Turn Up the Heat
What do you do when it gets cold out? Well, you turn up the heat. We're here to give you our culinary fleece blanket, our gastronomic equivalent of a roaring fire: spice. Here are 9 recipes to give you that kick in the middle of winter, that necessary jolt when it's gray outside. It's getting hot in here, isn't it?
Still cold? Browse our recipes for soups and stews.
Serve one of these 9 Great Winter Grains as a side dish.
Got a question in the kitchen? The Food52 Hotline is here to help!
Green Chile Country Gravy by arielleclementine
Arielleclementine's smoky, peppery gravy takes us back to the milk gravy of our childhood -- just amped up, Texas-style. It's the perfect silky cloak for fresh, homemade biscuits (like these), and roasting the poblanos is by far the most challenging part of the recipe. We love that the sauce is flecked generously with both onion and poblano, adding texture and sweetness along with the heat. - Amanda & Merrill
Makes 2 cups
2 large fresh green chiles (hatch, anaheim, new mexico or poblano)
2 tablespoons fat (sausage or bacon drippings) or butter
1/2 small yellow onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
kosher salt
Position your oven rack so that it is 4-6 inches below your broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil and put the whole peppers on the sheet. Broil, turning the peppers occasionally, until the skin is charred and peeling on all sides. Remove the peppers to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Remove the stems, seeds, and skin from the peppers and dice the flesh. Set aside.
If you're making this for breakfast, to accompany biscuits and your very favorite breakfast meat, fry up the bacon or sausage in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Remove all but two tablespoons of fat from the skillet. (Or, if you're making this with butter, skip the meat frying, and just melt two tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat.)
Add the onions to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, until they're soft and sweetly caramelized around the edges. Sprinkle two tablespoons of flour into the pan and stir for about a minute, so that the raw flour cooks off and the roux takes on a golden brown color.
Add the milk to the pan and stir to combine. Add the diced chiles. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the gravy is thick and creamy. Season to taste with plenty of kosher salt (I used a little more than a teaspoon) and enjoy with your favorite starchy treat!
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Moroccan Carrot Salad with Harrissa
This salad is all about tang and fragrance. It's one of those dishes that really wakes up your tongue: the garlic keeps on giving (in the best possible way); the harissa lends both sweetness and heat (you can control the latter by choosing a milder or more spicy harissa); and the perfume of the preserved lemon lingers after each bite. We love the plump little rounds of carrot, which grab onto just the right amount of dressing. And yes, it is even better the next day. - Amanda & Merrill
There is a dish at Fonda, a fantastic Mexican restaurant that opened up near our apartment last year, that I order every time we go there. It's called fish salpicon. It's basically a cooked ceviche, served with homemade corn tortillas. I decided to try to recreate it. I used tilapia, which I thought would flake nicely, and I lightly coated the fish in Wondra before sautéing it, which gave it a nice crisp crust. Mine didn't turn out exactly like Fonda's, but I liked it anyway: it's an easy dish to whip up as an hors d'oeuvre (serve it with chips instead of tortillas), or as a light supper for one. - Merrill
Like barbecue or chocolate chip cookies, chili has inspired many a debate. Connoisseurs know that there are as many versions as there are cooks who make it, but not all chili is created equal. This Bowl of Red gives other contenders a run for their money. It's rich and smooth, with a creeping heat from homemade chili paste -- by far the most labor intensive part of the recipe, and it's really not that much work. The addition of a little bittersweet chocolate evokes the suppleness of a good mole, and the delicate beef cubes virtually melt in your mouth. We highly recommend a spritz of lime juice and a dollop of sour cream to finish it off. - Amanda & Merrill
I can't make this enough - last time I had to bump it up to four pounds of meat to satisfy the crowd! I've made it with beef and chicken too, but turkey is my fave. - apartmentcooker
We love Sriracha's heat, which is warm, lasting, and assertive without being overbearing. Helen combined the hot sauce with a few everyday ingredients -- olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and cilantro -- to create a sublime marinade for shrimp. The oil and sugar give the marinade some viscosity so it doesn't just season the shrimp but clings to it. But it's the sugar that makes this dish -- on the grill, the sugar caramelizes, giving the shrimp a laquered feel, and its sweetness balances the kick of the Sriracha. Buy some beer or Tequila. - Amanda & Merrill
We are in love with this Tomato Rice -- it's loaded with aromatics and layers of heat but so easily made for a simple side or lunch. You can vary the spice with the type of chiles you choose (Thai are much spicier than serrano), and whether you remove the seeds and heat-packed white ribs -- bear in mind that the spice will continue to build as you eat. If you can't find whole mace, substitute 1/8 tsp ground mace or even skip it and let the other spices carry the dish. - Amanda & Merrill
Double Chocolate and Chilli Cookies
I am really into the history of food and did a little research ... here is what i found ----> The chocolate chili connection is an Aztec concoction. Aztecs associated chocolate with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility. Chocolate was consumed in a bitter, spicy drink called xocolātl, often seasoned with vanilla, chile pepper, and achiote (aka annatto). Xocolātl was believed to fight fatigue, a belief that can be attributed to the theobromine content ( it's kinda like caffeine) So... who said chocolate wasn't good for you?!?! And chocolate with a kick ... insta party! - amreen
