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Hot Peppers

Hot peppers are those in the 5,000 to 50,000 Scoville Units range. These will really give your mouth a treat. Have some cheese, ice cream or a glass of cold milk on hand when tasting them. Dairy is one of the fastest remedies for hot pepper mouth burn because casein, a protein found in milk, breaks the bond between the capsaicin and the pain receptors in your mouth.

Cayenne Peppers

The easy-to-grow cayenne pepper, averaging 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide, is an ideal container plant. It produces brilliantly colored, quite hot peppers, 4 to 6 inches in length that mature in 70 to 80 days. The cayenne pepper was originally grown in the Cayenne district of French Guiana. After colonization, the Portuguese introduced the pepper to Asia and it is now very popular in Indian and Indo-Chinese cooking—chutneys, curries and other hot dishes. It is also used frequently in Creole and Cajun dishes.

'Charleston Hot' is considered the hottest cayenne at 70,000 to 100,000 Scoville Units. The 18-inch tall plant produces 4 to 5-inch long peppers that mature from light green to yellow to orange. They are great for drying.

Tabasco

Tabasco is an ideal container plant. These compact, bushy, highly productive plants measure one to four feet tall and bear about 100 upright-growing 1½ inch fruits with a heat of 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville Units. While the tabasco originated in the Mexican state of the same name, the plants are now grown in abundance on Avery Island, Louisiana—home of McIlhenney Co., the famous TABASCO^® brand pepper sauce company.

Serrano Peppers

The serrano is a prolific variety, producing cone- or club-shaped fruits. The plant grows up to three feet in height and has distinctive short fuzzy leaves. Its erect finger-sized chilies grow in clusters, are fully mature at 75 to 90 days and have quite a heat range from 7,000 to 25,000 Scoville Units. These "all-purpose" hot peppers are perfect for hot sauces, great for pickling, wonderful for flavoring guacamole and chili, and they freeze well. They are the hottest pepper commonly available in the United States.

Serrano Pico de Gallo
Pico de gallo is salsa . . . and then some. The tomatoes, peppers and onions used to make salsa are the base for pico de gallo too. Add ingredients like garlic, limejuice, cilantro, radishes, cucumbers, avocado and honey and you've got a delicious pico de gallo. Try this simple recipe:

2 large ripe tomatoes, seeded, finely chopped
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
5 radishes, diced
2 tbsp cilantro leaves, minced
3 fresh serrano peppers, seeds and ribs removed, very finely chopped
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp fresh limejuice
Salt to taste

Mix together tomatoes, onion, garlic, cucumber, radishes, cilantro, chiles and vinegar. Sprinkle limejuice over mixture and add salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Best if served on the day it's made. Makes about 3 cups pico de gallo.