31 May 2009

Pineapple-habañero salsa


I love hot food.  And habaneros are hot.  Hot hot hot!  The first time I read a recipe with habañeros, it warned "Wear gloves when handling habañeros".  Bah.  I figured, just don't touch my eyes or lick my fingers until after I've washed my hands.  How hot could they be?  So I chopped and seeded the habañeros, and vigorously washed my hands.  I did some more work in the kitchen, washed my hands.  Cleaned the dishes, washed my hands.  And then I wiped my nose.  HOLY SWEET FRACKING BURNING BLAZE OF NOSTRIL DEATH!!!  It took over an hour for the burn to subside.  Due to the magnitude of the burn, and its oil-solubility means that it hangs around for a while, and it is quite unpleasant.  If you don't have gloves, keep your hands off of your eyes, nose, children, small pets...  Just use gloves.  Really.

This salsa is very tasty.  Sweet.  Bright.  A tiny bit of a burn.  I dialed up the heat from the original version, from Gourmet (back when they liked food).
1/2 pineapple, peeled and coarsely chopped (2 cups)
2 tbsp fresh pineapple juice
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp mild molasses
3 scallions, finely chopped
1 minced seeded habañero
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground allspice
Chop, mix, and let sit for at least an hour to let the flavours blend.  Enjoy with chips while cooking.

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