Ham Sandwich Indicted!

It's been a crazy few weeks at Ham Sandwich HQ.  A murderer got his just desserts (don't kill people, kids, it's not cool...and you'll go to prison), the Ham Sandwich celebrated another year on the planet ( Ad Hoc at Home AND The French Laundry  cookbooks? swoon ), and triathlon training started. Along with that last little project comes a revamping of some eating habits, which is good, I suppose, but unfortunate since I've been in a baking mood for a while. (I'm looking at you, butter-loaded recipes by Ree Drummond and sweet dough recipes in April's Bon Appetit... ) Week 1 of training started with this dish for dinner (and several lunches): polenta cakes with black bean and corn salsa (two times the corn!) and a shrimp and mango ceviche, courtesy of the talented and charming BF.  Polenta, essentially coarse grain cornmeal, is easy to cook with and pairs wonderfully with a million different things.  You can cook it and eat it right away, spooned o...

Yeah, I know it's been over a month since I've posted anything--believe me, I've tried, but wasn't quite feeling the inspiration. Don't get me wrong, the kitchens at Ham Sandwich, Inc. have been hard at work the past month churning out homemade BBQ sauce, brandied peaches and plums, an obscene amount of baked goods, and a damn delicious pork shoulder--but writing down my assorted adventures was feeling a bit trite, even forced. It happens. Fortunately for you folks at home, I tackled the new and mildly dangerous land of hot sauce this weekend, and am pleased to say that I survived to post about it, with all my mucous membranes intact. Yay! See that rounded red pepper in the foreground of the picture above? That's a fresh, evil Naga Jolokia Ghost Pepper, one of four given to me by a former coworker as obsessed with food as I am. (Shoutout: Lauren, you'll be sorely missed around here!) See the jalapeño tree in the picture below? If I had a more recent pho...

I'm sure that by now, pretty much everyone is familiar with the current darling of the condiment world, Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. A product of Huy Fong Foods, it's been made in California since the 1980s, but has seen a surge in popularity in the last few years, thanks to appearances on Iron Chef, use by celebrity chefs, and write-ups in The New York Times . In fact, this past January Sriracha was named the 2010 Ingredient of the Year by Bon Appetit magazine. So what's the massive appeal? The ingredient list is spectacularly simple: red jalapeno peppers, garlic, salt, sugar, vinegar in a paste in a squeezable bottle. It manages to be spicy without being overbearing (see previous post on Jolokia peppers), and adds great depth of flavor to pretty much anything--soups, marinades, sauces (it's GREAT in pasta sauces), dips and dressings. I thought I'd post my current favorite use of Sriracha since tomato season is not too far away. Come to think of it, a dash of Srirach...

(Image courtesy of www.tastethefear.com) During my weekdays, I spend my time prosecuting those who violate the laws of man. Apparently, my weekend nights are spent violating the laws of nature... The Bhut Jolokia pepper is, without any hyperbole, the hottest pepper in the world. The chart above compares the jolokia with other, more common peppers, as measured in Scoville units. The Scoville scale is named after the American chemist Wilber Scoville, and measures the amount of capsaicin in a pepper. Last night at a cookout, two of my genius friends reconstituted a bag (8 or so) of dried jolokia peppers, then pureed them in a blender. I was told they were going to be "Scoville shots:" a tablespoon or so of jolokia puree mixed with a shot of vodka. My response, was that they were idiots. The jolokia is used, after all, as a pepper spray to ward off wild elephants in India, and being considered for use in non-lethal riot control. Two hours later though, caving less to pee...

One of the random talents of the Ham Sandwich family is salsa making. My mom's mom made jars and jars of salsa every summer with the tomatoes and peppers my grandpa would grow in their backyard garden. Salsa making talent reappeared in my brother, who not only made salsa, but hot sauce as well , AND made a viable company selling spicy condiments to folks that are apparently referred to as "chiliheads." This weekend, I dug deep into my genetic code and tried my hand at making and canning my own salsa...boiling water bath and all. Surprisingly, it was not that hard, and was rather satisfying. The only investment I had to make was a box of mason jars and the canning kit with a funnel, jar and lid grabber, and spatula. (Wal-Mart is good for some things...) I'd already inherited grandma's canning kettle, and the garden supplied me with just about all the ingredients. The most time consuming part of all this is the prep: blanching, peeling and seeding the tomatoes, r...