When you read over lists of Mexican recipes, you'll often see hot peppers such as jalapenos included. Sometimes these are suggested as optional ways to spice up the dish, but other times these hot peppers are an important part of the dish. If you are making a chili recipe with a Southwestern flair or one that calls for south-of-the-border heat, the jalapenos are practically indispensable. The problem comes when trying to make the dish palatable to those who don't like their food so hot and spicy.

Fortunately, there's a simple way to keep the flavor of the jalapenos and lose a great deal of the heat. When you are preparing an international cooking recipe that calls for a hot pepper, carefully slice open the pepper and scrape away all the seeds. Also remove any of the white pulp that surround the seeds. These are the two hottest parts of the pepper. Jalapenos will still provide a little heat, but without the seeds they are far more harmless. When cleaning a pepper, be sure to wear gloves as the residue from the seeds can irritate the eyes if you aren't careful.

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