In Hot Water (26 page)

There was no response. She called him again, a little louder.

Still nothing.

She ran into the bedroom and looked at the chest next to her bed. Eric’s badge was gone. Stella lifted Hero. He was a heavy weight for her injured arm, but she got him out to the Cherokee to take him to the vet.

When she reached the end of Firehouse Road, she called Walt.

“Eric is gone. It sounds crazy I know, but I think someone may have kidnapped him.”

Sweet Pepper, Tennessee, grows the hottest, sweetest pepper in the world—the Tennessee Teardrop Pepper! It’s a combination of our soil and our proximity to the Smoky Mountains that makes our jalapeño peppers better. Sweet, but with a bite that makes your eyes open. Not too hot—but not too tame either.

These are some of the award-winning recipes from our annual pepper festival. Try a few, or some of your own, with our peppers. We’re sure you’ll agree that our peppers are the best! Enjoy!

Know Your Peppers

Because knowing the strength and taste of the peppers you use with your foods can make or break your meal, it’s best to know your peppers!

The featured pepper is Bhut Jolokia (the Ghost Chili Pepper).

This popular chili pepper has been named the hottest pepper in the world. It is 2½ to 3 inches long, with a red-orange to hot red appearance. Its Scoville rating, which grades the amount of heat you feel when you’re eating it, is 855,000 to 1,050,000. These are naturally grown peppers, not synthetically developed. Now that’s hot!

The normal jalapeño is 2,500 to 5,000. Proceed with caution if you eat a ghost pepper.

AWARD-WINNING HOT SAUCE

by Darcy Eldridge

5 chili peppers, minced. Try to use a variety of pepper types for best flavor.

1 tablespoon minced onion 1 tablespoon minced garlic Olive oil

1 small can tomato paste 1 cup vinegar

½ teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon lemon juice Sauté peppers, onion, and garlic in a little olive oil.

Stir in the tomato paste and ½ cup vinegar.

Bring the mixture to a boil. Add the remaining ingredients as it cools.

Store in the refrigerator. Serve with anything from chicken to ribs.

AWARD-WINNING HOT PEPPER CORN MUFFINS

by Elsie Winnapoor

1 cup self-rising flour. If you don’t have self-rising, use 1 teaspoon baking powder.

2 eggs

¼ cup cooking oil

4 jalapeños

Mix first six ingredients together. This makes the basic muffin batter. Now add jalapeños, chopped, seeded, and stems removed, and mix with the batter.

Add hotter peppers to your own taste. Add a mixture of red and green peppers for a prettier look!

Be sure to coat the pan first in either case so the cornbread won’t stick. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

AWARD-WINNING SWEET AND SOUR CUKES

1 cup vinegar

½ cup finely chopped onion ½ cup finely chopped, seeded, and stemmed jalapeños

2 long, narrow cucumbers. These should be cut diagonally in thin slices.

Combine first five ingredients in a bowl. Add cucumbers and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste.

BLUE-RIBBON-WINNING RECIPE FOR STUFFED HOT PEPPERS

by Fire Chief Stella Griffin

For this recipe, you will need 1 loaf of homemade bread with candied fruit added. Also add an additional ½ cup sugar to your normal bread recipe. If you’re using a bread machine to make this, follow the instructions for raisin or fruit bread.

You will need 12 large jalapeño peppers with the seeds and stems removed. These should be intact, so be careful how you handle them. Create a candy glaze for the peppers by mixing 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar to create a syrup. Dunk each pepper into the glaze mixture, making sure they are well coated.

When they are dry and the bread is cool, push the bread mixture into the peppers until they are full.

Put each pepper on a cookie sheet and bake at low heat for about 5 minutes. The glaze should get hard.

Serve cold. Excellent with ice cream!

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