Fresh Chiles, Hot & Cool

There are days when you want to take it easy and enjoy your favorite comfort food. Others, you just have to turn up the volume. For Rick, that means breaking out the chiles—everything from the Yucatan’s beloved habanero with its one-two punch of flavor and heat, to the tamer hot yellow xcatic chiles. Rick turns a bumper crop of habaneros into Vinegary Hot Sauce, Tomato Frito and Xnipec Salsa and then shows how they all pair well with grilled fish! We visit the Merida market for a fresh chile lesson, explore the limestone fields where the habaneros thrive and then hold our breath for a spicy tour of a habanero hot sauce factory. At the Bayless home, chiles are just as likely to show up on scrambled eggs as they are in pot roast. Rick makes a mouthwatering version of Pot-Roasted Pork with yellow chiles, plantains and a hint of brown sugar.