Toast Topper #12: Hot, Hot (Sweet!) Honey

Spice-heads will love this one. In fact, if you love the combination of hot and sweet, especially in things like jerk sauce, chutney, marinades and pickles, chances are you'll find one reason or another to buy up some hot chile peppers and a nice (but not too nice or expensive) amber honey to make this toast topper. 

I stumbled onto the blog Zentmrs & the Mr.: Reflections of Life in San Diego while browsing one of the recent Foodie Friday roundups, and I'm glad I spotted this post when I did! When my mom and stepdad were off in British Columbia, they left the garden full of not only cucumbers (which helped get me onto local TV as a donor to our local food bank - Feed the Need in Durham) but also a ton of hot peppers including Thai chiles, hot and sweet banana peppers. I really didn't want to see them go to waste, but knew I wouldn't be eating them chopped up onto a salad any time soon (heat notwithstanding, I hate the texture of any fresh pepper). But covering them in rich, gooey honey and letting them slowly infuse their heat? Bingo. Another Christmas addition to the goody baskets on and off the list faster than it takes to write up the recipe!

I used three types of chiles - Thai, hot banana and sweet banana - for this batch, though you could use any hot peppers you had on hand (jalapeños would be nice, the original recipe calls for habañeros!). I used some of our local wildflower honey to cover the minced peppers in the jars, sealed them and put them up in the cupboard to steep. While you should leave them for a minimum of a week, they get better with age - and since honey won't spoil (thank you antibiotic properties!) it will keep for a long time in a sealed jar on the shelf. I suppose if you're really concerned about heat, you can seed the peppers, but after aging the heat is still noticeable, but all in all rather mellow. 

Linked to Gluten-Free Monday on One Creative Mommy

Hot, Hot (Sweet!) Honey
Makes 1 cup, 16 tbsp
5 Thai chiles (bird's eye peppers), sliced thinly
1 hot banana pepper, sliced thinly
1 sweet banana pepper, sliced thinly
3/4 cup amber honey (nothing too expensive)

1. Combine the peppers in a jar or two.
2. Warm the honey until it is very runny, and pour over the pepper slices, ensuring everything is covered.
3. Seal jars and let set at least one week

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 50.0
Total Fat: 0.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 1.4 mg
Total Carbs: 13.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.2 g
Protein: 0.2 g 

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