Well, even though I was only there for a few hours, I thought it was worth putting together a photo montage of Open Fields 2007 for the blogging public who weren’t able to be there for themselves. I had to work a 12-hour shift from 7p-7a on Saturday night of the weekend, so my drive-by was just enough to get a feel for the goings on. With bags for picking chile peppers in hand, I set off with my camera to chronicle the day’s event and get some peppers for the kitchen cooking adventures in the process.

(Be advised: long post with lots of pictures!)

Thought of as “Woodstock for chileheads,” this event had a little something for the outdoorsman at heart. Here’s a view down the main strip of the vent and you can see how the tents and cars lined up for everyone to set up shop to cook, camp, shmooze, and just generally hang out. The stretch of tents and cars continued off behind me in the above picture and even off to the side of this area, so there was a decent amount of people who turned out to this secret venue in the hinterlands of Indiana.

For one thing, there was certainly no shortage of food to be had. Whether it was stuff for general consumption or stuff made for the “Fresh from the fields” contest, there was a lot of cookin’ going on. Above you can see the “one-eyed monsters” of red jalapenos stuffed with pimiento-filled olives. Not being a fan of olives, I didn’t try them…but they at least looked good.
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Well, after a whirlwind trip to the secret pepper farm in central Indiana for Open Fields, I have returned to homebase here in Ohio bearing a heap big pile o’ peppers. Pictures to follow soon! There would have been more of those, but a yucky growing season with little rain caused about 80% of the peppers on the plants to not even be ripe. A cool event, so more details to follow. Stay tuned!

I can totally sympathize with the author of this article from cnjonline.com, since I’ve been someone who’s accidentally polluted their mother with something spicy enough to hurt ‘em. It totally makes me miss the experience at Garduño’s restaurant in Albuquerque. If I lived there, I would find a way to eat red or green chile as often as possible.

Chile’s heat can be hard to handle
By Grant McGee: Local columnist
September 27 2007

The smell of green chiles roasting — ahh, it’s in the air now.

I was walking by a Clovis supermarket the other day and had a whiff of those chiles turning round and round over an open flame. It’s one of my favorite New Mexico aromas along with pinon smoke on a crisp fall evening and that glorious smell of the grasslands when it rains.

New Mexico’s chiles and I have had a close relationship ever since I got here years ago. It’s the flavor, it’s the heat.
How much heat can I handle? Better than some folks, not as well as others.

The first red sauce that ever set me on fire was at Sadie’s, a Mexican food restaurant in Albuquerque. I ordered Carne Adovada, pork hunks marinated in red chile sauce sounded mighty fine to me.

With my first bite I knew I was in trouble. Suddenly I was sweating, I couldn’t get enough water, my tongue was on fire. My dinner pals quickly called for a glass of milk and some sour cream. The milk cooled my innards and the sour cream eased the heat in what felt like an atom bomb crater on my tongue.

Click here to read the rest of the source article from the CNJonline

Some sauces simply aren’t what you think they are going to be.

I remember trying this sauce for the first time at the Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire show, and being please albeit a little bit puzzled by it. Was it a hot sauce, a dessert sauce, a fruit sauce, or some combination of the bunch? With fruit-based hot sauces, it can be tough to really know. Some are really, really fruity or overly sweet, but few of them have seemingly ever been able to balance out the chile peppers and fruit to make it destined for more than just a dessert topping for chileheads.

Until this sauce, that is.

For one thing, there doesn’t seem to be that many apple hot sauces out there these days…certainly not ones made with green apples, which is a personal fave of mine. To get an idea of what this sauce was suggested to do, here is the description as penned by the folks at Big Dawg Salsa:

An amazing complex flavor that begins with the taste of Fresh Green Apples chased with the sweetness of Brown Sugar and a dusting of Cinnamon. Topped off with Habaneros for the “chilehead” lover in all of us.

Like Moms Fresh Apple Pie

Awesome on Pork, Chicken, and good old fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream. Great poured over cream cheese and served with crackers. Can’t miss as a marinade before grilling.

Seemed to be an emphasis on dessert, but I was anxious to what else I could get this sauce to compliment. Checking out its ingredients, I saw:

Ingredients: green apples, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, habanero peppers, jalapeno peppers, red onions, fresh squeezed lime, chipotle flakes, garlic, ground cinnamon, sea salt, and other spices

Totally and completely natural…a major thumbs-up for this sauce. Darrell Fitch of Big Dawg Salsa had told us about the painstaking way that they peel and cook their apples for this sauce and how they combine that mixture with the peppers to get it just right. Hard to appreciate that from a list on the side of the bottle, but it’s worth mentioning to give an idea of how much care is taken in putting this particular sauce together.
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We’re not always much for fancy-shmancy recipes that we see online, but this article from the Showbuzz website from CBS news that was obviously from a show that highlighted chile peppers as well as how to cook with them. We weren’t going to publish yet another version of Chile Peppers 101, but a couple of the recipes seemed worth the effort to show off. They are:

CHILES EN NOGADA (Stuffed Poblanos)

Eight servings

1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium apple, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 medium pear, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 ounces blanched almonds, slivered
2 ounces raisins, soaked until soft, then drained
1 stick cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
8 large poblano chiles, prepared for stuffing
4 eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
Oil for frying
1 quart unsweetened heavy cream
4 ounces walnut meat, soaked in milk, drained and chopped
pomegranates, peeled and separated into seeds
4 sprigs parsley, leaves only, chopped fine

Roast chiles over a gas flame or under a broiler until charred all over. Do not remove stems, but trim beforehand before roasting if they are long. Place chiles in a plastic bag for 10-15 minutes. Then peel by rubbing them gently, using rubber gloves, under a stream of running water. After the chiles have been roasted and cleaned, make a lengthwise slit up one side of each and carefully remove the seed sac and any loose seeds. Pat them dry and set them aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet; saute beef, pork, garlic, onion, apple, pear, almonds, raisins and cinnamon stick until the meat is no longer pink. Remove the cinnamon stick, add salt and pepper to taste and allow the filling to cool to room temperature. When cool, fill the chiles, dividing the mixture evenly.

Coating will be fluffier and more uniform if egg batter is made in two batches, as follows. Beat two of the egg whites to soft peaks. Lightly beat two yolks and half the salt together; fold egg yolk mixture gently into the beaten egg whites. Dip each of four filled chiles into the mixture, turning them gently to coat evenly. Place each one immediately into a large skillet with 1/2 cup hot oil. Fry them until golden on the bottom side (lift gently with a spatula to check) then turn and fry on the other side. Repeat this process with the rest of the chiles and the other two eggs. Remove and drain on paper towels before placing on serving dish.

Put the cream and the walnuts in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Pour over the chiles, and decorate with pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley.

CHILE BROWNIES

Makes twenty-four 2 1/4 x 2 1/8-inch brownies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus for the pan
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon pure chile powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus additional for the pan, at room temperature
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped, or semisweet chocolate chips
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature

Position the rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan; set it aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, chile powder, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.

Place the butter and both kinds of chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water. If you don’t have a double boiler, place the butter and both kinds of chocolate in a heat-safe bowl that fits snugly over a small pot of simmering water. Stir constantly until half the butter and chocolate is melted. Remove the top of the double boiler or the bowl from the pot; then continue stirring, away from the heat, until the butter and chocolate are completely melted. Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Beat the sugar into the melted chocolate mixture with a whisk or with an electric mixer at medium speed; continue beating until smooth and silky, about 5 minutes by hand or 2 minutes with a mixer. Beat in the eggs until well incorporated.

With a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Do not beat. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it gently to the corners.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Cut the brownies into 24 pieces while they’re still in the pan. Carefully remove them with an offset spatula. Serve immediately, or let cool completely before covering with plastic wrap for storage at room temperature. They will stay fresh for up to 3 days. The brownies can be tightly wrapped in wax paper, sealed in a freezer-safe bag, and frozen for up to 2 months; allow them to thaw at room temperature before serving.

As the domestic and overseas hot & spicy foods market receive more Naga (or Bhut) Jolokia peppers and powder, the inevitable flood of products worth trying are starting to appear. Thanks to Dave DeWitt for pointing some of these out, so we have to give props where that is due. Above you can see the Lava Jolokia hot sauce and mustard that is available through Harald and Renate Zoschke’s European site www.pepperworld.com. You won’t be able to read as much about it on the site unless you read German, but write to Harald and ask him about it and we’re sure he’ll be able to answer any questions about the products.

One of the newer sauces from CaJohns Fiery Foods is the Nagasaurus hot sauce. Designed to feature the flavor and unbridled heat of the Jolokia without any extract flavor, this is available through CaJohns. At some point, the website will list it on there so you can buy it directly online. For now, you can read about on the Flavor and Fire Blog, but you’ll need to call CaJohn directly to order yourself a bottle.
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This isn’t exactly a hot sauce review, but when you have a chance to try this one for yourself, you’ll say “Who cares?”

(Author’s note: While the sauce I reviewed is no longer marketed under the name Chocolate Glow, it is now available with the name Chocolate Passion. This will explain the discrepancy between the picture and review title.)

Chocolate and chile peppers seem to go as well together as peanut butter and jelly, when made just right. Making it more or less spicy is a matter of personal preference, but when chocolate is involved it’s hard to really go wrong. I’ve heard some non-chileheads say things like, “How could you ruin perfectly good chocolate by making it spicy?!”

Those people have quite obviously never tried this chocolate sauce. Just have one taste and you’ll have a better understanding. Looking at the sauce’s description from the Peppermaster website:

I have reduced the heat of our burning hot ‘Chili Chocolate’ to that of a gentle, warm glow by extracting the essence of MILDER CHILI PEPPERS, and marrying it to this delightful concoction of Fair Trade certified 70% Callebaut dark chocolate, Tahitian vanilla and Fair Trade certified organic espresso.

It’s difficult to not love this chocolate, it’s got a surprising tingle of heat that enhances ice cream, cheesecake or fresh fruit.

A review of the amazing list of ingredients shows:

Ingredients: sugar, glucose, cream (35%mf), corn syrup, unsweetened chocolate, fresh pepper liquor, butter (salt-free), espresso (spring water, Guatemala dark coffee), pure Tahitian vanilla extract

My goodness, what’s not to like from that list? Unless you’re counting calories, that is. Maybe spicy chocolate sauce has less calories then regular chocolate sauce. In my universe, that’s the way it should be.
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It sometimes seems like we quote an awful lot of articles about the Bhut Jolokia pepper, but it is the latest pepper fad to hit the Americas in decades. That, plus our own experience with growing it (or failure to do so…but we’ll save that for another post) and eating it carries a certain level of fascination. Here’s yet another article from the State Journal Register about this new “ghost pepper”:

Playing with fire

By TIM SULLIVAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published Wednesday, September 19, 2007

NEW DELHI — I know people who regularly eat bhut jolokias, the “ghost chile” now rated as the world’s hottest pepper.

They’re nice people. I like them. They don’t seem crazy.

Appearances are deceiving.

I ate an entire bhut jolokia the other night, sitting at my dining-room table with an open beer and — on the advice of the experienced — a bowl of yogurt and a few slices of bread at the ready.

I had the strange fear that nothing would happen, that I had traveled halfway across India in search of a chile that would be no hotter than an apple. I thought I was prepared.

What followed was a gastronomic mugging.

I know, I know. You probably think I’m exaggerating, or maybe just inexperienced in the ways of chiles.

Click here to read the rest of the source article from the State Journal-Register

The State Journal-Register out of Springfield, IL really has it going on lately with some great articles of interest to chileheads. This first article is a great story on the ongoing phenomenon of the Bhut Jolokia out of India. Here is an excerpt:

‘When you eat it, it’s like dying’

By TIM SULLIVAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published Wednesday, September 19, 2007

HANGPOOL, India — The farmer, a quiet man with an easy smile, has spent a lifetime eating a chile pepper with a strange name and a vicious bite.

His mother stirred them into sauces. His wife puts them out for dinner raw, blood-red morsels of pain to be nibbled — carefully, very carefully — with whatever she’s serving.
Around here, in the hills of northeastern India, it’s called the “bhut jolokia” — the “ghost chile.” Anyone who has tried it, they say, could end up an apparition.

“It is so hot you can’t even imagine,” said the farmer, Digonta Saikia, working in his fields in the midday sun, his face nearly invisible behind an enormous straw hat. “When you eat it, it’s like dying.”

Outsiders, he insisted, shouldn’t even try it. “If you eat one,” he told a visitor, “you will not be able to leave this place.”

Read the rest of the source article from the State Journal-Register

This next story is about a aspiring chilehead on his ascendancy to chile pepper nirvana. Here’s the excerpt:

Peoria pepper fan has yet to meet a chile he can’t conquer

By JEREMY PELZER
STAFF WRITER
Published Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Craig Mitckes is a chile pepper enthusiast on a mission: finding a pepper too hot for him to handle.

“I’m just trying to find one that’s too hot for me to eat, and I haven’t found it yet,” said Mitckes, a Peoria resident who works as roadside maintenance manager for the Illinois Department of Transportation in Springfield. “I want to find something that I bite into and say, ‘OK, that’s it. I won’t go any higher than that.’”
For the past 20 years, Mitckes, 58, has scoured catalogs, farmers markets and the Internet for new kinds of chile pepper seeds, which he plants in his backyard garden.

He trades different types of seeds with farmers and other chile pepper enthusiasts, has given presentations to schools and garden clubs and has taught classes on chile peppers at Illinois Central College in East Peoria.

“I’m just trying to get the word out,” he said. He hopes that if more people grow chile peppers in central Illinois, he’ll be able to find the ultimate hot pepper.

To reach his goal, Mitckes has a lot of different types of chile peppers to sort through. Paul Bosland, director of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University, estimates there are at least 3,000 varieties of peppers, ranging from the mild bell pepper to mouth-scorchers like the habanero.

Chile peppers get their fire from capsaicin

Read the rest of the source article from the State Journal-Register

A little late in the reporting process, but we received an email from Monty Fritts from Monty’s Gourmet Foods letting us know that awards juggernaut just keeps on going:

Monty’s Gourmet Foods Wins 14 More Awards

Monty has done it again. Monty’s Gourmet Foods L.L.C. is proud to announce that it has won 14 more awards at this year’s prestigious Fiery Foods Challenge sponsored by Chile Pepper Magazine.

We have now got 53 international awards for our product lines, but this is a single event record breaker for us.

Ottawa, KS (PRWEB) September 12, 2007 — Monty has done it again. Monty’s Gourmet Foods L.L.C. is proud to announce that it has won 14 more awards at this year’s prestigious Fiery Foods Challenge sponsored by Chile Pepper Magazine.

“We are thrilled beyond belief that we have been honored by all of these awards.” Said Monty. “We have now got 53 international awards for our product lines, but this is a single event record breaker for us.”

Monty’s Gourmet creates a line of hot sauces, picante sauces (salsa), wing sauces and BBQ sauces, all of which were winners in this year’s event.

“Our greatest surprise was the first place golden chile award for our super hot Death Lizard Extract Sauce. We always start with good flavor, but the Death Lizard has an insane amount of capsaicin extract in it, which makes it so hot, it’s ignorant hot. We always knew we had great products, but when you can win an award for having a great tasting really hot product, then you know you have really accomplished something.”

Monty’s also won 3 other golden chile awards for their Black Beans & Corn Chipotle Picante Sauce, Monty’s Best Spicy Wing Sauce, and Monty’s Best Roasted Garlic Wing Sauce.

The complete list of winning products is:

Barbecue Sauce

Chipotle Base
3rd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Smokin’ Chipotle

Smoked
2nd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, Monty’s Smokin’ Chipotle

Hot Sauce

Louisiana-Style
2nd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Fire Lizard
3rd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Green Scream

Specialty
2nd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Green Scream

XXX Hot (with extract)
1st place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Death Lizard

Salsa

Bean
1st place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Black Beans and Corn Chipotle

Chipotle
3rd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, Monty’s Black Beans and Corn Chipotle

Hot
2nd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Chipotle

Medium
2nd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Medium Hot

Mild
3rd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, Monty’s Mild

COOK-OFF

Wing Sauce, Hot
1st place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC., Monty’s Best Spicy

Wing Sauce, Medium
1st place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Best Roasted Garlic
2nd place — Monty’s Gourmet Foods, LLC, Monty’s Best Original

For more information or to contact Monty for an interview feel free to call 1-785-242-9996.

Monty Fritts, owner
Monty’s Gourmet Foods L.L.C.
516 N Main St.
Ottawa, KS 66067
http://www.montysgourmet.com/
Home Of The LIZARD and 53 international awards for flavor
Monty’s Hot Sauces - Monty’s Party Picante
Monty’s Smokin BBQ Sauces - Monty’s Hot Wing Sauces

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