Superbowl Party Picks from Peppers of Key West

Published: Fri, 01/25/13

Peppers Really Do Make You Warmer

As we get deeper into winter and with the bitter cold that causes those undesired sniffles and resulting colds I thought I'd write a short snippet on the health benefits of peppers. This article was written with my northern friends battling sub-zero wind chill temperatures in mind.

As you are trudging through the snow think about the process of thermogenesis. I know, what the heck is that? Thermogenesis is the process by which cells convert energy into heat. If you read my previous articles you will recall that capsaicin is the compound in peppers that make them hot. Capsaicin is in every pepper, except bell peppers, just in different concentrations. Ingestion of capsaicin creates a tumble wind of activity in your body's cell structure.

I'm certainly not a chemist and I apologize to the chemists that are reading this, but here's my attempt... Muscle proteins in a cell play with things like sarcoplasmic reticulum, muscle proteins, and calcium ions. Who knew! The muscle proteins or the bully on the playground, push calcium ions around the cell, creating something called ATP energy or Adenosine Triphosphate. The introduction of capsaicin to this process binds the ATP energy, not having a home anymore, the energy is released as heat. A resulting increase in body temperature occurs. Hibernating animals use this process of energy expenditure to sustain body heat. For this same reason, capsaicin is being used to treat hypothermia victims.

Before I moved to Key West (the temperature as I'm writing this is 76 degrees) I used all the typical methods of trying to get warm - stomping my feet, blowing on my hands, swinging my arm around in a circle, and bundling up so I looked like the Michelin tire guy. Even though I've always had a passion for hot peppers and sauce I never realized that all I had to do was take some peppers with me on my trips to work.

Sincerely,

Pete Legrady, Proprietor

Info@peppersofkeywest.com

Make Your Own Chicken Wing Sauce

One of the best things about chicken wings is that you don't have to go to a restaurant to enjoy them. Chicken wing sauce is easy to make and you can try different hot sauces and combinations to make the perfect chicken wing sauce for you.

The basic ingredients of a chicken wing sauce are really simple:

Hot Sauce
Butter
Vinegar

Yes, that's really it. Of course, you don't have to use hot sauce, you can use teryaki, BBQ, or any other sauce you like. You can even mix sauces to get the perfect blend. Have fun with it and experiment.

We suggest you use the following proportions:

1/3 cup Hot Sauce
1/4-1/3 cup butter
1-2 tsp vinegar

The thicker the sauce, the more butter you need to allow the sauce to cover the wings evenly. We also suggest you use a great tasting, high quality hot sauce that isn't too hot as the base. Then, use a few drops (or a lot of drops) of a much hotter sauce to kick them up. That's because, generally, the more mild sauces tend to be less thick and you won't have to use too much butter and end up with butter wings.

Making the sauce is really easy too- just put it all in a pot, melt and mix. In a pinch, you can even use the microwave.

To cook the wings, the best is to fry them. There's just no substitute. As soon as they come out of the fryer, throw them in a container with a top, pour in your wing sauce, and shake, shake, shake until everything is covered.

For a more health conscious alternative, you can bake the wings. We suggest you spray the wings with an oil spray (olive oil, peanut, etc) just a tad and only a few minutes before you take them out of the oven. That will help brown them up a bit and also adds to the flavor of the wing sauce once applied.

Enjoy and once you nail that perfect recipe, come back here and share it!

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