i have to say, i was a little disappointed in the heat of a bhut jolokia when cooked in recipes. don't get me wrong, they were hot but not as hot as i expected. i expected a horrendous burn, but got a bite much like habaneros and the flavor was more of an acidic flavor.

trust me, i wont be chewing on one by itself but it wasnt as hot as i expected. i also didnt need gloves when harvesting the seeds, i just made sure to wash my hands with soap and water afterwards and it was no different than when handling any other seeds. i didnt feel any burns on my fingertips though my buddy said he felt a burn underneath his fingernails - which was resolved by washing w/ soap really well as well -

i tried making some hot pepper oil w/ one bhut jolokia and it wasnt hot at all - just had a tingle which was funny and a little enjoyable but i wanted more heat - i followed a chile oil recipe but it didnt have the kick i wanted -

i gave 2 peppers to a friend at work and he made some salsa which was a little unusual tasting but it was good and had an acidic burn to it but not as hot as i expected.

anyway, that brings me to my question :

anyone have any real recipes that they came up w/ and wouldnt mind sharing for the bhut jolokia that actually complements the pepper - meaning that shows the heat this pepper can have and flavor -

i would normally do trial and error but i dont have too many peppers this year and would prefer to go by someone else's recipes for this year - maybe next year when i get more - i will experiment to get the right ingrediants and amounts