I made a big cooking mistake a few weeks ago and I paid for it with two days of a stinging pain on the palms of my hand. My mom did the grocery shopping the weekend before and bought the ingredients for a Mexican recipe called sopa seca, which translates to “dry soup.” My mom told me she couldn’t find a poblano pepper so she bought a different kind of pepper instead. She couldn’t remember what it was, but it was not a jalapeno.
The day I made the meal, I pulled out the peppers and for a few seconds I considered using a pair of rubber gloves to cut and seed the peppers.
But since they were supposed to be mild, I decided it would be easier to skip the gloves. The peppers had a few seeds inside and I sliced them into small dices. I tossed the pepper pieces into the pan and washed my hands.
As I added in more of the other ingredients, I used a fork to pull out a little to taste. Immediately, I felt my lips begin to burn. It was the first sign that the peppers my mom purchased might not be so mild.
As I continued to cook the meal, adding in tomatoes and chicken broth, the pain faded from my lips but started to hurt on the palm of my hands. My hands continued to burn even as I finished cooking the dish.
I am kind of a wimp when it comes to spicy food so while I loved the flavor of the meal, it was mostly too spicy for me to eat. I ate around the peppers as much as I could before I gave up. Meanwhile, the palms of my hands began to burn. They hurt every time I touched something and I was concerned about burning my eyes as I removed my makeup for the night.I thought things would be fine in the morning. But when I got to the gym, my hands began to burn as I lifted free weights. The pain subsided when I got home and took a shower, but as I went out on a walk with my dog on a brisk morning the pain was unbearable by the time I got home.
I decided to search online for some home remedies – the first thing on all the pages is that the best way to avoid the pain is to use gloves. It was already too late for this. There were home remedies that suggested soaking hands in milk for an hour, applying yogurt to the hands or rubbing tomato juice on them.
I went with the tomato option, slicing up a tomato and rubbing it between the palms of my hands. The pain immediately went away. But a few minutes after I washed my hands and threw out the tomato, the pain was back. In the end, I put on some medicated lotion I had and that seemed to relieve the pain.
It turns out the peppers my mom purchased were pasilla, which are the same as poblanos. They are generally a mild-to-medium heat chili, but I guess we got a few on the hotter end of the spectrum. By the time we cooked the ropa vieja flank steak recipe the following week, my mom opted for a mild Anaheim chili instead of the jalapeno for which the recipe calls because she didn’t want to take any chances of hot pepper pain.
I learned my lesson, though. No matter how mild the chili is expected to be I will now use gloves when handling fresh peppers.
Sopa seca with beans
Recipes courtesy of the Food Network
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 poblano chile pepper, seeded and sliced
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
Kosher salt
8 oz. whole-wheat spaghetti, broken into thirds
1 14-oz. can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
2 c. fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
1 14-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped (about 1/2 loosely packed cup)
2 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded (about 1/2 cup)
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and poblano and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook 2 more minutes. Add the uncooked spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly toasted, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and simmer until some of the liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and increase the heat to high; bring to a boil and cook 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer until the spaghetti is almost fully cooked, about 6 more minutes. Uncover and stir in the beans and all but 2 tablespoons of the cilantro; continue simmering until the spaghetti is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 3 more minutes.
Divide the pasta and beans among bowls and top with the remaining cilantro and the cheese.
Per serving: Calories 420; Fat 10 g (Saturated 3 g); Cholesterol 28 mg; Sodium 635 mg; Carbohydrate 65 g; Fiber 17 g; Protein 22 g
Slow-cooker ropa vieja
1 15-oz. can crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced (with seeds)
Kosher salt
1 1/2 lbs. skirt steak or flank steak
2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green), sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp. chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives, plus 1 tablespoon brine from the jar
Cooked white rice, for serving
Combine the tomatoes, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, cumin, jalapeno and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a 5-to-6-quart slow cooker. Add the steak, bell peppers and onion and toss to coat. Cover and cook on low, undisturbed, 8 hours.
Uncover and skim off any excess fat. Coarsely shred the meat with 2 forks, then stir in the olives and olive brine. Serve over rice.
Per serving: Calories 464; Fat 16 g (Saturated 6 g); Cholesterol 83 mg; Sodium 837 mg; Carbohydrate 39 g; Fiber 4 g; Protein 38 g
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