Spicy Food
All about spicy food of all kinds - hot sauces, hot chile peppers, snacks, spicy dishes, hot wings, and more - and even bland food!
New! Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauces and Spicy Snacks
Man Eats 15 Lb. Burger
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CLEARFIELD, Pa. – It took Brad Sciullo 4 hours and 39 minutes to finish a marathon. A meat marathon, that is. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound western Pennsylvania chef is the first person to eat a monstrosity called the Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser: a 15-pound burger with toppings and a bun that brought the total weight to 20.2 pounds.
The mountain of beef is the product of Denny's Beer Barrel Pub, about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in Clearfield.
Sciullo, 21, of Uniontown, said he was surprised he finished the sandwich Monday. "About three hours into it, things got tough," he said.
When asked what possessed him to eat a burger that big, Sciullo said: "I wanted to see if I could."
The burger included a bun, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, mild banana peppers and a cup each of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and relish, pub owner Dennis Liegey said.
For completing the challenge in the under-five-hour time limit, Sciullo won $400, three T-shirts, a certificate "and a burger hangover, as I call it," Liegey said.
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5 Tips For Fall Grilling and Barbecue
Autumn is the one time of year the weather is nice in most parts of the country at the same time. In the warm southern and southwest regions, people who have been kept inside by the blazing summer temperatures start to enjoy the outdoors more. In the northern regions, the nights start to get crisp but the daytime temperatures are very pleasant. And pleasant weather means an ideal time for grilling and barbecue...
Herb and Spice Substitution Chart
Ever find yourself in the middle of a recipe and find yourself out of an herb or spice in your kitchen? Fear not, for here is a handy list of close substitutions of herbs and spices that should get you through cooking successfully. Keep in mind that these alternates don't taste exactly like the ingredients they're replacing; but with a bit of experimentation on the amounts you put in, you can still produce a great-tasting dish.
Herb and Spice Substitutions
Allspice - Cinnamon, cassia, dash of nutmeg or mace, or dash of cloves
Aniseed - Fennel seed or a few drops anise extract
Basil - Oregano or thyme
Cardamom - Ginger
Chervil - Tarragon or parsley
Chili Powder - Dash bottled hot pepper sauce plus a combination of oregano and cumin
Chive - Green onion, onion, or leek
Cilantro - Parsley
Cinnamon - Nutmeg or allspice (use only 1/4 of the amount)
Cloves - Allspice, cinnamon, or nutmeg
Cumin - Chili powder
Ginger - Allspice, cinnamon, mace, or nutmeg
Italian Seasoning - Blend of any of these: basil, oregano, rosemary, and ground red pepper
Mace - Allspice, cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg
Marjoram - Basil, thyme, or savory
Mint - Basil, marjoram, or rosemary
Nutmeg - Cinnamon, ginger, or mace
Oregano - Thyme or basil
Parsley - Chervil or cilantro
Poultry Seasoning - Sage plus a blend of any of these: thyme, marjoram, savory, black pepper, and rosemary
Red Pepper - Dash bottled hot pepper sauce or black pepper
Rosemary - Thyme, tarragon, or savory
Saffron - Dash turmeric (for color)
Sage - Poultry seasoning, savory, marjoram, or rosemary
Savory - Thyme, marjoram, or sage
Tarragon - Chervil, dash fennel seed, or dash aniseed
Thyme - Basil, marjoram, oregano, or savory
Know of any other herb or spice flavor substitutes or alternatives? Any approximations of garlic, dill, mustard seed, or bay leaves? Let everyone know in the comments.
How I Got Kicked Out Of The Chile Heads
We just returned from the Fiery Foods Show, held again in Albuquerque, New Mexico and I had a lot of people asking for the hottest chile pepper we offered. I smiled, not at their extreme passion for scoville units, but because I couldn't supply them with anything hotter than our Coyote Trail Green Chile Sauce. Sure, the Green Chile Sauce has some heat, but nothing like what these guys were looking for. I thought back to our departure from a sound business plan-the time we were also in search of the heat...
Americans and Beer - Consumption in One Year
Americans definitely love their beer! Here are some interesting graphics that show just how much beer Americans drink in one year:
Bullet-Shaped Ice Cube Tray
Find your weapons of thirst destruction right here with the Bullet Ice Cube Tray. Shaped like actual bullets from an AK-47 rifle, these will ensure you'll have a killer drink every time (okay, enough with the bad jokes). You can buy them online right here for £7.99 (approximately $15.15 US)
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Zakk Wylde’s New Blair’s Berserker Sauces
Several months back I had mentioned that Black Label Society/Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde was teaming up with Blair's to create Berserker Brand Hot Sauces. Well, the sauce formulas have been made, the bottles are ready to be filled and labeled and shipped to your door after October 15th. You can pre-order the Berserker Hot Sauces from Zakk's site ot the Blair website.
And what kind of scorching elixirs have Zakk and Blair concocted? Berserker is available in four flavors: Zakk Wylde's Original Hot Sauce (mild), Wylde's Sonic Brew Hot Sauce (medium), Zakk Wylde's Stronger Than Death Hot Sauce (hot), and Zakk Wylde's Shot to Hell Hot Sauce (extremely hot). It is advertised on both sites that Shot to Hell "contains ingredients 600 times hotter than a jalapeno chili". If this is using the same semantics that is on Blair's Mega Death and Jersey Death (which are advertised on the bottles as having ingredients 500 times and 750 times jalapeno heat, respectively), then thsi sauce id pushing 600,000 Scoville Heat Units. Yowza! That's pretty darn hot.
Build a Solar Food Dehydrator
Here's a clever contraption that should be added to my Ultimate Guide to Drying Hot Peppers guide: a homemade solar-powered dehydrator. The homegrownevolution.com site has a nice little write-up describing their successful experiences with one they had built, plus provide a few links with instructions on how to construct your own. I still think an electric food dehydrator is the best method of drying fruits and vegetables, but if you're looking to save a few dollars on electricity costs one of these solar dehydrators may be a great alternative.
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Making Acorn Flour
From what I've heard (I've yet to try it myself), acorn flour has a very distinct, very tasty flavor, adding a robustness and nuttiness to recipes that hum-drum wheat flour lacks. Here's an online tutorial on how to create acorn flour that covers collecting, shelling, grinding, washing and drying acorns.
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Awesome Lasagna Recipe Site
To me, lasagna is like pizza - it's a dish almost everyone loves and you can't go wrong serving it to your hungry dinner mates.
Are you looking for a killer lasagna recipe? A great little blog I've stumbled across is mylasagnarecipe.com. The site owner offers their own mouth-watering variation of the meaty, cheesy, and chewy dish plus over a dozen other lasagna recipes to try.
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USB Mini Fridge
Totally impractical but cool nonetheless is the USB Mini Fridge - a real, working refrigerator that plugs into a USB port on your computer. It's very limited as to what you can store in this little box (a 12-oz beverage can or small glass), but it does effectively chill it's contents to a nice, cool 45° Fahrenheit. It's available for $32.99 plus shipping at the PerpetualKid.com website.
Chef Dies After Eating ‘Superhot’ Chilli For Bet
This was posted a few days ago on the Telegraph.co.uk:
"Chef dies after eating 'superhot' chilli for bet
An amateur chef died the day after eating a "superhot" chilli in a bet with his friend over who could make the hottest dish, an inquest heard.
Andrew Lee, 33, suffered heart failure the morning after he ate the chilli.
Toxicology tests are now being carried out to see if the fork lift truck driver suffered a fatal reaction to the dish or whether anything else contributed to his death.
Mr Lee, of Edlington, Doncaster was apparently in perfect health and...
Blair's New Bottles and Boxes
Blair Lazar has just sent this message:
"Dear Chilipal,
It is with the greatest Honor for me to Announce the Pre-Release Of The All New Death Sauce Line-up, New Labels, New Boxes, Ultra Death Sauce, Not to mention, This is the First Batch Of sauce that Contains Habanero and Jolokia Chilis From our Very Own Pepper Farm just North of the Equator. For the First time ever, I am offering a Mega Pre-Release Special for the Hard Core Chilihead. A First Run Set including all 9 bottles of My Kick your Ass Hot Death Sauce Line up, That I personally cooked, Bottled, Labeled, Sealed and blessed with all every ounce of Karma in my Soul.
I made a Total of 36 Pre-Production Bottles of Each sauce. I Kept and Use half a dozen of each for myself, friends and Family and I am making the remaining 30 Sets available to my Chilipals around the World. Each Label and Awesome New Box is Signed and Numbered, Plus I am adding in a Secret Special Bottle that only you will receive. So it’s Ten Bottles Total. How Much you ask??? $10,000. Per Set. Ok, Only F-in With ya. And yes, I am aware The Death Sauce Phenomenon has brought in over $12,000 for a single rare bottle. But that’s from resellers; Bless um all I say. So here’s the deal, direct from the Source (That’s Me) and Never available again, $499 Per Set, I know you say “Blair that’s only $50 Per Bottle”. Yep, So Good For you, Re-Sell um if you choose to or better yet Keep um as the rare of rarest I have ever done. Your Call, Just Enjoy um. I have so much more to share but that’s it for now. Order at extremefood.com
Your chilipal,
Blair
PS And Yes a Very Limited Halloween Reserve will be announced soon."
Recipe - Habanero Cream Cheese Dip Spread
Love the distinctive, fruity flavor of habaneros but can't always take the scorch in your mouth? Try some of this delicious Habanero Cream Cheese Dip/Spread. The cool dairy-derived sweetness of the cream cheese is the perfect offset to the intense fire of the habanero pepper; you get the hot taste yet have it somewhat subdued.
Tabasco Sauce Facts
Ever want to know more about the world's most popular hot sauce? Joey Green of the Wacky Uses website has compiled a nice little list of Tabasco Sauce facts and information...
Recipe - Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers
For a delicious appetizer or snack, it's hard to beat the wide appeal of bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers. It's got kick from the jalapenos, crispiness from bacon, and a sweet, creamy, melty fusion of cheddar and cream cheese to balance out the taste...
Recipe Recap - Spicy Food
In case you've missed the spicy food recipes I've posted thus far on this food blog, below is a rundown. Each one is a must-try for chileheads or anyone who likes their meals with a little kick. I also plan on making new recipe additions as they get posted to the site in the future.
Create Perfectly Round Ice
Serious on the rocks drinkers prefer ice spheres due to their reduced surface area; the ice melts slower, meaning a less watered-down beverage. A Japanese company called Taisin [Google Translation page] has created a contraption that will create perfectly round balls of ice.
You place a chuck of ice inside Taisin's Ice Mold, and as the ice melts the press will close around it creating it's spherical shape. Extract the ice, and voila! I perfect, seamless ball. The Ice Mold can create 30 to 40 ice balls per minute.
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Recipe - Buffalo Chicken Dip
If you've never had buffalo chicken dip and crackers, then you don't know what you've been missing. This stuff is frickin' additive and is guaranteed to be the hit of any party or get-together. Just imagine creamy, spreadable buffalo wings in bitesize form without the mess.
Doctors Testing Hot Sauce to Help Knee Pain
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Hot sauce spices up your food and now Capsaicin, the thing that gives chili peppers their punch, is knocking out knee pain.
At age 71, Ron Johnson said his knee is in better shape than it was in his fifties. "It was constant pain in both knees," he said. The spicy new treatment is part of a study using an ultra purified form of Capsaicin... |
Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauces, Spicy Snacks, and more.
