Eden Project Chili Pepper Habenaro

During Easter I went on a drive into the country and stopped off at the Eden Project in Cornwall this was a place I had long wanted to see but the drive is too far for a quick visit. With the tropical sections I had hoped to see the chilli pepper represented and grown somewhere in the vast domes. The Eden Project is build in a disused clay mine, transforming it into a rich, global garden where people can learn about nature and get inspiration about the world around them. The view is very inspirational as you park your car and catch one of the buses into the  project itself. you are surrounded by lush vegetation and all manner of 'green' projects.



The Eden Project

 In the reforest Biome near the end of the winding path through the high humidity provides the perfect conditions for for growing spices. I was very please to see that chilli was represented by a large patch of orange Chinese habanero plants. Most of the chillis pictures are not yet ripe but there were hundreds there. So many that i thought they wouldn't miss one and pinched one for the seeds to grow at home. All I need now is to build a biome in the back garden. I will let you know how i get on with growing the Habanero.

Capsicum Chinese Habanero

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!

Home Grown 2011 - The beginning

Here are some pictures of my chilli plant grow your own attempts from this year. I am slightly behind where I had hoped as my propagator with my first crop melted with my first set of seeds inside so I had to start all over again!

Above are the few lucky chile plants rescued from the twisted melted mess of my propagator, I have potted them up with some feed and placed them on the windowsill to hopefully recover and grow. In this set so far the padron and cayenne plants look to be holding on well and I am hopeful they will continue to grow.

Where I have started again, my new seedlings are coming through healthy and are almost ready to be potted up

From the seeds I have left and those I picked up from the south Devon chilli farm i am hoping to grow Jalapenos, Cherry Bombs, Yellow Scotch Bonnet and Ring of Fire Chillis this season. I hope to make my own hot sauce this year too hopefully. If you woul d like soem tips to grow your own chillis to get you started check out my mini basic growing guide here



Blairs Original Death Sauce

Blair has an amazing range of hot sauces from the basic introduction sauce to the extreme and insane sauces. Blair has been making hot sauces since 1989 and has got quite good at it too!! I have tried a number of chilli sauces from this range and so far love every one of them in different ways but they are not for the feint hearted and definitely powerful as you progress up the range.

Blair's Original Death Sauce is a good introduction sauce to this range with a perfect balance of ingredients with just enough heat to keep the hot sauce enthusiast interested with red habaneros chilli and loads of flavour to balance out the heat with vinegar, fresh cayenne chile, smashed garlic, chipotle chili, lime juice, cilantro, fresh herbs and spices. I recommend trying this sauce if you are curious about the Blair range,  I guarantee once you have tried it you will want more. Many others have fallen for Blairs skill in sauce mixology and limited edition sauces fetch thousands of dollars to collectors in the us.

Plus as a bonus you may get a cool skill keyring with some bottles, I now have several pick up some to try for yourself here Get me some Death Sauce