[CH] Chili & beans, Hunan Hand solution, Open Fields

Mike Stallcup (michael.stallcup@msfc.nasa.gov)
Wed, 10 Oct 2001 14:28:44 -0500 

On 5 Oct 2001 Kristofer Blennow wrote about chili con carne:

>Beans would be a good option, otherwise it will be served with bread
>and some creative mixed salad...  and of course beer.

Chili with or without beans:
I made chili con carne this weekend (and thought fondly of the C-H's 
who were at the Open Fields, wishing I could join them).  I cooked 
the chili in one pot and the pinto beans (with garlic, onions, and 
salt) in a separate pot and let each person add the beans to their 
bowl of chili as they wanted.  Somebody's recommendation to use 
bittersweet chocolate helps reduce the "sweetness" of the tomatoes in 
the chili.  I usually use coffee instead of chocolate.  I also add it 
to my spaghetti sauce for the same reason - one of those "secret 
ingredients" which gives the sauce a nice complex flavor.

Hunan Hand:
Although it may be too late for helping with the harvest from Open 
Fields, I thought I'd let you know what I've used when cleaning up 
after preparing chiles.  Like so many others, I find it uncomfortable 
to wear gloves when cooking to keep the chile juice off my hands. 
However, as Cameron noted:

>Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2001 08:24:39 -0400
>From: Cameron Begg <begg.4@osu.edu>
>Subject: Re: [CH] Peppers & Vodka V8 #394
>
>Alcoholic beverages work because cap is alcohol soluable- it is not 
>'neutralized', just washed away or diluted. Much more soluble in 
>fats (ice cream) or oils (chile oil) or organic solvents like 
>alcohol, acetone, benzene etc. than in water. Techie term for 
>capsaicin (N-Vanillyl-8-methyl-6-(E)-noneamide) in water is 
>"lyophobic" (water hating).

My simple solution after cutting chiles is to have my wife pour 
isopropyl alcohol ("rubbing alcohol") over my hands while I "wash" my 
hands.  She pours for me so I won't touch the bottle lest I get chile 
juice on the outside of the bottle, thereby making the wife really 
upset.  I usually follow that with soap and water to wash the alcohol 
off.  When I have followed this routine I have never had a case of 
Hunan Hand (or anything else).  On those occasions when I've been too 
lazy to use alcohol and just used soap and water, even washing 
several times, I've paid for it later (I could provide several 
entries to the list of "stupid chile tricks.").

Open Fields:
Glad to hear the good reports on Open Fields - sorry about the frost. 
I'm also sorry I couldn't attend but instead I spent a gorgeous 
Saturday at our town's annual Street Festival with my family.  Real 
small town fun - parade with half the town in it, my daughter sang on 
stage, good food, arts and crafts, good food, good music, good food, 
good fun.

I'm still getting chiles out of my garden but the nights are getting 
cooler so it won't last long.  IMHO, there's only one thing better 
than the smell of fresh green chiles roasting on a cool October day 
and that's eating those chiles, preferably smothering a 
freshly-grilled steak.  Life is good!

-- 
Mike  (C-H #36, hab seed intact)
Carpe Capsicum!
(My words, not NASA's)