Killer jerky

No, it's not made with the death sauce - but something just as brutal (and actually I did use a couple of teaspoons of the death sauce in some mince for burritos and it was somewhat awesome).

We are slowly and steadily getting ripe chillies every few days and we are fast figuring out different ways of using them (after of course Elliot has cut them open, examined them thoroughly, smelt, felt and tasted a fair bit of each).

Chilli collection - red Jalapenos, Scotch Bonnets, Bhut Jolokias,
Fatalii, Thai chillies,  Wildfires, and a California Wonder
capsicum and Red Marconi in the background

I too have tried a couple this week - about 1/20 of a decent sized Habanero and about the same of a Fatalii. The Fatalii was BRUTAL and also quite bitter. I did not enjoy it at all; the Habanero was equally as deathly but the flavour is much sweeter and you actually get a chance to enjoy some of the flavour before the overwhelming heat and want to die takes over. I got through them ok although got the hiccups for the first time ever with the Fatalii (a common reaction when eating really hot chillies).

The Habanero

This week we have dried a lot of the chillies we got and the Bhut Jolokias (the hottest and baddest ones we have) have been made into a powder. Just the smell of this powder had me teary-eyed.

Dried Bhut Jolokias

The drying process is easy - just cut the tops off and either cut them in half or just chuck em in a food dehydrator whole for about 12 hours (will depend on setting and the dehydrator - although after much searching the only one we found anywhere was at Briscoes so we had to wait for one of their rare sales and got it for about $80).

Once the chillies are dry, grind them in a coffee grinder for a few seconds and Bob's your uncle.

Made the mistake of smelling it!

To make jerky is just as easy really. We have made it many times before (the dehydrator was initially bought to make chipotles but we didn't quite have the jalapenos yet so dried meat it was). It is so yummy and easy and you can basically make it whatever flavour you desire. We use (all measurements are very approximate):

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• Half clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp chilli powder

I must credit this recipe to Elliot who created it on the first attempt, it was great and has become our standard jerky recipe.

This time we substituted the chilli powder for about 3 tsp of Bhut Jolokia powder (all of the above pictured powder).

Slice some schnitzel or steak into slices depending on how thick you want it - we do fairly thin pieces of schnitzel (the ingredients above are perfect for about four pieces of schnitzel).

Mix all the ingredients above in with the meat. Marinate overnight.

Spread the pieces evenly over the dehydrator trays and put on medium for about 8 hours (perfect if you love the smell of dried meat to come home to after work. Mmmmm dried meat).

It is super good when it just comes out of the dehydrator. Keep it in an airtight container (if you can keep it for longer than a few hours - it is ridiculously addictive, even if your teeth don't thank you for it).

So the verdict on the killer jerky...YUM! Pretty bloody hot but so yum! In fact we are about to dry some more Bhuts for some more powder and schnitzel is definitely on the grocery list for today. This jerky will certainly clear the sinuses but you just can't stop eating it.

Note the strategically placed skull cookie jar in the background