Welcome to the Pre-Christmas Holiday edition of The Heat!. As always, The Heat! is brought to you by Chef Jay and Chile-Pepper-Sauces.com.

In this issue of The Heat I'm going to introduce you to a couple of sites you may not be familiar with. They each contain a nice selection of hot recipes from down South I'm sure you'll put to good use.

If you think you've seen every possible variation on salsa, I beg to differ. I recently discovered the strangest cookbook I have ever come across, and it is all about salsas.

Last week was the annual Christmas pot luck celebration of our local Personal Chefs Network chapter. Most of you know I am a member. Lisa and I went and shared a wonderful evening with lots of great friends. I'm going to share with you the recipe for the dish I took, Santa's Spicy Balls.

So read on...I hope you enjoy the recipes and stories. Lisa and I want to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Southern Heat!

Two websites that I frequent often featured recipes this month from south of the border...way south. Well, I guess if you're in Miami, Cuba isn't so far south, but for most of us it is.

BellaOnline.com has a regular hot and spicy newsletter that always features some unique, flavorful and spicy recipes. This month was no different as it featured a Spicy Pumpkin and Kielbasa Soup and a Cuban Sandwich Recipe. When you visit this site be sure to sign up for the newsletter and try some of the recipes. They are magnificent.

Another site I frequent is Melindas.com. Their manufacturing plant was located outside New Orleans and after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina they moved to Dallas. They are now back up and running. So, if you love habanero sauces as much as I do, Melinda's is the place to go.

This month Melinda's featured some delicious Jamaican recipes on their site, to go along with a new Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce. If you visit the site, you'll find recipes for Jamaican Flank Steak, Jerk Chicken and Pork Chops. Give them a try and if you're brave, try some of the new Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce!

Peppers Can Fry Your Brain

Speaking of brave, I have found a source of recipes for only the bravest of you chileheads. This may sound a bit contrarian, but I am about to recommend to you the worst cookbook I have ever seen.

One look at the sales page will prove it to you. The recipes in this cookbook have fried the author's brain!

I bought "A Yummy Collection Of Salsa Recipes" 2 weeks ago. At first reading I thought, "this is horrible". It contained misspellings and typos and some incoherent language. I didn't know you could spell chile so many ways...and habenero and jalopena and...well you get the picture.

The funniest thing is, the recipes in there were so unique I couldn't put it down. They have titles like Nuclear Texas Salsa, Hillbilly Hot Stuff and Hell Is Just A Sauna!

I thought that you all would enjoy this so I arranged a special Christmas price for you. Plus if you download it now you will get a special bonus download, "Christmas Cookie Recipes". It is jam-packed with over 400 different cookie recipes.

Click here to buy a copy...I DARE YOU!

Here is one recipe from the most outrageous cookbook I have seen, you'll get the picture. And if you try it, be very careful!

Hottest Crap In The World

Ingredients:

10 Roma Tomatoes
3 Large White Onions
20 Habenero Peppers
15 Serrano Peppers
5 Dried Red peppers
10 Cloves Garlic
1/3 Cup Cilantro
1/4 Cup Salt
1 TBSP Mexican Oregano
1 TBSP Cayenne Pepper
1/8 tsp Liquid Smoke
Juice of 1 Lime

Directions:

Mix Together and eat it fool

I told you, this guy is nuts. This seems to be one of the hottest salsas available to man. BEWARE!

Holiday Party

Lisa and I hit our first holiday party of the season and it was a blast. The Houston Chapter of Personal Chefs Network gathered it's members together for a pot luck dinner and as you can guess the food was tremendous.

Before our traditional gift exchange we feasted on a buffet that included a pumpkin cheese dip, shrimp ceviche, thai dip, eggrolls, assorted olives, bagels with spreads and Santa's Spicy Balls!

My Santa's Spicy Balls were a hit, at least with those who were brave enough to try them. I actually tamed the recipe down a bit for public consumption.

I think you'll enjoy this recipe. Feel free to share it with your friends at your holiday party.

Santa's Spicy Balls

Ingredients:

2 slices white bread
1/4 cup milk
1 package ground beef(1 - 1 1/2 lbs)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tsp oregano, dried
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 egg
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cans Rotel tomatoes and chiles, extra hot(14 oz)

Directions:

- Soak bread in milk until soggy, squeeze out milk and discard.
- Mix bread together with meat, parmesan, oregano, and garlic salt.
- Combine egg with mixture, form into small meatballs about the size of a quarter or a little bigger.
- In a large pot over medium heat, add oil and saute onions until they are soft and translucent, a few minutes.
- Add both cans of Rotel, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low.
- Add meatballs, cook 30-45 minutes, until meat is no longer pink in the center. We had to test several meatballs to make sure they tasted good!

That is it for this issue. Hope you enjoyed all the recipes!

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