GRINDING HOT RECIPES

Steps:

• I grow a number of variety of Hot Peppers each year, and have a couple of friends that do so as well. What I don't grow or trade I purchase dry and grind.
• My growing list or shopping list includes: Cayenne, Tabasco, Guajillo, Pequin (Thai Bird Pepper), Chili de Arbol, Jalapeno, New Mexico Reds, Chiltepe, Chipotle, Serrano and any other "Hot" I can find.
• This is a few weeks process. I place the picked peppers in a large brown paper grocery bag no more than two layers deep and close top, and set it in the corner of the kitchen or other dry place. I shake the bag every few days to reposition the peppers. Normally dry one variety in each bag. They're normally dry in 3 weeks. The paper bag helps pull moisture out of them.
• When they are dry and crumble to the hand, I place in oven single layer, and further dry 2 to 3 hours at 170 to 180 degrees. I crack the oven door with a wadded dish towel to vent moisture. I then remove and let set a day before grinding.
• What I don't grow I purchase dry at the store, including some dry Red Pepper Flakes we are all familiar with.
• When dry I remove the stems and grind them up a few at a time in my Coffee Grinder, and place in pint jars and seal. I purge my Coffee Grinder with Salt or Sugar so next morning's coffee is not an inferno.
• When all are ground I place in a large bowl and mix and combine well the whole batch. The yield this year was 2 1/2 pints of a little taste of "Hades". I have used or given half of it away by this end of February. I cut a portion of this with 50% to 70% Paprika to tame it down.

Steps:

• Cut loaf of Italian bread in half; slice through sandwich half - lengthwise, deep enough to open and fill with ingredients.
• On one side of bread - layer onion slices, tomato slices, lettuce, pepper rings, or pepperoncinis.
• Spread Italian meats and cheese, overlapping.
• Generously drizzle olive oil and add a few splashes of red wine vinegar. Add seasoning if you wish.
• Press sides of bread together and voila!
• Rhode Islanders often leave the sandwich open and place it in the oven until the cheese melts - let the temperature rise to 350 degrees.
• NOTE: After WWII, as Italian food grew in popularity in the United States and many cultures became assimilated, the use of other meats and cheeses infiltrated the grinder - turkey, roast beef, American and Swiss cheese. Even mayonnaise and mustard elbowed their way in. With the advent of chain restaurants, all sorts of grinders can be had and named for the type of bread used - baguette, ciabatta, barra, foccacia. In Rhode Island, the Italian grinder has hit the sauce big time: meatball, chicken parm, and eggplant grinders abound.