Hot stuff - trying out a new ingredient

In between all the eating out, I have been cooking at home but I haven't devoted much time to those five new ingredients (Resolution No.12) I want to try this year.

I actually bought a bag of sunchokes at the beginning of the year, but I didn't get to cooking it that week and by the time I got to them they just didn't look that appealing anymore. Sunchokes are not much like artichokes, but more of a root vegetable. The recipe I had for them also called for saffron, which turns out to be about $20 for a couple strands so if I see them in a grocery store I might buy the sunchokes but find a different recipe.

The one new ingredient I have cooked with so far this year is one that is quite familiar, but one that I usually avoid. Last month, when I was on a healthy cooking quick I decided to make some chicken and vegetable fajitas. The key to the recipe was to marinate the chicken and vegetables for a few hours with a strong mix of ingredients. The marinade included a mix of green onions, cilantro, spices and jalapeno. Now usually when a recipe calls for jalapenos, I just leave them out because the pepper is a little too hot for my palate. But this time since I was cooking for a couple people who like dishes that are a lot spicier, I decided to put in a little bit of it. After roasting the pepper over the flame on the gas burner, letting it sit in a plastic bag for a few minutes and peeling off the skin, I tossed in about one and a half peppers into the blender with the other ingredients. Perhaps it was the mix of other items, including honey and chicken broth, but the marinade had the slight flavor of the jalapeno without all the heat. Of course, I didn't actually use any of the seeds from the pepper.

For the same meal, I made a side dish of chile-cheese rice. The rice called for chunks of poblano peppers. I bought the largest peppers available in my grocery store, a couple of light green Anaheim chiles. Since I cooked a dish at a different kitchen than my own, I had to improvise on getting the skins off the without a gas flame. Instead I cooked the peppers in the oven for a few minutes, then slipped them into a plastic bag. When I pulled them out, the skin slipped off easily on one side of the pepper, but it wouldn't come off on the side that was face down on the cookie sheet in the oven. It seems it needs to get a little cooked on both sides so I had to put it back in the oven for a little more time.

The Anaheim chiles were mild enough for me and they packed in a lot of flavor into the rice dish. It was a perfect compliment to the chicken and vegetable fajitas. Since these ingredients are so similar, I'll count the jalapeno and Anaheim chiles as one so I've got four more to go before the end of the year.

Photos by MELISSA FLORES

Chicken fajitas with guacamole sauce and chile-cheese rice.