Recipes — Chilies

The history of chili pepper begins in Mesoamerica. Mayans use chili for treating infected wounds and gastrointestinal problems other than for its culinary purposes. It has shown that chili pepper inhibits microbial pathogens and capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili that causes its burning sensation and pungency, has analgesic properties.  Chilis are also used as a repellent for rodents such as mice and even elephants. Zambian Farmers deter Elephants by burning blocks of dung and chilis to prevent them from destroying the crop-- this is an effective deterrent to most mammals, except us crazy humans.  For over 6,000 years, humans...

The rainy days are upon us and how best to enjoy it than with a warm bowl of a hearty and filling soup? This black lentil soup is very easy to prepare, tasty, and you can add your leftover meats to enhance the flavor or keep it vegetarian-friendly. Or make it vegan by replacing butter with a plant-based fat of your choice. The cumin and black pepper adds a nice kick to the dish while the cilantro, celery, onions and carrots keep it light and fresh. I like to use dried black beans to this recipe but you can also...

What better way to re-launch our blog than with a guest post from one of our loyal customer, an excellent photographer and one of the best home cooks I know, my brother @itsmariongarcia? Hope you enjoy his version of this yummy, fall-off-the-bone Indian Beef Curry goodness. So I recently tried an Indian Restaurant, and the food was just amazing. I liked the dish so much, that I wanted to recreate it on my own, and have my own version. Here's what I did. For the rice, I cooked it the same way you would but added: 1 stick of Cinnamon...

Dried whole chilies make excellent chili con carne and Mexican red chili sauce. Clean, toast, and simmer in chicken stock to make the perfect chili puree or toss in the blender to make your own coarse chili powder.