Kitchen Decorating with Chili Peppers

If you want to try roasted pepper at home, the chilies can be roasted under a broiler; outdoor grill or stove-top gas flame.

In all cases, they should be slit along one side or pierced with a fork to prevent explosions and then roasted until the skin is blistered, turning frequently for even charring.

Remove them when the skin is almost all black and the flesh underneath is cooked but not mushy. The roasting makes it possible to remove the tough, transparent outer skin of the chilies.

Protect your hands from burning when preparing chilies by wearing rubber gloves or coating your hands with shortening or other solid fat; don't touch your eyes or other sensitive areas after handling chilies.

If you want milder chilies, remove the seeds and trim the veins from the chilies before roasting.

To broil, preheat broiler.
Place chilies on a foil-lined tray or cookie sheet 3 to 6 inches below the broiler unit; leave oven door open.

On an outdoor grill, place the rack close to the charcoal (or select high heat setting on a gas grill); place chilies on rack, when briquettes have an even white coating. You can add soaked wood chips if you like a smoke flavor.

If you want too freeze the chilies, cool them and bag them without peeling; they will peel easily after they've been defrosted.

If you want crisper chilies, plunge them into ice water directly after cooking and before peeling.

For softer chilies, place in a bowl or pan and cover with a towel, or place them in a paper bag and close loosely, to steam until they're cool enough to handle. Peel the chilies from the stem end down.

Recipe from mex-recipes.com

Legend of The Chili Ristra:

Legend has it, in the Southwest, that hanging chili ristras brings good luck if hung at the entrance of the home. Chilis were also used as amulets to ward off malaria, the plague, and for the evil eye (mal de ojo), bad luck, and bewitchment among Hispanics in United States, a practice imported from Mexico.

A cure for the evil eye from Coahuila, Mexico, calls for a child to be wiped with the inside of a chili. The child is patted on the head, crosses are made over the eyelids and forehead, and the child is laid on a bed with the arms outstretched in the form of a cross. The chili is wiped over the body to absorb the occult power, and then it is burned. Curanderas, "healers", often treat the hexing of adults by rubbing the inflamed areas (such as the feet) with whole eggs, a lime, and a chili, which are then thrown into a fire. Perhaps because of their fiery nature, hot peppers are thought to absorb evil influences, which are then destroyed by fire.