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Chillies

Got around three dozen chilli plants in the greenhouse. Assorted varieties, mostly Cayenne, but there’s a Scotch Bonnet coming along nicely. One of our favourites is Piement(o) de Padron, which you dry fry until they soften and the skins blister, throw on some sea-salt and just eat as “Tapas”. Mostly mild but flavoursome, with the added frisson of “Russian Roulette” in getting the blistering hot one!

Econa Carolina Reaper has been mentioned above, and I second the choice. Despite the fearsome reputation of the CR, this sauce has a very fruity taste to go along with the kick! We like it a lot! There is also a recipe around that infuses a CR in reduced orange juice (probably from The Spicery Company in Bristol), and that is really nice!
 
Got around three dozen chilli plants in the greenhouse. Mostly Cayenne, but there’s a Scotch Bonnet coming along nicely. One of our favourites is Piement(o) de Padron, which you dry fry until they soften and the skins blister, throw on some sea-salt and just eat as “Tapas”. Mostly mild but flavoursome, with the added frisson of “Russian Roulette” in getting the blistering hot one!

Chillies grow surprisingly well in the UK - we've got a bumper crop of various types from the back garden including some cool little purple ones called Gusto. They taste a bit better when grown by your own fair hand!
 
Most SE Asian food does not use that much hot chillies (Negeri Sembilan is an exception). You do find bad cooks use excess chillies and salt to hide the lack of other more expensive flavours or ingredients that are going off.
 
always been poor like everything else they make.

Disagree... Though I am finding their range a bit reduced at present.. which is puzzling.

Our fav of the moment is Geeta's

Only had one.. Some decidedly average Mango Chutney.

One which I've not seen for a while was Nazir's. Excellent stuff.

Edit: Nazir's seems to have some sort of online presence.. but in jars as opposed to the cans of old..
 
A friend of mine runs Yorkshire Chillis.

he does well with Padrons.

He grows most varieties but the high scoville don’t sell in high numbers.
 
The French eat very few chillies. Even after their Vietnam colonial experience they aren't into them. You might expect them to pop up in Moroccan food, it seems not.

Daughter lives in France and the first thing she asks for when back here is a decent curry.

Love chillies but not the Scorch Bonnet flavour, we use plenty of fresh, mainly from supermarkets.

One of my favourite smells is when you open a fresh bag of chillies.

Very tasty Rajah extra hot chilli powder on the go at the moment.

It's worth trying home made lime pickle, we sometimes do a low salt version, don't keep it too long.
 
I keep a selection of dried chillies in the house. I don't use Habaneros or Reapers whole - I grind them in an electric grinder with more fragrant chilis like cascabels or chipotle to make powder blends with flavour and the heat of the zestier chillis. When making Indian curries at home, I prefer to use fistfuls of whole, fresh, hot green chillis, rather than powder or dried chillis.

Re chilli pickles and hot sauces, there are some very nice ones, but I only keep Encona and Mr Naga in the house these days. Mr Naga is amazing in a Salsa or on a cheese sandwich. Pataks green chilli pickle is also very good. Lime pickle is fine on poppadums, but I don't much care for it anywhere else.
 
Daughter lives in France and the first thing she asks for when back here is a decent curry.

Love chillies but not the Scorch Bonnet flavour, we use plenty of fresh, mainly from supermarkets.

One of my favourite smells is when you open a fresh bag of chillies.

Very tasty Rajah extra hot chilli powder on the go at the moment.

It's worth trying home made lime pickle, we sometimes do a low salt version, don't keep it too long.
I bet the low salt version is good, but as you say it doesn't keep. It's a salt pickle, so the salt is essential. Salt/acid/sugar are your friends, but leave one out and the others have to be raised or your preserve won't keep.
 
My chilli is underway, I put in half a reaper, cayenne, red and green jalapeno, arbol, ancho, just tried a little taste, by feck it's hot, I may have to make a chilliless chilli to mix with it.

Update, now that the beans are in I've had another few goes at it, hot as, but not so bad as the initial taste, I like it.
 
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Wednesday Cooking Plan


Ingredients



6 x 400g Tinned Beans (3 different sorts)

2 x 400g Tinned Chopped Tomatoes

2 Large Red Onions Chopped

1 x 200g Tinned Sweetcorn

3 Large Carrots Diced

1 Leek Chopped

8 Garlic Cloves Crushed

3 Tablespoons Sunflower Oil

4 Peppers Diced

3 Tablespoons Tomato Puree

2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin

2 Teaspoons Ground Coriander

2 Teaspoons Smoked Paprika

Selection 20 Chopped Chilli Peppers




Method

Colour onions by frying in sunflower oil. Add all ingredients except 3 tins of beans and sweetcorn. Cook for 60 minutes. Add remaining beans and sweetcorn and cook for a further 10 minutes.
 
Had a bottle of this in the old medicine / travelling show cabinet for a few years now.

Not sure if it's a good idea to try it.

o0ePPWD.jpg
 
Had a bottle of this in the old medicine / travelling show cabinet for a few years now.

Not sure if it's a good idea to try it.

o0ePPWD.jpg

No harm in trying it really. Shake the
Bottle vigorously, remove cap, stick tip of little finger on underside of lid so a tiny dot of sauce is transferred to pinkie, transfer a tiny amount of that to pinkie on other hand, transfer that to tongue. Sit back and smile.

I reckon.
 
Yeah but. It's 10 - 15 years ago we did the Oregon Trail sojourn thing. Does it age like fine wine or whiskey?

To be sure it would make one hell of a party piece drinking competition.

Err. You first!
 
Yeah but. It's 10 - 15 years ago we did the Oregon Trail sojourn thing. Does it age like fine wine or whiskey?

To be sure it would make one hell of a party piece drinking competition.

Err. You first!
No, it vdoesnt improve with age. The flavour may fade over time as components oxidise. I'm not sure if capsaicin fades, not much in a sealed bottle stored in the dark. Oils and fats may oxidize (eau de wet cardboard) or hydrolyse (baby vomit odours) but there won't be any fat in there. Go for it.
 


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