Hello Dirt and Cactus fans! I’m back to blogging after a brief creative hiatus to reflect and refocus. The beginning of the year – and particularly this our year of 2021 – was more reflective than others for me. I’m not a big “resolutions” person, but I will admit that the arbitrary mark of the end of a year and the beginning of a new one definitely makes me think a bit deeper about some things. I’m excited for this next year of blog programming which will focus a bit more on food and travel (hopefully!). We’re actually in the middle of construction again – building a garage – but honestly, without the lens of the initial self-build in a new country, writing about building is BO-ring. So I’m going to focus on things that make me excited – hopefully they are the same for you! As always, please feel free to comment – it definitely helps me understand which subjects are the most interesting for you as well.

Now that I pulled you in with that fried chicken picture, let’s talk chilies! This is not a bait and switch. You will get a great recipe for fried chicken at the end of this post, but we’ll be bringing the heat first and starting with a little discussion about kitchen staples and availability.

Living in a different country means access to different ingredients and a lack of access to some basics. For me, as a cook, I have to get creative sometimes and end up making a lot of unobtainables on my own. In addition, the pandemic also put a fire under my booty to try to make more stuff from scratch. All of the following I now make on a regular or semi-regular basis: hummus, yogurt, granola, kombucha, salsa, refried beans, flour and corn tortillas, popcorn, dressings/sauces/dips (french vinaigrette, ranch, caesar, chimichurri, classic bbq, korean bbq, etc.), bread (sandwich bread, rustic boulés, bagels, english muffins, sourdough, bao, etc.), flatbread crackers, pasta and asian noodles, broth, thai curry paste, rice powder (for larb), japanese curry roux, spice blends (cajun, garam masala, etc), quick pickles (beets, beans, fennel, cauliflower, bulb, giardiniera, japanese radish pickle, etc.), napa kimchi and other banchan, ground chicken, ground pork and sausage (italian, breakfast, etc.), sweet treats (dehydrated fruit and leather, cookies, cakes, candy, shave ice) and the list goes on.

While all this keeps me busy in the kitchen, I love the results and it feels good to know exactly what is in our food. Also, stuff just tastes better when you make it yourself. You may be pondering what items I have no substitute for. These are mostly specialty fermented asian sauces (vietnamese fish sauce, gochugaru, etc.) which sadly have to be brought from the US. You can find some of these things in Mexico, but they come at a premium and you have little selection, which doesn’t bode well for a picky palate like mine.

Chilis, however, are in abundance down here and they grow all year round. I’m growing three different kinds of peppers right now: thai bird’s eye, piquín and ghost peppers.

From the left in the picture, we’ll start with the piquíns. These are about 50,000 units on the scoville scale, so similar to the heat of cayenne but their flavor is a bit more nutty than grassy. Cayenne is difficult to find down here, so I’ve been blitzing dry piquín in a coffee grinder as a substitute for crushed red pepper, and also grinding it and filtering it for hot red pepper powder. The thai chilies go into thai dishes fresh and any extra get chopped up and added to my fish sauce bottle in the fridge. This preserves the chilis and adds a little heat to the fish sauce. I use it on a lot more than just thai food. It happens to be great in many non-thai dishes that need a burst of umami – think chili con carne, braised meat dishes, etc.

Last but not least are the ghost peppers. I’ve really been enjoying figuring out how to use these. Even though I love spicy food, I’ll admit I was intimidated by what to do with them beyond flavoring vinegar and using them in place of habañero. A while back, a good friend of mine mentioned using ghost pepper salt on the rim of a mezcal shot (thanks Rand!). This led to an attempt at making my own salt – which is easy and freaking delicious! It is indeed tasty with a shot of mezcal, but this stuff seems to have no limit. A pinch in a cold mexican beer is next level. We routinely add it to popcorn and as a finishing salt to dishes. It isn’t as hot as you think! You can buy it in specialty grocery stores in the US or online. If you get our hands on some dried or fresh ghost peppers, you can make it with a blender or coffee grinder. Just whiz the dried peppers (be very careful to let the dust settle before opening the grinder – I do this outside to reduce the risk of inhaling the dust) until finely ground and whiz 1-2 tablespoons with chunky, good salt until the grind is how you want it. Pictured is a chunkier version and a finer version for cocktails and popcorn.

The chunkier version of the salt is featured in this fried chicken recipe I made yesterday. I’ll leave the recipe as-is, but it wasn’t super spicy, so I may add a bit more heat next time. My recipe is inspired by Norman King’s Southern Living’s Best Fried Chicken. I’ve been down the fried chicken recipe rabbit hole and while I love the buttermilk fried chicken with crunchy bits in the crust, this recipe is a no-frills classic, southern fried chicken – crispy, juicy and just perfect. The chicken came from El Mercado Rancho in Todos Santos which sources very high quality meat and eggs from the local ranches in the mountains near us.

spicy southern fried chicken

1 tbsp kosher salt
1 heaping tsp ghost pepper salt (or 1 tsp salt plus 1/4 – 1/2 tsp hot pepper powder)
1 chicken with skin, about 2 1/2 pounds, cut up into 10 pieces (2 wings, 2 legs, 2 thighs, 4 breast pieces – each 1/2 breast cut crosswise)
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 c all-purpose flour
2 c vegetable oil
¼ c bacon drippings or lard

Add tablespoon of kosher salt to 3 quarts of water in a bowl or tub and stir to dissolve. Add chicken pieces to brine and place covered in the refrigerator for 8 – 24 hours.

Right before you are ready to fry, rinse chicken and pat dry. Mix ghost pepper salt with pepper and sprinkle half the mixture over the chicken pieces. Add remainder of salt/pepper mixture and flour to a paper or plastic bag and shake to combine. Add chicken pieces to bag 1-2 at a time, close the bag at the top and shake to coat chicken pieces, shake off excess off each piece and set aside. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.

Heat oil to 360f in a wide, heavy bottomed skillet or cast iron. Add a layer of chicken pieces being careful not to crowd (I did mine in two batches). Oil temp should decrease to about 310f to 325f and should be gently bubbling around the chicken. Cover and cook 5 minutes, take lid off, test to make sure oil is still about 325f (adjust heat as necessary) and cook another 5 minutes. Turn chicken pieces and repeat (5 min covered, 5 min uncovered). Remove and drain on wire rack. Let cool ~15 min before eating. Repeat with remaining pieces.