chili

The dog and I walked this morning, my left knee is feeling weird but that's because I've restarted squats and lunges, but stretching, not so much, but it's better today after tackling some quad knots yesterday evening, etc...

And I'm making chili this afternoon for a local race tomorrow. I guess I'm about halfway through prep-wise, but there still remains a heck of a simmer.

There is no recipe. There are umpteen clean spoons and the suitable median between courage and concern. I suspect that I will, as usual, be led too far into courage by an increasingly numbed mouth, and thus will have to make a late-evening run for more tomato sauce and sweet peppers.

And then there is the quality of the heat, but this is readily solved: I adore the smoky, slightly delayed gentle warmth of chipotle. That's my key note, as they say in the biz.

This time, this will be slightly and carefully augmented by a sharper, stronger and longer heat from another type of pepper. I went to the farmers' market last weekend expecting to buy a lot of peppers, but there weren't any. Finally, something caught my eye: small baskets of gnarled thin long peppers. They were different colours (yellow, red, green) but the same shape. I asked the farmer if they were hot and she said yes.

In the past, I have subsequently asked other farmers "Like jalapenos?" "Oh, no, nothing like that."

It's a trick question. Jalapenos can have a good kick and are but are still manageable on their own. I enjoy mild peppers, but sometimes I need something more.

This time, I didn't inquire further. I had a good feeling about them. I told her I wanted to buy a box because I needed to make chili.

"You're not going to use all of them?" she asked, shocked.

"Oh, no! Two or three."

"Be sure to taste test." She looked me in the eye. "They are hot."

After that, I believed her. I wore a plastic bag on my non-knife hand when I cut them into thin slices, and then I decided to try a slice. This was a very small amount but I'm still feeling the effect 20 minutes later. It's now a rather soothing warmth in the abdominal region, and a lingering, less pleasant laryngitis. It also made my nose run briefly a few minutes ago. I have blocked out memories of the initial sensation. It felt hotter than Southeast Asian peppers, but I probably ate more of this one.

I forgot to ask her what they are. They look like cayenne.