Flavors over fears. That's the bottom line when it comes down to working with ingredients that can seem a little scary.

Chef Eusebio Garcia at Mesa Urbana in Northbrook has a simple and flavorful recipe for butternut squash soup, but there's one scary ingredient — nutmeg.

“Nutmeg has a very strong flavor and if you add too much of it, it's going to taste awful,” Garcia said. “With nutmeg, you really have to pay attention and make sure you use the right amount. I am not a big fan of measuring my recipes, but with nutmeg, it's important.”

Garcia said a little nutmeg and cinnamon also is perfect in pumpkin soup, and the recipe is similar to butternut squash soup.

Nutmeg is the perfect spice to add to his beautiful blend of ingredients, which also includes maple syrup, white wine and celery. The soup is poured tableside into a bowl with a tiny heap of caramelized apples. Garcia dices the apples, then cooks them slightly over the stove top in sugar, cinnamon, and of course, just a touch of nutmeg. For a final touch before serving, he sprinkles nutmeg over the bowl of soup, adding a pop of color and flavor.

“Nutmeg has a unique flavor, and when it is mixed with cinnamon and apples it satisfies the smell I look for this time of year,” Garcia said.

Mesa Urbana's mixologist Berto Esparza is facing a scary bar ingredient this season — serrano peppers.

“If you catch a real spicy one, they give you the heat,” Esparza said.

“Serrano peppers can be scary to work with because they can go south,” Mesa Urbana owner Moe Taleb said. “It's the type of pepper that can be mild or very spicy.”

Taleb knows plenty about working with some of the scariest, trickiest ingredients. Until 2011, he and brother Ash Taleb were owners of Kith and Kin in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, where Chef Andrew Brochu famously pounded out sauerkraut by hand with Riesling.

At Mesa Urbana, Esparza takes a similar artisan approach, muddling celery and crushing serrano pepper seeds to make his El Diablo Margarita. He rims the glass in a mix of sugar and — what else? — nutmeg.

In September, Chef Sergio Lorenzana celebrated 30 years at Alex's Washington Gardens in Highwood. Few ingredients scare him, but when pressed to pick one, he also treads lightly around peppers. For Lorenzana, crushed red pepper flakes are what get his attention fast.

He is careful to strike the right balance when working with crushed red pepper flakes in the house specialty Arrabbiata sauce, which is a spicy marinara sauce. Scarier yet is the even spicier Fra Diavolo sauce.

At Mama's Boy in Chicago, Executive Chef Massimo Gaffo has a new recipe for Halloween. He is working with squid ink to make pasta black. He is calling the pasta Freaky Fettuccine. “Timing is everything,” Gaffo said. “You need to be sure to cook it at the proper temperature and length of time to ensure the most flavor from the pasta. The squid ink gives an intense oceanic flavor, and you really need to be careful with how much you use.”

He also has used squid ink to color risotto with calamari. “I love the intense black color and the texture is soft and the flavor is incredible,” he said.