Habaneros

By Food & Wine
Updated October 04, 2016
From a mustardy habanero hot sauce to grilled corn with mango-habanero butter, here are some exciting recipes featuring habanero chili peppers.
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Pappardelle with Clams, Turmeric and Habaneros

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"I've always loved the flavors of garlic and turmeric with shellfish," says Fatty Crab's Zakary Pelaccio. Here, he warms the flavorings in olive oil before adding fresh basil, clam juice and a splash of gin, then tosses it all with littleneck clams and pappardelle.

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Grilled Zucchini with Blueberry-Habanero Salsa

Credit: © Chris Court
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According to Choi, the idea for the wacky yet delicious combination of ingredients in this salad came to him in a dream about Italian grandmothers cooking on Saturn. He balances the flavors with a salsa that gets a double dose of tartness from rice vinegar and purple grape juice.

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Mustardy Habanero Hot Sauce

Credit: © Petrina Tinslay
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Homemade hot sauce tastes more vibrant than store-bought and it takes hardly any time to make. Yellow mustard and just a touch of allspice give Grace Parisi's sauce a distinctive, complex flavor. Habanero chiles are already quite fiery but to make the sauce truly incendiary, add some of the seeds.

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Grilled Corn with Mango-Habanero Butter

Credit: © John Kernick
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Bobby Flay likes to cook corn on the cob with the husk tied back into a kind of handle. He soaks the bundle in cold water before it goes on the grill for two reasons: It steams the kernels a little, making them tender, and it prevents the husks from burning.

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Habanero Chicken Quesadillas

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This quesadilla packs a serious punch, thanks to fiery habaneros. Feel free to dial it up or down, depending on your tolerance.

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Habanero Salsa

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Habanero chiles are incredibly fiery but their naturally fruity flavor is delicious with the orange juice in the salsa here. To make the salsa even sweeter (which helps balance the heat), the chiles and onions are roasted before being blended with the other ingredients.

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Pomegranate-Ginger-Chile Nojito

Credit: © Wendell T. Webber
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All of Nacional 27's cocktails are collaborations with the kitchen. This one took shape after mixologist Adam Seger tasted an amazing mango-habanero salad dressing.

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Hot Habanero Chicken Fajitas

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If you love spice, you'll love the floral flavor of habaneros in these quick and easy chicken fajitas.

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Spicy Tomato-and-Watermelon Gazpacho with Crab

Credit: Photo © Fredrika Stjärne
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The Lees created this gazpacho as a riff on a recipe from The Virginia Housewife, a seminal Southern cookbook first published in 1824 that is still in print. They sweeten the cold tomato soup with watermelon and make it fiery with habanero and poblano chiles.

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Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Barbecue Sauce

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Roasted garlic seasons this pork shoulder, which slow-cooks until tender and deeply flavorful. Shred it and top with barbecue sauce, coleslaw and a spicy habanero vinaigrette for the perfect sandwich.

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Smokin' Sweet Chicken Wings with Cherry Barbecue Glaze

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Cherry preserves with habanero chile create a fabulously sticky, sweet and spicy glaze for grilled chicken wings. Glaze them just before serving so the sugars don't burn.

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