Habanero Chicken and Cheese Soup Recipe

Here is a great recipe for the winter. Not only will it warm up your body from the temperature, it will also light you up good from the peppers. Taken from a jalapeno cheese soup recipe and modified for my desire, I have created a monster soup here and would like to share it with you.

*1 lb boneless chicken breasts, diced
*6 cups chicken broth (one large can)
*8 celery stalks, diced
*1 cup white onion, diced
*3 garlic cloves, minced
*1/4 teaspoon white pepper
*1/4 teaspoon black pepper
*2 pounds Velveeta cheese, cut in cubes
*1/2 cup habanero peppers, diced

1. In large pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add chicken breasts and lower heat to medium. Cook for about 10 minutes uncovered or until breasts are white throughout. Remove breasts and set aside.
2. Place celery, onion, garlic, white and black pepper into pot. Bring back to boil and cook for another 10 minutes.
3. While waiting, dice up cooked chicken breasts into half-inch cubes.
4. At this time, if you have a hand-held food processor/blender, add Velveeta to pot and blend together until mixture is thick and even throughout. Otherwise, take mixture along with the Velveeta and place in a large food processor. Mix together until smooth and place back in pot.
5. Add peppers and diced chicken. Reduce heat to below boil and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
6. Remove from heat and let sit for another 5 minutes. Add a dab of sour cream and serve with hot tortillas.

Tips:
As always, the amount of peppers added is up to you, depending on your tolerance to heat. I use a hand-held mixer for recipes like this and it makes life much easier. After adding the peppers and chicken, make sure you stir often to keep the cheese from separating. Too much heat and no movement will cause the Velveeta to clump and give an unpleasant texture.

Molten Meatball Recipe

I like to make my meatballs from scratch. They aren't complicated and they always come out much better than frozen ones. Recently, I decided to spice them up a little bit with some habaneros I had laying around and, bingo. A new favorite to share! These can be used for spaghetti or finger food cooked in the crock pot. Depending on the peppers you use, this will leave you and your guests saying "Mamma mia, that's-a spicy meat ball-a!"

*1 lb lean ground beef
*1 cup Italian bread crumbs
*1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
*1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
*1/4 teaspoon black pepper
*2 garlic cloves, minced fine
*4-6 habanero peppers, minced fine
*1 egg, beaten

Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix well, allowing all ingredients to disperse evenly in the meat. Depending on the size of meatball desired, take 2 to 4 tablespoons-worth of mixture and tightly roll it into a ball. Spread meatballs out on a cookie sheet and put it on center rack in oven. Broil for 5 minutes or until the meatballs start browning on top. Then place the oven on 350 for 10-15 minutes. Serve on top of spaghetti then coat with sauce.

Tips:
Wear gloves. Replace the habaneros in the recipe with any peppers you prefer. This recipe can be used with meatballs cooked longer in sauce or in crock pot without cooking in the oven first. I prefer the above method for a quicker meal but both come out great.

Hot Sauce For The Homeless

I have been creating my own sauces and rubs for a few years now. We use them in BBQ competitions and I have given them away to several friends, coworkers and fellow chiliheads. Thanks to popular demand, I decided to test the market with some sales and see what the public thinks. I created a name and a website for my creations: The Pepper Mart The reviews have been great so I began the process of making The Pepper Mart a true company but all the research made me dizzy. In the state of Tennessee, it is a very deep, expensive and time-consuming process to get a food manufacturing company up and running. I feel as if I have great products and I hold the recipes close to my heart. Pondering the idea for many months, I got a new calling that was more valuable of my time than spending it trying to make a profit of my own.

My brother and I are BBQ nerds. We love to cook it a lot more than eating it. You won't find either of us at a local BBQ restaurant very often and if we are, it's mostly experimental only or entertaining people from out of town. Since we love to cook it but not consume it, what do we do with all this meat? We thought of ideas about donating it to homeless shelters or St. Jude houses but a lot of these places cannot accept home-cooked foods. I branched out even more and began the process of creating a non-profit organization that cooks for local charities. This past Thanksgiving, we did our first cook, smoking 200 lbs of turkeys for a local organization called "Eat Memphis". Along with sides that we provided, we fed over 160 people in need and it was some good grub! Lots of people got great meals that day and I instantly fell in love with this concept.

Eat Memphis then asked me again for help with feeding people for Christmas on 12/23. The non-profit is still under the registration process so instead of asking for donations or funding the cook myself, I've decided to sell smoked hams for $25 on my Pepper Mart website, calling it Hams For The Homeless All sales made will go directly to a fund that will purchase the same hams which I will smoke for the cook on the 23rd. It then dawned on me that I should dedicate my Pepper Mart sales directly to this fund as well. I changed my vision and modified the website to reflect it. Every sale is a donation to feeding someone in need. I make nothing myself so all the time spent making the great products is from my heart to help those who need it the most. To me, the best thing in the world is to give and make people happy. What better way to warm someone's heart than warming the mouth of a chilihead?!

So place an order for some sauces, rubs, seeds and/or a ham. Someone out there needs your support and this is one tasty way of doing so!! See the links below for more information.

http://www.thepeppermart.com
http://www.hamsforthehomeless.com

Spicy Simplicity

Alex's Tavern
1445 Jackson Avenue
Memphis, TN
(901) 278-9086

For a long time now, I have been hearing about this dive bar on Jackson Ave that is famously known as Alex's Tavern. Many people claim it to have the best burger and hot wings in town. I tried several times to make my way there but it never seemed to work out with my schedule. Recently, I had a small window of opportunity. I went with it and it landed me on a bar stool at Alex's this previous Friday night.

I was told that this is a lunch or late-night hangout and there would be no crowd when I went. That was fine with me because I'm not a big fan of cigarette smoke anymore and felt like 8 PM was the best time to go. As it turned out, I was the only one in Alex's around that time so my journey there ended up being the most time-consuming part of the evening. I ordered one of “the coldest beers in town”, which was a Natural Light draft served in a cup for $3. The college kids who frequent Alex’s Tavern probably feel right at home with the red Solo cups filled with cheap beer.

I noticed the “World Famous Greek Burger” ad on the banner above the bar with prices written on tape underneath the title. Although I came here for wings, I wanted to see what the burger hype was all about. The menu was simple with only a few options for a late night crave. I then noticed that they didn’t take debit cards (cash only) so I counted my bills. I didn’t have enough so after a $3 ATM fee in the back of the bar, I placed my order for a burger. Since I was the only one there, it came out quickly and I indulged in it. I was impressed with the tenderness of the patty. Not much chewing necessary as it went down with ease. The fries were pretty good as well. Everything was sprinkled with Greek seasoning, which I tend to do myself at home so that was nice. I finished my beer and placed my wing order, telling the bartender to make them as hot as they can. They, too, came out quick. I said goodbye to Alex’s and made my journey home.

When I got to the house, I figured I would only eat a few and save the rest for later. The burger and fries was a huge meal in itself. I opened up the container and noticed that they were all drummies, 8 of them to be exact. They were very large. I paid $10 for this order which was very steep for what I received. I then hoped they blew me away with flavor to make up for it. I quickly found them not to be very hot at all. Rather, more of a spicy hot than any sort of heat. I’m guessing that they make their own sauce which did have an incredible flavor, just not very hot for my desire. I ended up eating all of them because they were really good. They were perfectly fried and overall I was impressed. I just wasn’t pleased about paying that much for an order of wings that, to me, weren’t a whole lot better than what I can get elsewhere. I’m sure they are much better at 3 AM after a night out on the town but for dinner, the journey was simply not worth it to me. I do not consider these to be the best wings in Memphis like so many people have claimed them to be. They were great wings, nonetheless, and maybe a late-night wing binge will land me on that bar stool again in the future.

3-Alarm Turkey and Mushroom Chili Recipe

Don't know what to do with all that leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and/or Christmas? Tired of turkey sandwiches for days until you end up throwing out unused turkey that went bad? If so, then this recipe is for you. I made this shortly after Thanksgiving this year with all our leftover turkey and it came out amazing.

I experimented a little from my Habanero Chili From Hell Recipe and decided to kick it up a notch. I also wanted to make a chili that was more healthy because my other recipe is not one for someone watching their weight after consuming lots of food during the holidays. What better way than to use turkey instead of 2.5 lbs of greasy pork and beef! Lastly, I wanted to make it sweeter, so a dab of brown sugar did the trick.

* 2 lbs cooked turkey
* 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
* 2 (16 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
* 2 (16 ounce) dark red kidney beans
* 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
* 1 (12 fluid ounce) can beer
* 2 cups water
* 2 green bell peppers, diced
* 1 white onion, sliced large
* 10 jalapeno peppers, chopped fine
* 10 habanero peppers, chopped fine
* 5 bhut jolokia ghost peppers, chopped fine
* 1 package fresh mushrooms, sliced
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 3 tablespoons chili powder
* 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoons black pepper

Since the meat is already cooked, the prep time for this chili is very quick. Combine all the ingredients together in a slow cooker. Stir well, making sure all spices, salt and sugar blend/dissolve in the liquid. Slow cook on high for at least 3 hours, stirring about every 30 minutes. You can cook longer on a lower temp, depending on your slow cooker. Chili is done once whole tomatoes have become so tender that they are falling apart.

Tips:
I highly recommend using smoked turkey but any kind will do. The sugar is optional if you don't like sweet. If you want it milder, use less chili peppers. I like to cut my whole tomatoes in half after they have cooked for a while so they become tender quicker. The longer it cooks in the slow cooker, the better it tastes!

The Ghostly Dog

Mad Dog 357 Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
http://www.ashleyfoods.com

I purchased a bunch of various sauces a few months ago and nearly forgot that the package included Mad Dog's Ghost Pepper sauce. I am a big fan of the regular 357 hot sauce and noticed a long time ago that they extended their line of sauces to include ghost pepper blends. I took a mental note to get a bottle of their regular ghost pepper sauce and placed it within the large order. Fast forward 3 months: I opened up my pantry the other day and, with surprise, noticed this bottle with skulls staring at me. Seeing how I forgot about it, it was like an early Christmas present! To waste no more time, I cooked a chicken sandwich and dripped a few drops of this ghost pepper hot sauce on top then took a seat.

The first bite and it took my breath away. I took another and got a good bit of sauce. The flavor hit me, which I wasn't a fan of. The pepper extract in the sauce made it very strong, almost sour tasting. Despite the flavor, I continued, and then the heat hit me. I got hiccups that temporarily prevented me from continuing. I was finally able to control them and finish the sandwich. I was sweating pretty well at this point and was glad to be done with the experiment.

Overall, I think it was a wise purchase and plan on using this sauce to blend in chili and other foods. Like its older brother, regular 357, it did not make a good topping and needs to be used as something to add heat, not flavor. They do make a "pure" ghost pepper sauce that does not use extracts. I plan on purchasing a bottle of this upon my next order and will review that once I burn my mouth on another great Mad Dog product!

Hell Raising

The Hot Spot Wings Cafe - Bartlett, TN
http://www.thswingcafe.com

I see hot wing establishments on every corner in Memphis these days. Most of them are all the same and neither worth the money nor blogging about. I never make that assumption before checking them out at least once, however, because you just never know. I have been meaning to try a newer place in my neck of the woods on Stage Road in Bartlett called "The Hot Spot". I've seen it several times and kept it in the back of my mind until a recent email came in from a BMM fan. He suggested that I go and try this very place out because they have, what he considers, the hottest wings in Memphis. Intriguing, I thought, so I found my way there last week.

I found an ad for The Hot Spot in a local coupon magazine that is mailed out monthly in Bartlett. It advertised a "1st and 10 for 5”. This consists of 10 party wings for 5 bucks. I don't know of any other place in Memphis that has wings available for that cheap so I used this as further motivation to see if they could burn my mouth. I found the menu on their website which lists all the available sauces. I noticed a flavor called "Hell Raiser" and assumed this was their hottest kind. I called to verify this and then placed my order for pick-up which was ready in 10-15 minutes. Luckily I live nearby.

As I walked in, I took in the establishment which I found to have a decent-sized dining area. The register and kitchen area are in the back. Close to the register is a long table to place ready orders and above this I noticed a drive-thru window. I also noticed their hours of operation and they are open from lunch until midnight. This along with the drive-thru window and cheap prices are all things I never see in other wing joints. I talked with the owners while my order was being boxed up, telling them about this blog and my crave for hot food. They explained that some people find these wings to be too hot, while others say they could be hotter. I was hoping that I wouldn't find them to be the latter. As I got home and got busy with consumption, I quickly realized that I would not be.

The heat from the sauce hit me almost instantly. 2 wings in and I was sweating. I tasted pepper extract in the sauce and noticed pepper flakes throughout. This hurt the flavor of the sauce a little but it sure did heat it up. The wings themselves weren't crispy but rather a tad on the soggy side. Not a show-stopper as I continued to devour the 10-piece and sweat. After the 10th wing, my mouth was actually on fire. I cooled it off with an ice cube and from a few miles away, applauded The Hot Spot for burning my mouth! If you're in the area and in the mood for some great wings, even late at night, go raise some hell at The Hot Spot!