The chocolate truffles are rolled into balls which are covered in granulated chocolate; that is the way brigadeiros are served at  parties.

Brigadeiro can also be eaten unrolled, with a spoon or used as a topping or filling for cakes, brownies and other pastries.

The number of Scoville heat units (SHU)[1] indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes.

The scale is named after its creator, American chemist Wilbur Scoville, who developed a test for rating the pungency of chili peppers. His method, which he devised in 1912,[2] is known as the Scoville Organoleptic Test. An alternative method for quantitative analysis uses high-performance liquid chromatography, making it possible to directly measure capsaicinoid content.

1. Cinnamon
A 2003 study published in Diabetes Care showed that as little as one teaspoon of cinnamon per day can boost the body’s weight-loss ability by reducing blood sugar and promoting healthier processing of carbohydrates. It also lowers LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) by seven to 27% and total cholesterol by 12 to 26%. Plus, cinnamon has been shown to prevent the metabolic syndrome commonly seen in pre-diabetics. But before you go on piling the spice by spoonful, note that cinnamon contains a chemical called coumarin, which can lead to liver damage if consumed in very large amounts.

2. Cayenne
The main ingredient in spicy cayenne—capsaicin, which is also found in other hot peppers—has long been studied for its fat-burning abilities and thermogenic properties (the stimulating of the central nervous system to produce heat in the body, leading to an increase in calorie burning). In fact, Nicholas Perricone, M.D., cites several of these studies in his wildly popular The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet and concludes that capsaicin acts as an appetite suppressant. Many think that cayenne pepper promotes weight loss because it’s simply difficult to overindulge in spicy food. However, later studies performed by the Journal of Obesity also found that the spice increases fat oxidation, “ramps up energy expenditure, and stimulates activity by the sympathetic nervous system”—all which help the body to shed excess weight. Not a fan of fiery cuisine? Not to worry! Research has found that cayenne’s ability to reduce appetite is equally effective whether ingested as food or in capsule form.

3. Black Pepper
Among the dozens of health benefits of this common household ingredient is its ability to improve digestion and promote the absorption of nutrients in tissues all over the body. Plus, its main component—piperine (which gives pepper its pungent taste)—boosts fat metabolism by as much as 8% for several hours after ingesting it. If you want your pepper to pack the most punch, use freshly ground pepper, which has the most concentrated amounts of piperine.

4. Mustard Seed
Like the other hot ingredients on this list, spicy mustard helps boost metabolism and allows you to burn fat more quickly, thanks in part to its thermogenic properties. Scientists at England’s Oxford Polytechnic Institute recently found that eating just one teaspoon of hot mustard can “boost metabolism 20 to 25% for several hours after eating, resulting in an additional burn of about 45 calories if a 700-calorie meal is consumed.”

5. Ginger
Long used for its medicinal properties, ginger is also an effective diuretic (a substance that increases the elimination of urine). It improves gastric mobility (i.e. it pushes food and waste through the digestive system) and hinders the absorption of cholesterol. Although according to the Mayo Clinic, more study is needed, preliminary evidence suggests that this versatile spice helps to increase metabolism.

Hot peppers have added a kick to the flavor of otherwise bland food for hundreds of years.

The hot sensation of capsaicin has its own heat scale.  While the amount of this chemical varies among peppers, the rule is, the more capsaicin, the more fire in the belly and the mouth.  Bell peppers are bottom of the Scoville Heat Scale, with zero units, while fiery habaneros score 300,000 units.  Pure capsaicin, at the top of the scale, measures a scorching 16,000,000 units.

In recent years, researchers who have studied capsaicin have surfaced promising results.  Evidently, eating these spicy treats can help prevent and treat certain types of cancer, decrease and alleviate pain and help control weight.

Spice it up!!!

To make the most of the diverse health benefits associated with eating hot peppers, we must add them to our every day diet.

Note that regular consumption of hot peppers increases one’s tolerance to capsaicin, and access to its benefits.

Researchers and dieticians around the world are excited about the proven and potential health benefits hot peppers.  People everywhere are proving why, indeed, some like it hot.

References:

AmberLanierNagle.com   (freelancer writer at Adairsville, GA)

Source:

New Mexico State University, for more information visit: www.ChilePepperInstitute.org

When asked, most people would say that the hottest pepper in the world is the Habanero pepper. Much to their surprise, this is not the case. The hottest pepper in the world, a pepper almost twice as hot as a habanero, a pepper so potent that a small sprinkling can leave you begging for water, bread, a glass of milk, anything, is called the Bhut Jolokia.

This pepper was only introduced to the Western world in the last decade, making its first known appearance in 2000. It was originally grown in regions of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and dates back hundreds of years in these locations.

The Bhut Jolokia goes by a wide variety of alternative names, some of them being ghost chili, king chili, naga jolokia, and naga morich. The names have been translated into many different languages, one of which is King Cobra Chili, denoted the power and poisonous affect the chili can have on a person.

The Scoville scale is the current method used for determining the “hotness” of a pepper. The Scoville scale measures the amount of heat in a pepper by diluting the pepper in sugar water until no amount of heat is observable any longer. While the hottest of Habanero peppers are at about 350,00-580,000 units on the Scoville scale, the Bhut Jolokia rates about 855,000-1,050,000 units.

A compound called capsaicin is responsible for creating the heat in chili peppers, and is highly concentrated in the fleshy white interior of the pepper, surrounding the seeds. This is why many people remove the “guts” of peppers before cooking with them, or simply add a few seeds to give the dish that extra kick.

Capsaicin has also shown to have very positive effects on your health. There are many different medicines and creams that use capsaicin because of its effect on your body’s nervous system. Specific problems such as arthritis, psoriasis, and poison oak and ivy have been treated with capsaicin, while more generally issues such as a sore throat, depression and overall pain and discomfort have been assuaged because of the use of capsaicin from peppers.

If you are still skeptical of this pepper’s power, feel free to try it out for yourself. You will certainly be amazed!

Try these restaurant made oven chicken recipes at home.

Chicken can be cooked in many ways. One of them is to bake it in an oven. You can use a traditional or convention type for this purpose. Although a convection oven gives a uniform taste to the dish and is quick too. It also preserves nutritional values as well. The exquisite oven chicken recipes that will be mentioned here can be done in both the types of ovens. You will find these dishes in the menus of many famous restaurants and hotels as well.

First exquisite soul dish is the ten herbs baked chicken. For this as the name suggests you will require ten types of herbs, parsley, basil, tarragon, chives, oregano, thyme, marjoran, sage, rosemary and mint. Other than these main ingredients you will also require some salt, pepper and garlic cut into minute pieces. Roasting chicken is what you will use for this recipe. To make the marinade, mix all the main ingredients well.

Keep this mixture for a few minutes and then coat the chicken pieces well on all sides with the marinade. Make sure to apply the marinade evenly all over. Refrigerate the marinated chicken for six hours. When the chicken is ready for baking, preheat the oven to 225°C and put the chicken into the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 170° and cook for another 30 minutes. This is chicken dish is best served with rice and stew.

If you like cheese then try the baked chicken Parmesan. For this, you will need one beaten egg, some mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce and some Italian bread crumbs. Coat the chicken breast pieces with a mixture of egg and breadcrumbs and place it in an oven for 20 minutes at 400°F. Give a good dash of marinara sauce and shredded cheese to the chicken and place it in the oven. Let it bake for another additional 10 minutes. For a whole meal have this along with pasta. This is not a light dish and therefore should serve as the main course for any meal. Serve this along with some green vegetables or salad.

Another oven chicken recipe worth trying out is Oven fried pepper jelly chicken legs. For this dish you shall require butter, Dijon mustard, ground black pepper, seasoned stuffing mix and chicken thighs. The main ingredient in this dish is hot pepper jelly to add that extra spice to the dish. For baking this dish, the oven is to be preheated to 350°. To make the marinating, pepper jelly, black pepper and mustard are heated together until they melt and mix. This becomes a jelly after cooling which you will marinate the chicken thighs with. Lastly, dip the marinated chicken legs in bread crumbs and bake for an hour in oven. To make this dish even spicier, you can add some jalapenos as well.

These are some chicken recipes that can be modified to suit vegetarians as well. Using vegetables such as drumsticks, potatoes, carrots etc. in place of chicken and following the same recipe will give you dishes which will be loved by all vegans. So, now that you know what restaurants give you why not make some oven chicken recipes at home!

One of the most common geniuses of peppers, known as the capsicum, is thought to have been in existence millions of years ago in present-day Bolivia, according to the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Information and Resources. But, the first known cultivation of peppers happened in Mexico and Central, as well as South America 10,000 years ago. The probable spread of these crops from Bolivia to these areas is attributed to birds. The capsicums existed mainly in the Americas until about 1600. Christopher Columbus’ voyages were helpful in spreading capsicum peppers throughout the world.

The original peppers were tiny and round, unlike most of today’s peppers which are long and larger.

What can I do with peppers?

Most commonly, peppers have been used to spice up generally boring foods like rice or corn. Through the years though, people have come up with a whole slew of uses for peppers from making pepper jelly, to using ornamental peppers for garlands. Here’s a list of the most interesting as well as some of the more common uses for peppers:

Pickled Peppers

Pepper Jelly -

Roasted Peppers

Adding Peppers to pasta dishes

Hot Sauce

Pepper Garlands/Decorations

Using peppers in stirfry

Pepper vinegar

Pepper spray (animal deterrent for plants)

What different types of peppers are there?

There all sorts of classifications for peppers. There is the scientific classification method that uses the genus and species name: The most commonly known and cultivated genus of peppers is the capsicum, whereas the five most common species of peppers (all within the capsicum category) include: chinense, frutescens, pubescens, annum, and baccatum. All of these types of peppers are also labelled chillies.

There is the usage method which categories various peppers into hot, sweet, or ornamental. And then, there is the location-classified method that is what gives some peppers its actual name.

Here’s a basic list of some of the varieties of the mentioned species of peppers you might see in your local grocery stores:

Bell pepper

Anaheim pepper

Fresno

Poblano

Habanero

Cubanelle

Chipotle

Jalapeno

Serrano

Mariachi

Aside from the different colored bell peppers used in stirfry, many of these other peppers are considered hot peppers.

How can you tell how hot a pepper is?

The range of spiciness for peppers is measured in scoville units. Wilbur Scoville developed a scale to help determine this very issue and measure pepper pungency in 1912. The higher the number of scoville units, the hotter the pepper. Here’s a basic Scoville Scale. that shows habaneros trumping chipotles and jalapenos as the most commonly known hottest pepper.

Health Effects

Regular pepper consumption is thought to have both good and bad effects on one’s health. One of the most clear effects of eating peppers is what it does for congestion. Eating peppers, especially those hot ones, will help clear up your nasal passages in no times (as will most spicy foods!)

According to a University study, consuming peppers regularly can help the body control its amount of insulin, which would be very beneficial for diabetics. Other studies show though that pepper digestion can increase the risks of stomach cancer, but the definite answer remains unclear. Research has also been linking peppers to helping stop the spread of prostrate cancer in some men.

Pepper Recipes (see Recipe4Living.com for the following:)

Pepper Sauce

Basic Salsa

Salsa Cruda

Crowd Pleasing Chili

Roast Beef and Red Pepper Sandwiches

Impossibly Easy Roasted Red Peppers and Feta Cheese Pie

Tangy Lemon Pepper Shrimp

Stuffed Peppers

Pepper Herb Grilling Rub

Sources:

Chicago Botanic Gardens

The Scoville Scale

TheChilliKing.com

Here is the place where you’ll find great pepper jellies and gourmet jams.

I suggest you try our chocolate banana jam. It is fantastic!

I plan to give you some good tips for your dishes, so don’t forget to stop by.