Swollen Pigs & Chiles

This is going to be a short note as one, I don’t have a lot of time, and two, I don’t have a lot to say.  Nevertheless, I will take up some of your time with the following information.  For those of you that follow the saga of our hog raising, Zubenelgenubi, our Red Wattle sow, is due to have her next litter sometime in the next 72 hours or so.  Probably sooner rather than later.  Here’s a couple of pictures of her largeness inside and outside her house. 

Zubenelgenubi Snoring up a Storm

                                              

Searching for a Snack

This means that things will get crazy for a few days as we adapt to yet more critters running around the ridge.  Hopefully.  She didn’t fair too well with her last litter.

On to the world of spices.  We just received a new shipment of Ghost Peppers (Bhut Jolokia) from the Assam province of India.  These are truly special chiles that have been dried but not smoked.  For the uninitiated, Ghost Peppers are the hottest naturally occurring chile on the planet with a Scoville rating between 880, 00 and 1,014,000 units.  By way of comparison, a Habanero comes in around 350,000 units.  Surprisingly the heat does not last all that long.  While it is intense, it fades within 5 minutes on average and doesn’t set your lips on fire like a habanero.  It’s not all about the heat though.  These peppers have outstanding flavor that blends well with everything from chili to chocolate.  We also have Ghost Pepper powder which is a little more versatile as far as spicing up various items.  The whole chiles are nice if you want to add some heat and flavor and then yank the chile out of whatever it is your cooking.  See the next paragraph for availability.

By the end of the month we should have a full selection of whole chiles for you to choose from.  I know I told some of you in the next couple of weeks, but you know how it goes.  Anyway, the chiles are:

Puya

Ghost (Bhut Jolokia)

New Mexico

Ancho

Pasilla Negro

Guajillo

Chipotle Meco

Chipotle Morita

Habanero

Smoked Serrano

Mulato

Cascabel

We'll also have Mexican Oregano to accompany these.  A species of flowering plant in the Verbena family, it is not actually oregano.  It typically is stronger and less sweet than Mediterranean Oregano.

Mexican Oregano

Okay.  Maybe not so short.