Hotcakes (Naga Jolokia Chocolate Cupcakes)

(adapted...heavily...from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)

Joef's passion for spicy food knows no boundaries. Entrees, mixed drinks, and now desserts. Well, I suppose we broke the dessert barrier with Naga Jolokia hot fudge. But now we've increased our repertoire to include cupcakes, Joef's own creation.

I had to persuade Joef not to bring these as a surprise to a dinner party - all participants were fully warned about the heat factor before indulging. Which is a good thing, because these are really, really spicy. They pack a punch. There is something about Naga Jolokia - a smokiness - that makes them go very well with chocolate. So, while Martha would undoubtedly not approve, they were really yummy, too. Plus, Joef is a way better baker than I am. It's in his blood. I just don't have the patience for the accuracy required.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 18)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp Naga Jolokia powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup warm water

Preheat your oven to 350, and line standard muffin tins with paper liners. With an electric mixer on medium, whisk together all the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and Naga Jolokia. Do not breathe the mixture in - it'll burn. Reduce speed on your mixer to low, then add eggs, water, buttermilk, oil, extract, and water. Beat until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through cooking time, about 20 minutes (or until a piece of spaghetti inserted into the centers comes out clean). Transfer to wire racks to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove cupcakes from the tins and let them cook completely before topping with frosting (see below).

Fluffy Vanilla Frosting (makes about 4 cups, way more than you need)
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides. After every two additions, raise the speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate the frosting, then return to medium. This process should take about 5 minutes, and the frosting should be very light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla and beat until frosting is smooth. Bring to room temp before using, then beat on low speed until smooth again for about 5 minutes.

Three-Pepper Burmese Chicken Curry

(adapted from Dave DeWitt's 1,001 Best Hot and Spicy Recipes)

Joef turned 29 this year, and to celebrate, we hosted a spicy potluck dinner party. We stocked our fridge with ice cream and whole milk, turned to Dave DeWitt, and used spice with reckless abandon. We even made spicy drinks - bloody Marys and (to be posted soon) habanero pina coladas (surprisingly great). Our friends all brought (delicious) spicy dishes, from peanut noodles to what was described to me as Indian "sloppy Joes". Seriously, our friends can cook - the food was awesome.

I randomly selected this Burmese Chicken Curry. I've been really promoting cookbooks lately, and I'll do it again - DeWitt's book is really, really good. We haven't had a so-so recipe from it yet. This was delicious. I probably wouldn't make it this spicy again (it won spiciest for the night) - Joef, of course, disagrees - and the flavors were awesome. Which is actually pretty lucky, because I accidentally swapped the proportions for the paprika and the turmeric...pretty significant error, which turned out totally OK. So - below is my (accidentally) adapted recipe, with the heat turned WAY up (to turn it down, substitute red pepper flakes for habanero, and regular oil for the Naga-Jolokia infused). Can't wait to make this one again.

(You could pretty easily make this vegetarian - just swap the chicken for cauliflower and/or potato, right?)

(Warning - the fish sauce smells awful. Really awful. I promise it will taste great.)

For eight or more servings:

5 chicken drumsticks, skin removed
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground turmeric
8 tbsp fish sauce
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
8 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
4 tbsp fresh ginger, sliced
1 tsp paprika, plus a little more
2 tsp habanero flakes
1 cup plus 4 tbsp water, divided
1 jalapeno, stems removed, minced
6 tbsp Naga Jolokia-infused peanut oil
2 large/medium tomatoes, chopped
2-3 cups brown rice
1 tbsp rice flour (optional and if needed)

Wash the chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel. Place the chicken in a deep dish. In a separate bowl, mix the salt, paprika, and fish sauce, then pour over the chicken. Marinate the chicken in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, blend the onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chile flakes, 4 tbsp of the water, and the jalapeno, plus a few shakes of paprika, until it turns into a coarse paste.

In a large, deep frying pan, heat the oil over medium. Add the paste and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and tomatoes, and stir fry for 15 minutes or so. Add the rest of the water, partially (mostly) cover the pan, and cook over medium-low for about 25 minutes, until the chicken is done and the sauce has thickened. (My friend Archana taught me a trick - if it's not thickening the way you want it to, you can take a little bit of the sauce out of the pan, add 1 tbsp or so of rice flour, stir them together until blended, and then return the combination to the pan and stir it in.)

When the chicken is ready, remove the drumsticks from the pan, remove the meat from the bone, and return to the pan. Allow to simmer for a few more minutes, then serve over rice. And wash it down with whole milk.

Infusions: Fire Oil

Let the Naga Saga continue! Har!

Joef's next creation in this series was Naga-Jolokia-infused oils. We made three types: olive oil, sesame, and peanut. We used slightly different proportions in each one - olive oil was mildest, peanut the hottest. In general, we used two ghost peppers for two cups of oil, and then added a few bird peppers for some more flavor. 

The oils turned out great, and to be honest, not as hot as we expected. For example, I used the infused olive oil to make a white clam sauce (and added shrimp - SO good!), a fairly oil-intensive dish, and it wasn't spicy at all. However, if you use it as a dipping sauce, there's more heat. So, next time we do this, we're going to add more peppers per cup of oil, and we're also going to leave the peppers in the oil for a couple of days before removing them - as we learned from the vodka, it takes a little time for the heat to seep out.

 So, for two cups of oil:

2 ghost peppers, halved

4 or so bird peppers, halved

Heat the oil in a wok. When the oil is hot, drop in the peppers. Let them cook for about 10 minutes, then remove the oil from the heat. Let the oil cool, then pour into glass containers (containers should be boiled before use).

The peppers are very, very, very hot - so take the proper precautions. We probably overdid it a little with the face masks, but the latex gloves were definitely a good plan. And don't touch your face!

Looking forward to using these oils in stir fries and more!

Infusions: Fire Vodka

Joef's dreams came true this past week when our friend Jonathan brought back a bag of Naga Jolokia peppers from India. Apparently, he got past security, who told him it was a biological weapon, by telling them the peppers were for "research". And in a way, they were.

We spent the weekend experimenting with these peppers and another bag of what we think are bird peppers, and Joef was in heaven. We made (spoiler alert!) three types of oil, and this vodka, which eventually we'll use for Bloody Marys.

This pepper was really interesting, because so far it's interacted really differently with the vodka than, say, the habaneros and jalapenos we usually use to make homemade pepper vodka. It's taken more time for the color of the peppers to start to bleed out into the vodka, and it's been flavoring the vodka much more gradually. We take a little sip every other day or so, and it is starting to kick up considerably.

As for the recipe: one handle vodka, four naga jolokia peppers with the tops cut off. Pop 'em in and wait for the fun to start.