Thai chiles
I went to the farmers' market in Ahwatukee on Sunday and purchased some Thai peppers. (The picture also shows some guavas, but they have nothing to do with this blog entry.) Now what the heck will I do with them? I took a hint from Spicy Spices, chopped the peppers without seeding them, chopped a clove of garlic, added the juice of a lemon and ¼ tsp of sea salt, macerated them all together with a mortar and pestle, and put them in the fridge to meld for a day or three.
Tonight I used it as a garnish with poached chicken breasts. (The liquid from the breasts I used in the next recipe on the blog.) Tasty. When I first put the chiles and garlic in the fridge, the garlic smell was overwhelming. Three days of interacting mellowed the garlic flavor entirely, and I suspect that it knocked some of the heat from the chiles, though I can't swear to that since I didn't try the chiles before mixing them.