Ain’t nothing quite like a bowl of some spicy Cajun Seafood Gumbo from the heart of Louisiana, New Orleans!

If you ready for something delicious, give this a try – this tasty seafood gumbo contains shrimp, crab, both chicken and turkey necks and much more!

Cajun Seafood Gumbo from my kitchen in New Orleans, Louisiana!

Cajun Gumbo is a tradition down here in Louisiana and we take pride in cooking it. People from all around the world come here to get this authentic flavor and being able to cook this wonderful dish in your own kitchen is a product of growing up in this region of the world famous not only for its cooking, but the Cajun people and our contribution and influence to cooking all around the world, and especially in the United States.

When you think of spicy food you think of food from the New Orleans area, and that’s how we like it.

My brother is having a party soon and I promised him I would make some of my famous Habanero Sausage especially for his party. Not only do I create my own all natural seasoning from scratch, we will be making the sausage as well and grinding the meat together with seasoning to create this one of a kind hot habanero pepper sausage from the swamps outside of New Orleans!

Close up pic of ground habanero and other hot peppers.

I dry my own peppers and spices to create this unique seasoning blend of many types of hot peppers including homegrown habaneros. Other spices include garlic, onion, but no salt. Most store bought “seasoning blends” are more than 50% salt. I focus on the taste and keep it hot and spicy!

As I mix this seasoning for the sausage I will update with more pics. The party is in a few weeks and I will show you how I create this wonderful, true Cajun hot pepper sausage from scratch.

My current fascination with hot pepper cheeses has lead me to the glorious realm of Havarti cheese. I have tasted and enjoy the various Havarti cheeses from Denmark, and even Wisconsin!

However, a recent favorite of mine is the Dofino Havarti Jalapeno, although I do prefer the Denmark Havarti cheeses I haven’t got my hands on a true Denmark Havarti that has spicy hot peppers in the cheese yet. So the Wisconsin made “Havarti Jalapeno” Cheese will do for now!

Here is a picture of Dofino’s Jalapeno Havarti.

The original Havarti cheese differs from the buttery and soft “cream Havarti” cheese, but nonetheless softens at room temperature quickly and can be sliced, grilled, or melted! It’s a great table cheese and can be enjoyed with fresh baked breads o your liking, and the spicy jalapeno flavor embedded in the Havarti, in my opinion, is much better than traditional “Pepper Jack” cheese.

To each his own though, Havarti is not for everyone, although personally, I enjoy the creamy Havarti more than the crumbly Monterey Jack used in Pepper jack cheese.

Overall, the jalapeno really compliments the sweet and tart taste of Havarti very well. If you like it spicy try some spicy havarti Jalapeno cheese and compare with traditional Pepper Jack cheese.

Last night I cooked some very tasty Fish Tacos,… fish tacos?

Yes, while living in California I was introduced to “fish tacos” and if you have not had them you do not know what you are missing!

I seasoned and cooked the fish, then I chopped up some fresh onions and cilantro with squeezed lime, and used some of my famous homemade “salsa roja” (red salsa) and a few drops of Tapatio to top it off.

For a side I made a quick stir fry of some fresh vegetables including Broccoli green peppers, onions, and more.

Although this may not be the greatest picture (was taken with my cellphone) but it was so delicious and its one of my favorite things to cook.

My apologies for the down time, HotSaucehead.com is back up and running! The server that this site is hosted on was hacked and we had to move everything over. Enough of that, are you ready for some good salsa?

I made a sweet salsa this weekend and everyone enjoyed it tremendously. Most people think of hot when they imagine “salsa recipes” but the fact is you can make salsa out of many different things and many salsas are not even considered “hot” at all.

Take this cucumber and mango salsa for example. The cucumber and onion really balance out the heat and the sweetness of the mango really counter the sting of the spice so it creates a pleasant sweet and even tangy flavor.

This past weekend I made Cucumber Mango Salsa and wanted to share the picture I took of it to update the blog.

This is a sweet and spicy salsa fresca (fresh salsa) made with cucumbers, mangos, onions, jalapenos, garlic and more.

Doesn’t it look yummy?

Over 10 lbs of various tomatoes, Couple lbs of various peppers including Habanero, Jalapeno, sweet red Fresnos, Long Hot Thai, onion, lime, cilantro… Not even everything!
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Wow, yesterday we picked close to 50 Mirlitons off the vines we grew in our backyard this year.

Look at my gorgeous organic Mirlitons!

At this time I cannot reveal my recipe I am working on with these, but I can tell you these mirlitons or as some call them Chayote, are 100% organic and grown wild in my garden. The vines are about 20 feet long and I grew them from two mirlitons we put in dirt and they grew into vines.

Chayote also known as sayote, tayota, choko, chocho, chow-chow, christophene, mirliton, alligator pear, and vegetable pear, is an edible plant that belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae along with melons, cucumbers and squash.

We did not expect to have such a good season with them, but once these babies get growing it is difficult to control them. I have started giving them out to friends and family, sending family members home with a dozen at a time! We have so many of them.

I have used some in my salsa and even hot sauce, it is great vegetable to grow and has plenty of uses in the kitchen. The leaves of the mirliton vine can also be used in a tea as the plant leaves contain anti-inflammatory properties. The leaves and fruit have diuretic, cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory properties, and a tea made from the leaves has been used in the treatment of arteriosclerosis and hypertension, and to dissolve kidney stones.

Wow, this year has been great for peppers. Over the past 2-3 days the weather has started to really change and the temps are dropping outside as the cool season approaches, but my plants are producing more and more habaneros every week. Not even sure how many plants I have at this time, but I know I have picked buckets of habanero peppers.

Here is a picture of a bowl of habaneros I dumped out before slicing them up and getting them ready to be dehydrated.

One of the main problems about growing so many peppers is how to store them for long term?

Well, the best way is to dry them. You can then either store them in jars or simply grind them up into a powder and use a pinch of habanero powder in your favorite meal!

Need to read more on Dehydrating Peppers you can find more info on HotSaucehead.com

The good thing is I have taken a lot of pictures and have plenty more to post, so check back tomorrow for more.

Yesterday I got the urge for Jalapeno Poppers. I know I know, not the best thing for you health-wise, but man do they taste good! If you have never had them, Jalapeno Poppers are basically peppers stuffed with cheese, breaded, and then lightly fried. While it may not be gourmet food, they are quite tasty to those who enjoy peppers and cheese, who doesn’t?

Here is a picture I took after breading a few. You can see the fresh jalapenos stuffed with cheese, as well as, the breaded jalapenos poppers ready to be fried! I picked out only the best and biggest jalapenos to cook.

I made up my own recipe for these, but you can alter it to your liking or if you want to use other types of cheese.

Jalapeno Poppers Recipe

12 fresh jalapenos
3 eggs
1 c. grated cheddar
1 c. queso Mexican cheese
2 tsp. Tapatio hot Sauce
Bread Crumbs
Spices

Vegetarians can use egg substitute and a vegan cheese!

1. Wash jalapenos and slice length-wise and remove stem and seeds.
2. Mix cheeses and hot sauce together and stuff the jalapenos
3. Crack open eggs and lightly beat in bowl…
4. Pour bread crumbs in another bowl
5. Coat jalapenos in eggs and then roll in bread crumbs. Repeat twice for thick breading.
6. Heat oil to 325 and lightly fry until golden brown on all sides

The Jalapeno Poppers in my photos are actually quite large, I picked out Jalapenos that all measured 4 inches or more. You can use smaller peppers if you want, and you can substitute cheese type for your favorite cheese.

A reader of HotSaucehead.com asked me how I get my Habanero Powder for my famous Habanero Fudge. I use more than one method, but the easiest way to do it is to use a Dehydrator. I use a Nesco American Harvest

How to dehydrate peppers properly

Dehydrating peppers is the best way to keep them for when you need them. I do not like frozen vegetables or fruits, and peppers fall into that category as well. My garden produces too many peppers to let them go to waste, so I have made it a habit to dehydrate them during the season and this gives me a never-ending supply of peppers all year round.

Here is a picture of the hot peppers I set to dehydrate this morning. The peppers included are: serranos, green cayenne, red & green jalapenos, habaneros etc…

I spent part of my morning cutting up quite a few hot peppers. To dehdrate peppers quickly, I wash and clean them first. Then slice them in half and spread them out on the dehydrator racks.

Depending on the heat setting and type of dehydrator these peppers can be done in less than 24 hours if you need them fast. You want the temperature around 125° and dehydrate them for at least 6 hours until they are fully dried.

How to make pepper powder from dehydrated peppers

Use a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to grind your peppers into a fine powder. Make sure your peppers are fully dried and dehydrated before grinding them up into pepper.