Pasilla

Majestic Cocoa

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Hey folks, remember how I just randomly mentioned Queen Majesty again, last week? For the first time in ages?

Well, believe it or not, it was entirely coincidental and today’s feature was an extremely last minute find. But I do have another of their sauces to show you and this one, in particular, is one that I’ve been waiting a long time for. Ever since the reveal of Hot Ones‘ season seventeen line-up.

The number six of that era, Queen Majesty’s Cocoa Ghost. Which stood out, to me, from the moment I first saw it, as something truly unique.

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Pasilla Chocolate Pudding

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Hey folks, it’s recipe time again and we’re now in the middle of winter, right after what can only be described as the most depressing year of the century. So, I don’t know about you, but I think we could all use some serious comfort food.

This is chocolate denver pudding and it is one of the richest, gooiest, chocolatiest and most warming desserts that I know. A recipe handed down the american side of my family for generations, which always comes out at times like these.

And, today, I’m going to pass it on to you.

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Scavenged Sweetness

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Hello again, everyone. I feel like we’ve had a lot of red chilli lately, don’t you?

We’ve seen an impressive array of heats and flavours, this year, don’t get me wrong, but I still think that it’s time for something a bit different. Something that isn’t another red chilli. Or even another sauce.

So, instead, I’d like to bring you another item from Foraged Fire. Because, while we’ve seen the company before, Tim’s products are all completely unique and this Dulce de Leche is no exception:

He could have gone ahead and used generic red chillies for this argentinian-style, caramel spread and it’d’ve still been quite the talking point. But no, this sweet treat uses mexican pasillas and a chinese five spice blend, for something truly multicultural and, honestly, quite baffling.

I have no idea what to expect from the seemingly unrelated influences at play here. Yet, knowing Foraged Fire, I have faith that it’ll all make sense as soon as I get stuck in.

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Not Really Kashmiri

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Hey folks, welcome to november! I know that national curry week was last month but I just so happened to come into a whole load of bananas and coconut, recently. Inspiring me to look into one of my mother’s favourite curries: The kashmiri.

A sweet, creamy, fruit-based curry from exactly the region that its name implies.

So it was a simple prospect: Research a real kashmiri, put my own little twist on it and, if all went smoothly, write up my results for all of you. Easy content, right? Well, not exactly

As it turns out, an authentic kashmiri curry is based around mangoes and lychees, not bananas. Still fruity, yet very different from what I had in mind.

So, while today’s dish does take a little inspiration from it, in its spices, it also draws upon the malayan and a whole host of more keralan meals, in order to form a truly delightful, caramelised fruit curry with neither an official name, nor any specific region to call its own.

A pan-indian fusion, if you will, which gets its mild heat from a blend of rich and raisin-like, mexican chillies, in order to best complement the banana without adding any extra sweetness. Because, if I’m going off-script already, I might as well go the whole hog.

There’s nothing traditional about today’s recipe but I’m eager to share it, all the same. It’s too good not to.

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Chestnut Roast

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Happy sunday, folks! I hope you’re having a good weekend and recovering nicely from your festive feast but, if you are still in search of more season’s eatings, I do have one last late christmas recipe for you. A variation on a vegan nut roast – Made to share with my vegetarian family – that makes use of both pasilla peppers and winter chestnuts.

RoastDone

And, meat free as it may be, those chestnuts certainly aren’t umami free. They come through with a slight meaty richness that few vegan foods possess and, if you aren’t sworn off the animal products, pair beautifully with a blend of gravy and Chilli Scrumptious’s Java Hot.

Because yes, delicious and moist as this one might be, on the inside, all nut roasts benefit from a little extra sauce on top.

Here’s how I made it.

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Mexican Moose Cake

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So, spice lovers, today it’s time for another recipe. Or, well, strictly speaking, it isn’t. My recipe of the month typically goes up on the last weekend and there’s still one more to go this january. But hey, I’m sure that none of you will mind getting something a week early.

Today, I intend to show you a birthday cake. One carefully crafted to please an online friend, who I met up with in person for the first time yesterday. And I would have kept that cake between the two of us, if it weren’t for one minor detail: This friend requested chilli.

Why? I’m not sure. I think, perhaps, that they just assumed that it would feature in anything I made but, whatever the reason, I decided to play it safe. I knew nothing of her spice tolerance and she wasn’t the member of the group who was super into hot stuff.

In fact, I knew very little of her food tastes in general. All I had to go on was that she liked things rich and jokingly identified as a moose but, fortunately, that was enough for me to have an idea.

I would make a chocolate mousse cake, at least partially for the bad pun, using some of the mildest, richest peppers that I knew of – The mexican ancho and pasilla. And I’ll show you how I did it, right after that “Continue reading” button. Continue reading →

Challock Chilli

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Howdy, folks, it’s thursday again and I’ve just returned from a long weekend away, so it’s time for me to tell you all about Challock Chilli fest. A rather different festival to most.

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When I discovered Victoriana Nursery Gardens and their annual event, they had a pitiful lineup of stalls – Roughly eight and most of them not even dedicated to chilli – but that was its selling point.

Challock Chilli Fest isn’t about the products, it’s about the peppers and Victoriana Nursery grow well over a hundred varieties specially. Continue reading →

Homemade Hot Chocolate

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Hello and welcome to the year of the dog. It’s chinese new year today but this isn’t going to be a themed post.

My chinese recipe didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped and I haven’t had time to refine it yet so, while it may make an appearance later in the year, today is going to be something mexican.

A mildly spicy, molé-inspired hot chocolate to warm you through the winter.

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