger Vegetable Salad

cilantro,

green bell pepper

chili pepper, stemmed, seeded and slivered

scallions, slivered

vegetable oil

salt

Sesame oil

white vinegar,

In a bowl, combine cilantro, green pepper, chili pepper and scallions. Add vegetable oil and salt; toss lightly. Add a few drops of sesame oil, vinegar and more salt to taste; toss again. Pile on a plate and serve immediately; salad wilts quickly.

An easy way to perserve the flavour of fresh of chii peppers all winter long. A versatile seasoning.

Chili Pepper Salt

chilies

Add chilies to small bowl of food processor and pulse several times until very finely minced. You don't want a paste, so I wouldn't use a blender for this. Add the salt. Pulse several more times so that everything is  a pretty orange-pinky-red colour. Store in an airtight container. You can use this right away, but storing for a week or so will distribute the flavour of the chillies more quickly.

Radish salad is something you see in places around the world (in the last couple of years, I have been served it in similar guises in both Mexico and Turkey), but almost never in this country. Salting the radishes first reduces their harshness while accenting their crispness. At that point, they can be dressed with a traditional vinaigrette or the more tropical (and oil-less) version here. The only trick is to slice the radishes thinly. For this, a mandoline is best.

Radish Salad

radishes,

lime juice

orange juice

mint

Combine radishes with salt, and cover with water in a bowl. Let sit 15 minutes. Drain, and rinse. Meanwhile, stir together the pepper and fruit juices.

Toss radishes with dressing and chilies. Taste. Add more salt, pepper or lime juice as needed. Garnish with herb, and serve.

Sweet shrimp are the perfect canvas for this spicy jerk seasoning made with fresh chiles, fragrant thyme, scallions, garlic and spices. After a quick 15-minute marinade, the shrimp cook in mere minutes, picking up great char and smoky flavor from the grill. (You can even mimic the results indoors by broiling the shrimp on a sheet pan 6 inches from the heat for about 4 minutes.) This recipe comes with a warning: This is a superhot rub. For less heat but still spicy results, use just one chile; for an even milder version, remove the seeds from the chile before blending it. Should you have any jerk shrimp leftovers, they are great tossed into salad or tucked into tacos the next day.

Grilled Jerk Shrimp

neutral oil,

Scotch bonnet

thyme leaves

lime

soy sauce

brown sugar

allspice

kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

shrimp

Heat grill to medium-high and grease the grates with oil.

In a food processor, combine the 2 chopped scallions with the chiles and garlic, and pulse until finely chopped. Add the thyme, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, allspice, salt, pepper and the 3 tablespoons of oil; pulse until a coarse paste forms. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, add the shrimp and toss until evenly coated. Let stand for 15 minutes, tossing occasionally. 

Working in batches, grill shrimp directly on the grill grates until nicely charred and just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with the sliced scallions and serve with lime wedges.

These Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts take this vegetable from good to amazing with only a few ingredients. 

Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts

lbs Brussels sprouts, stems removed and cut in half

olive oil

hot honey,

salt and pepper

feta cheese

chives

Preheat oven to 425˚F. In large bowl toss together Brussels sprouts with olive oil and hot honey. Spread on lined baking sheet and season well with salt and pepper.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping sprouts once during baking. Sprouts should be browned around edges. Add feta and chives to pan and stir.

Transfer to serving dish and drizzle with some extra honey if desired. Serve immediately.

Top 9 chili pepper recipes from across the web

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Top Tags

Fresh Chili Harissa Recipe

Stir-Fried Sweet Potatoes

Oven Baked Jerk Chicken

Creamy Corn and Poblano Soup

Tiger Vegetable Salad

Chili Pepper Salt

Radish Salad

Grilled Jerk Shrimp

Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts

Top 9 chili pepper recipes from across the web

The most viewed chili pepper recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Fresh Chili Harissa Recipe

Stir-Fried Sweet Potatoes

Oven Baked Jerk Chicken

Creamy Corn and Poblano Soup

Tiger Vegetable Salad

Chili Pepper Salt

Radish Salad

Grilled Jerk Shrimp

Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts

The most viewed chili pepper recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine