In all the marvelous, sun soaked splendor of the Valley of the Sun in southern Arizona, my parents backyard offers year-round natural treats, that grow from the earth with little maintenance. Among the bougainvillea and lantana, they also have many fruit bearing trees. They are blessed to have a grapefruit tree that only produces perfectly sweet fruit, a key lime tree, and my favorite, a bird’s eye chili tree. Bird’s eye chili is more commonly known as Thai chili, and they are the hot stuff of dreams that make all your favorite Southeast Asian dishes really pop with heat.
As a native New Mexican, I am a natural born lover of spice, so I tend to raid their Thai chili tree on visits and bring home bags of the lovely peppers. Their vibrant red looks great in many dishes, but the complex heat is what I truly love.
To bring a subtle layer of heat to my dishes, I decided to infuse an oil with these Thai chilis, and the results were fantastic! The oil was easy to make and it easily adds an extra bit of spice to southwestern dishes like my zucchini skillet, but it’s also great drizzled on rice or quinoa, and tofu cooked in this oil turns out awesomely.
Ingredients:
- ⅔ cup dried chili peppers
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups mid to high quality olive oil (or vegetable oil of your choice)
- In a large bowl, place the dried chili peppers, minced garlic, and salt.
- Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium-low, until it reaches about 325℉.
- Pour the heated oil into the bowl with the peppers and spices, stir, and allow to cool before transferring to a spouted glass container with a cork or lid.
