Fried Padron Peppers

These are a great quick easy snack. I have recently come back from Barcelona. Over there the food generally does not feature chilli at all so I did struggle for a week or so. However at almost every cafe and bar you can get your hands on Padrons. from a market you will pay about 1 euro for around a kilo. in the tourist traps you will pay up to 9 euro 50 for about 15 peppers!!!! so do shop around if you go.

Basically all you need is a pile of Padron chili, some oil and salt. Cold beer is also essential but optional :)

1. Wash the peppers thoroughly in cold water and pat dry.
2. Place a large frying pan over a high heat, add the olive oil and heat until smoking then place the Padrons in
3. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally using tongs to avoid the oil, until blistered and slightly charred.
4. Drain the peppers on kitchen paper, sprinkle generously with the sea salt and serve with your optional beer.

Enjoy and prepare to become addicted. I have grown Padrons this year and will soon be eating my first crop. why not have them as a starter or even in stead of popcorn with a movie.

Padron Peppers

Chilli Cocktail Ideas

Have you ever thought of making a chilli cocktail? Here are a few twists on some classic favourites that are worth a try and gaurenteed to spice up an evening of drinks. People have learnt not to steal my drinks at parties anymore at least!

Bloody Mary

Tomato Juice ( I use V8 Vegetable juice)

A Good Brand Vodka

Celery

Worcestershire sauce

3-4 drops of CaJohn's Frostbite Hot Sauce or
a good dollop of Frank's RedHot Chile 'n' Lime Hot Sauce

Flatliner Shooter
Pour the Tequila to nearly half way of the shooter glass

Slowly pour in sambuca against the side of the glas so it creates two levels.

Finally add the  Frank's RedHot Chile 'n' Lime Hot Sauce drop by drop to taste

Knock back the shooter and enjoy

Hot Margarita

3 parts any good aged tequila (Ocho if you can get it)

3 parts Lime Juice

1 part Triple Sec

3-4 drops of CaJohn's Frostbite Hot Sauce

Classic Frostbitini

A shots. Vodka

a dash of Vermouth

3-4 drops of CaJohn's Frostbite Hot Sauce

Caipirnha / Caprina

50ml Cachaca
1/2 Fresh lime
2 Brown sugar cubes
3-4 drops of CaJohn's Frostbite Hot Sauce
Cut the lime into eighths placing into a glass with the sugar cubes and muddle
Fill the glass with crushed ice and top with Cachaca
Stir and serve with a straw

Mexican Food Made Easy

I have recently been bought Master Chef winner Thomasina Miers Mexican Food Made Simple cook book. I was not aware of this book before and have to say it is fantastic and full of wonderful ideas demonstrating how exciting and delicious traditional Mexican food can be! The book clearly explains with lovely illustrations how to get the best from your different chillis and Mexican ingredients. There are soo many recipe's including soft corn tacos, tostados, quesadillas, Mexican chille con carne, Grilled Seabass and even some traditional sweets too including churros with chocolate sauce. I have tried many recipe's from the book and am slowly going to work my way through the whole lot!! Not every recipe has overpowering flavours as you might expect, their are many subtle flavours and unique ideas put in practice too.

The book itself is filled with great colorful pictures throughout, and easy step by step guides like folding the perfect burrito, eating a taco and plenty more true medical tips so you can even plan your own Mexican theme day with friends or just enjoy a fantastic meal anytime. I have learnt soo much from this book, fueling my growing love of Mexico and Mexican food. Through reading the book too I have discovered Thomasina Mires has a number of restaurants http://www.wahaca.co.uk/. I hope to check one of them out when I am next in London this August and plan to let you know how I get on. As my Friends will tell you I can be very critical of Mexican food and this book gets my vote so take a look pick yourself up a copy soon.

Also check out her series on TV at the moment every Tuesday on channel five where there are great competitions and demonstration of dishes like real Mexican chilli and guacamole how it should be!

Fried Padron Peppers

This easy chilli recipe is great anytime, as a starter, snack part of a meal or for me usually as an alternative to popcorn watching a movie!

• Wash the peppers and set aside to dry. Meanwhile fill a small pan with about 2cm of olive oil and heat.
• Carefully fry the peppers for 1-2 minutes. You’ll need to keep turning them and be careful not to burn the skins as this can happen in a few seconds. Once done, remove from the pan and place on some kitchen roll to drain. Sprinkle with some sea salt and serve with a cold beer!

My Padron dinner in Barcelona

How to Preserve Chilli Peppers

If you lucky enough to grow more chili peppers than you can eat one year then you will need ways to keep them. I often end up with to many jalapenos! There are several very simple recipies and methods to do this:

Freezing

Chilli peppers freeze very well and will last for ages in the freezer. I have some habaneros and scotch bonnets from 2 years ago and they are still as powerful now as they were when they first went in!

Drying

If you choose the option of drying your chillis its best to select the mature peppers that have grown fully and have a nice colour to them. the peppers can be left on a sunny windowsill to dry out or following a suggestion from Jamie Oliver if you get a needle and sewing threat you can string the chillis up through their stalks and create an attractive display while drying at the same time. I have used this method successfully for a few years now and have made my own chilli crushes from them.

Pickling

Any chilli can be at any stage of its growth. If picked when immature they will be milder in flavour and heat level. after looking on may of the food websites i could not find a straight forward recipe that produced good results. At one of the fiery food festivals in Brighton i was discussing this with Chilli Pepper Pete and he told me to simple use white wine vinegar.

1. Prepare your chillis removing the stalks, if the chilis are small place them in whole or if large like jalapenos you can slice them like you find in the shops.
2. Get together enough jars for your supply, place the jars in a hot oven to sterilise them.
3. Place the lids to the jars in a separate bowl and cover with boiling water to sterilise them.
4. Remove the sterilised jars and lids carefully making sure not to touch the insides or bur yourself
5. Heat up carefully in a pan on your hob some white wine vinegar.
6. Put your chosen chilli selection in your jars and carefully pour in enough hot white wine vinegar to cover every chilli.
7. Leave to cool and then keep for a few weeks before trying to allow the flavours to work.
8. Now you can eat your chillis all year round!

Good Luck and hopefully your crop this year is more than you need so you can test these simple recipes

Chilli Con Carne Recipe

There are many recipes out there for a good Chili Con Carne. Some different quite a bit and I believe the fun is in the variety and experimentation. This is a basic recipe I have modified over the years and I have included a couple of variations you can also do to change the flavour if you wish. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 Tins of kidney beans (in chilli sauce if available)

1 Tin of chopped tomatoes

1 Tin of plum tomatoes

1 Large onion

3 or 4 large peppers of different colours

3 or 4 Jalapenos to taste

1 Pack of diced beef around 700g (or casserole steak)

2 teaspoons chilli powder

Extra and variation ingredients

1) Del Sol Whole Chipotle Peppers (chipotles en adobo)

2) One whole fresh naga chilli.

Preparation time 20 minutes

Cooking time: 2 days for maximum tender meat

or if you are in a rush cook for 1hr 30min until meat is cooked through

Serves: 4 people or 2 hungry Mexicans

Easy Recipe.

 1) Roughly chop up the large onion, peppers and chilli 

2) Open all tins of tomatoes and kidney beans ready

3) Add all ingredients to a large pan or slow cooker if you have one.   

4) Sprinkle on the chilli powder.

5) Bring the pan to the boil, stir all ingredients then turn onto your lowest heat and leave covered. 

6) Check and stir occasionally. You will see all the ingredients start to break down if you are slow cooking.

7) I find the best results come from cooking on low heat for a minimum of 24 hours.

8) Enjoy with rice and your favourite Mexican beer or tequila!

Variations you can do to create a different flavour

Variation one smokey chilli: Along with your tinned ingredients you can also add some chipotle chillis to give a beautiful smokey flavour you can use a can of Whole Chipotle Peppers (chipotles en adobo)

Variation two fruits powerful chilli: Once you have placed all ingredients in your pan you can add in a single whole naga chilli. This will give an intense fruity spicy flavour to your overall chilli. You then have two options. first to leave the naga in to give someone a surprise, or to fish out the naga at any stage during cooking or before serving varying the flavour and power of spice in your chilli con carne. This can be made easier by putting the naga into some muslin and attach it to string tied to the handle of the pan.