Tomato

Two ‘Chups

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So, seeing as we’re on a bit of a downward trend now, heat-wise, how about we take this week to look at a milder style of condiment? One with chillies, yes, but focussed at least as much on its tomato content as its spice.

Today’s pair come to us from Pip’s and Boom Sauce, both of whom I’ve featured exactly once before. Yet it’s been a good few months since the last of those reviews and neither of this one’s products are the chocolate, verde or ginger-based hot sauce that we previously witnessed.

Instead, as we move into july, I want to take a look at their ketchups and see just how much difference the trinidadian spices and classic cocktail theming make. Giving Pip’s Bloody Mary and the Boom Sauce Hot Chup a fair whack, in order to see what makes them tick and what separates them from the rest of the pack.

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Fearless Noodles

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Hey folks, it’s sunday and I believe that I owe you a recipe.

Now, normally, this would be my christmas recipe, what with it being the winter holiday season, but I haven’t felt particularly inspired, on that front, this year. So, instead, I have a little something that I was asked to share with you all. My little christmas present to you, if you will.

This is mark two of my udon bolognese, as I like to call it, made with Wiltshire Chilli Farm’s Firemite. Giving it a serious dark depth and throaty warmth, which makes it even more of a satisfying winter meal than last time.

So what are you waiting for?

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Freaky Mary

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Hey folks, do you remember East Coast Chilli Co.‘s Chance? I did and I decided I needed another bottle of that creamy, roasted garlic deliciousness. So I went back to them.

I grabbed a bottle of their Reason – Their naga sauce – a little over a month ago. And I grabbed some more of my old favourites, along with.

When I cracked the seal on that new bottle, however, it wasn’t quite how I remembered. It was close but the worcestershire sauce was just a little bit more prominent. And that gave me the idea for today’s cocktail recipe.

A freaky, garlicky twist on a tomato-based classic. Click on through for the details, if you’re old enough to drink.

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Spanish Soup

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Hola, mi amigos. My apologies for the lateness of today’s recipe but I had no idea what to make, until last weekend came around. Then the warm weather rolled in and suddenly, I had the perfect fit. An idea that’ve been holding onto since the end of last year’s growing season.

This is gazpacho. A traditional spanish dish that’s most easily described as “raw tomato soup”.

Yet that doesn’t really sell its uniqueness, its depth of flavour or the freshness which makes it a perfect home for the habanadas that I’ve been saving, in my freezer.

Because yes, they do taste almost exactly like habaneros but they still have something special to them, besides their lack of heat. A refreshing wetness, reminiscent of watermelon or the juiciest of cucumbers.

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A Keswick Curry

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This week, everyone, I’d like to bring back a style of product that we haven’t seen in a long while: An exclusively cooking sauce.

An item type that I don’t often use in my daily life and, when I do, it’s usually just to amp up a left over stew. So, while I found Mahi’s three marinades pleasant enough, it takes a lot for me to actually go out and buy such a product. Something a little bit more exciting, like Mr. Vikki’s Keswick Market Curry Sauce.

A unique “curry sauce concentrate” which won me over way back when I was visiting Brighton Fiery Food Fest and checking out the stall of my favourite banana habanero chutney maker.

His freshly prepared sample was a stunningly flavourful, rich yet mild, dish. But will it still hold up, now that I’m making it at home?

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Rad Dude Food

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What’s up my dudes?

Last week, we had a very surprising find from a large, supermarket brand and it was packed full of absurd, carolina reaper heat. So, today, I figured we’d turn things around a tad and try looking at a rather more sensible and flavour-focussed product from a friend of a friend’s ex. An item that even I wouldn’t know about, had I not stayed in touch with Lord Grim’s former girlfriend.

This is the Fermented Chilli Hot Sauce from Rad Dude Sauces and its artwork sure is intense, despite its lack of colour, but that’s not how it came to me.

No, Rad Dude Sauces are, in fact, a part of a larger company – If you can call it that. A two man business, known as Rad Dude Foods, who run a sandwich shop in sheffield.

The sauce is – Or was – their side project. A nice, artisan alternative to Tabasco, made to spice up their already rather stacked-looking subs. Yet now, with the state of the world being what it is, sauce sales have gone online and appear to have become their new focus. Wrapped up just like their lunches once were.

A fun little nod to the origins of today’s sauce.

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Udon a la Spaghet

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Hello again everyone, it’s the last sunday of the month and I’m sure you all know what that means. It’s recipe time!

Now, of course, I don’t always leave my recipes until the last minute like this but, well, my access to ingredients has been somewhat restricted, lately, and I’ve had a lot to do in the last week or two. So, this time around, I’m falling back on a silly suggestion from my friends, mixed in with a family staple.

I’m making udon bolognese – A variation on the classic spaghetti dish using thicker, heartier noodles and a bit of jalapeño-based spice in its sauce.

It’s not traditional and it’s made even less so by the fact that what I know as “bolognese” is actually a twist on spaghetti and meatballs, handed down from generation to generation. Yet it’s still delicious and hey, isn’t that what really matters?

Here’s my take on an italian pasta dish, with just a little bit of a japanese twist.

UdonBolBowl

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Back with Beef

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Hello again everyone, I hope that you’re enjoying your extra day this leap year.

Me? I’m making good use of it with a later than usual recipe post, on the 29th of february. Because it just so happens that, this year, it’s a saturday.

And what kind of recipe do I intend to show you this month? Why, something simple, mexican and a staple to my home cooking, in order to contrast with last month’s second-hand japanese recipe.

Today, I’m making enchiladas again but, unlike the previous batch, I’m not making them bean-based, for my family, or using someone else’s salsa. This recipe is all mine!

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Volcanic Jeanette

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Happy tuesday again, everyone! Today, I’d like to show you another import sauce, brought into the country by my good friend Russell, of Grim Reaper Foods.

We talked about his import business, some time ago, back when I had a look at Crazy B🔥stard’s range. He grabs some great german sauces but this one’s different. It’s dutch.

Volcan

El Jefe, based in amsterdam, are a mexican-themed brand with the usual three colours – Mild green, medium red and hot orange. Yet, unlike most actual mexican brands, the pepper in their orange “Volcán” isn’t habanero. It’s a close relative known as the “suriname yellow”.

Or, more colloquially, the “madame jeanette” – In reference to one of brazil’s most infamous hotties.

The official rating of this pepper puts it at around the same heat as an average hab but its flavour and the way in which it hits are said to be quite different. I look forward to trying it. Continue reading →

Party Rice

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Hey folks, it’s the last weekend of the month and it’s time to party. By which I mean it’s time to replicate a dish that I discovered at an afro-caribbean birthday barbecue.

That’s right, if you couldn’t tell from the title, this week’s recipe is the mildly smoked “party rice” version of west africa’s traditional “jollof”. A heavily spiced rice dish made for sharing, that can be the side for your main meal but, more often, acts as the ballast alongside a tonne of fried plantain, jerk chicken and coleslaw. To name just a few of its common accompaniments.

It can be served warm or cold at just about any time of the day and, while not exactly hot, it carries a wonderful tomato, thyme and scotch bonnet taste that makes it all but impossible to mistake its native region.

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