Kleenex soup

Now these are Christmas colors!

Last week of 2010, I was back in San Antonio, and I took a walk in the garden. It was time to harvest the Asian peppers; those pinky finger length red chilis. And we have three three chili petin bushes. I cleaned them out.

The red Asian peppers are fairly hot, but the chili petins (those small red beads) are serious business. Idea rather munch on three Asian peppers than put one of those little red beads in my mouth.

Chili petin grows wild in Texas. You don't have to go to a nursery. If they don't pop up in your yard on their own, you can always take a couple chili petin peppers from a neighbor and just toss them in your soil.

I packed them in my suitcase along with about 10 brands of Texas sausage (all necessary provisions in the far southeast of the USA) so I could make my own hot sauce. I boiled the Asian peppers with the chili petin, a few cloves of chopped garlic, one chopped onion and two large chopped tomatoes. As it cooks, add salt and  a little vegetable oil.

What I end up with is concentrated. I wouldn't serve it up on anything this way. Most of it went into a plastic storage container and straight to the freezer. I kept about a half cup out and ran it through the blender. Then I diluted it with a half cup of water and I now have a cup of hot sauce that is quite spicy but it won't kill me.

Now that we have the heat, it's time for Kleenex soup. I'll explain the name later.

One of the sausage brands I came back with was Opa's Jalapeño Smoked Sausage. Opa's comes from the German town of Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country. You can find it in most supermarkets in Central and South Texas.

I chopped the sausage and  grilled it on a skillet with low heat while I warmed up a pot of red beans soup. The sausage goes into a soup bowl with the red bean soup and I poured in two spoonfuls of that homemade hot sauce. On top, I sprinkled fresh chopped onion and a little crumbled queso costeno.

That's a white, salty cheese.




Now, let's eat!

During the winter, I'm more prone to chow into a spicy soup. It's hot. Mmm, very hot! I've had Vietnamese soups this spicy, but I don't come across very many American soups with this much kick. 

Opa's Jalapeno Smoked Sausage from Fredericksburg, Tx

As I work my way to the bottom of the bowl, the hot sauce starts to clear out my sinuses. If I had anything in my head that was bothering me, it's on its way out now.

Having a tissue or two would come in handy. So by the time I'm done with it, I'm grateful for the Kleenex box.

Kleenex Soup!

Buen provecho.