Bobby Flay's Favorite Peppers Will Spice Up Any Dish

Peter Piper may have picked a peck of peppers, but Bobby Flay is the one using them to cook up some delightful food favorites while giving his dishes a little kick in the process. Peppers can be intimidating to work with. From buying the wrong type of pepper to not wearing gloves when you deseed them, everyone makes mistakes when cooking with peppers. But not Flay. The "Throwdown" host is a fan of the heat. He loves the jalapeño in its many forms, including when it is smoked and dried and transformed into a chipotle, as well as Calabrian chiles; however, Flay uses each of them in different ways.  

The grill master often reaches for jalapeños and uses them and their powerful flavor when making marinades, sauces, side dishes, and so much more. These babies find their way into his jalapeño pesto that serves as a spread for bruschetta, as well as his spicy peachy glaze used to top chicken. But believe it or not, jalapeños are rather mild when you compare them with other peppers on the Scoville scale, which measures a pepper's spiciness. These green, sometimes red, peppers give you a heat that can range from between 2,500 to 8,000 units. But he also loves those chipotles.

When jalapeño peppers turn red, they become sweeter and hotter as their capsaicin levels increase, registering at 10,000 Scoville units on the heat index. They are then dried and smoked, adding lovely layers of flavor and transforming them into what is known as chipotle. Bobby Flay loves cans of these peppers packed in adobo sauce and uses them for meat marinades, as well as to kick up the taste of mayonnaise for his sliders. Chipotle peppers packed in adobo sauce can have an intense taste; translation: A little goes a long way. If you are planning to channel your inner Flay and add them to a homemade barbecue sauce, be conservative. You can always freeze any leftovers.

But Flay's affections cannot be tied down to a single pepper, since he also likes Calabrian chiles. Flay shared on Instagram, "People make fun of me for using these so much, especially on 'Beat Bobby Flay,' but in my restaurant in Malfa, we use a ton of these. It adds great flavor to food." These peppers are a lot hotter than jalapeños or chipotles. They clock in at between 25,000 and 40,000 units on the Scoville scale. They have a fruity, spicy taste and are perfect to add to Bali Garden soup. Flay uses Calabrian chile oil in his paella and Calabrian chile flakes in his spaghetti. So if you are looking for a way to make your mouth do the cha-cha, this chile is the perfect addition to pasta, rice, pesto and so much more.