Frosty Morning & More Hot Stuff

There was a very real wintry frost this morning, and the house had dipped to 15 degrees overnight. I think that must be the coldest this season. Dan immediately remembered the habanero plant had been on the picnic table all night and thought we should move it inside... which I did. Then I had a thought: what better time to make something hot again than on a cold morning! So here's another post including the spicy loveliness that is the habanero pepper. My first ever Habanero-Papaya Salsa attempt!

Here's what I used:

• a papaya - peeled, sliced and cubed
• two small habanero chiles - finely chopped
• fresh red chile - finely chopped
• fresh green chile - finely chopped
• red bell peppers - chopped
• some red onion - chopped (and soaked in cold water)
• cherry tomatoes - chopped
• fresh lime juice
• pinch sugar (not sure if this was necessary, but for some reason felt like it needed something)
• sea salt
• drop of olive oil
• chopped cilantro

I don't really like to add what amounts I used because I think this kind of thing has to be with the amounts 'to taste'. No right or wrong as far as I'm concerned.

One new thing I learned: apparently the normally discarded seeds have a peppery flavour. So I'm going to dry them, crush them and see how they taste. Always nice to leave nothing wasted!

The final result is very tasty indeed! No major injuries sustained this time, but a word of warning: beware of flying chile juice when chopping. One bit missed my eye by a millimeter!

*update: when refrigerated the salsa seems to congeal, making it much less sloppy. A result because I was wondering if it was too watery. Must be the papaya juice doing that...

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