There's a theory that hot and spicy foods cool the body, so we're embracing the Sweet Heat of sizzling seasonings to end a summer of blistering weather.
Plenty of chileheads out there will spike just about anything—from pancakes to pork belly—with hot sauce, but contributor Michael Y. Park is the only person we know who perked up his childhood PB&J with spicy fermented cabbage. In Kimchi Lessons, Park recounts his relationship with this essential Korean dish and tells of returning to his childhood home in New Jersey to learn how to make kimchi Mom's way—recipe included.
Fiery Fare, our exclusive new Gourmet Modern Menu, delivers hits of heat from start to finish in three brand-new recipes: The Spicy Summer Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce contain chiles but also gain brightness and complexity from fresh mint and basil; our Spicy Sweet-and-Sour Grilled Chicken's heat is tempered by a rich barbecue sauce; and the extraordinary Chile-Ginger-Mint Jellies are chilled and topped with whipped cream, so they're as cool as they are hot.
It's end-of-summer travel time, and we're visiting the blazing state of Arizona for the latest of our Road Trip collaborations with BlogHer. In this installment, you'll find restaurant suggestions in Phoenix and beyond for foods both spicy (a steak torta with chorizo, Roquefort, and chipotle sauce) and cooling (homemade prickly pear ice cream).
For great dishes to round out the summer, look for Gourmet Easy Dinners, our latest special magazine edition. It's packed with 109 simple, standout recipes—from chipotle chicken tacos to wild salmon with roasted tomatoes—and is sold at retailers nationwide, including Barnes & Noble, Whole Foods, and Hudson News.
How do you turn up the heat in the kitchen? Are you a fan of four-alarm fare, or do you favor the sweet-spicy complexity found in our new grilled chicken and dessert recipes? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook, drop us a line, or post a comment on our blog. For more tasty bites, sign up for our weekly newsletter to get convenient access to our most-read blog posts, editors' favorite recipes, and exclusive reader offers.
Stay hot!
The editors of Gourmet Live