Tag: chilli

Hot honey

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Addictively spicy and sweet, this is gorgeous drizzled over cheese, preserved meat, grilled chicken. Or in fact just Greek yoghurt. Makes half a jar

  • 200g honey
  • 3 big red chillis
  • 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
  1. Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan
  2. Slowly bring to the boil – don’t let it erupt all over the stove – and simmer for 3 mins
  3. Pour into a jar, stick the lid on and leave it to cool
  4. Keep it in the fridge and use it on everything

After a week or so you can strain out the bits if you like. Or just leave them in for extra spiciness!

Garlic chilli spaghetti

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Lip-smackingly savoury, kind of fusion, carb heaven. However you describe it, the perfect weeknight dinner ready in 12 mins. Feeds 2

  • 250g spaghetti
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, cut into thin slices
  • 1 heaped tsp unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 25g parmesan, finely grated
  • 7 or so chives, finely chopped
  1. Cook spaghetti in salted boiling water for 9 mins (retaining 50ml of the pasta water when you drain it)
  2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, then add the garlic
  3. Cook until golden – don’t take your eyes off them, you don’t want them to turn dark brown or burn!
  4. Fish the garlic out of the oil, add the butter and stir to melt
  5. Add chilli flakes and sizzle them for a moment before adding the oyster sauce and soy sauce
  6. Swirl to combine everything
  7. Add the cooked spaghetti with the retained cooking water and turn through the sauce
  8. Add parmesan and chives and mix through
  9. Remove from heat and serve straight away, sprinkled with the garlic chips you made earlier. Plus perhaps an extra sprinkle of chives, some crispy chilli and toasted sesame seeds on top

Smacked Sichuan cucumber

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Spicy, sweet, salty, tangy and crunchy – a veritable feast for the senses. Super-simple to make AND you get to smack a cucumber. What more could you want?

  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp black vinegar
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp chilli oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, lightly squashed
  1. First make the dressing as it improves with standing for 5 mins. Just mix together the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, chilli oil and garlic. Leave on one side til all the ingredients have made friends
  2. Put the whole cucumber on a chopping board and place a wide knife flat on top.
  3. Using the palm of your hand, smack the knife until the cucumber splits and breaks
  4. Chop it into bite-sized pieces and tip into a bowl
  5. Then tip the dressing over the cucumber and mix thoroughly. Give it a couple of mins to stand before serving, sprinkled with sesame seeds and finely chopped red chilli if you like

Serve with this teriyaki aubergine rice bowl, as part of a feast with Chinese spiced roast chicken, or alongside rich, spicy pork and carrots. So many delicious options!

Pepitas

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Seedy, munchy and spicy. And they’ve got the cutest name of any snack!

  • 150g pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tsp garlic oil
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • Wedge of lime
  1. Heat a small heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat
  2. Dry fry the pumpkin seeds, stirring as they swell and get a lovely toasty flavour
  3. Add the garlic oil and salt
  4. Stir and cook for a couple more mins
  5. Add the chilli flakes and stir in
  6. Then sprinkle the sugar over and stir constantly until it starts to melt
  7. Tip out onto a plate to cool slightly
  8. Serve straight away with the lime wedge to squeeze over

Sticky spicy cauli

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

The ultimate snack-with-beer or starter to whet the appetite. Spicy, sweet, savoury – crunchy round the edges and soft in the middle.

  • 1 head cauliflower, broken into small florets
  • 100g plain flour
  • 40g cornflour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp gochujang chilli paste
  • 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 3cm ginger, sliced into 2mm rounds
  • 2 cloves garlic, lightly squished with the flat of a knife
  • Fresh coriander
  • Spring onions, finely chopped
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C) and line a baking tray with baking parchment or a silicon mat
  2. In a bowl, briefly whisk together the flour, cornflour, baking powder, garlic and salt with 140ml cold water to the consistency of thick pancake batter
  3. Throw in the little cauliflower florets and stir gently until they’re completely coated with the batter
  4. Spoon each floret onto the lined baking tray, leaving a bit of space between them so they don’t stick together
  5. Bake for 20 mins until golden
  6. While they cook, heat a small saucepan over a medium-low heat and add all the remaining ingredients except the coriander and spring onions
  7. Stir together and heat to a bubble, stirring for a couple of mins until thickened
  8. Take the cauliflower out of the oven and tip into a bowl
  9. Pour over half to two thirds of the sauce and gently toss the toasty florets in it until coated
  10. Place them carefully back on the lined baking sheet (any sauce left in the bowl can be scraped back into the pan with a spatula)
  11. Put the cauli back into the oven for 10 mins until browned and crisp round the edges
  12. Tumble all the crunchy beauties onto a pretty serving plate, pour over the remaining sauce and sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander and spring onions

Eat them hot from the oven while you blow on your fingers and lick your lips.

As a shortcut (or just because you fancy chicken) you can use chicken nuggets instead of cauliflower and toss with the sauce for the final 7 mins of cooking

Thai chilli cashews

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Crunchy, spicy, toasty and incredibly more-ish. Amazing alongside a beer in the sunshine.

  • 150g cashew nuts
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 heaped tsp chilli flakes
  • Small squeeze lime
  1. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat
  2. Tip in the cashews and drizzle over the oil
  3. Cook and stir for a few minutes until the cashews are golden brown
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir constantly until the sugar melts and there’s no liquid left – this should only take a minute or so
  5. Tip onto a plate to cool

Spicy chicken and mange tout stir fry

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Succulent chicken, crunchy greens and chewy noodles, wrapped up in a fiercely spicy-sweet sauce which will make your tongue dance the fandango.

  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 chicken breasts, sliced ½ cm thin
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 red birdseye chilli
  • 4 spring onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 120g mange tout
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp chilli oil
  • 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
  • 400g cooked noodles of any sort (approx 200g dry weight)
  • Handful fresh coriander, chopped
  1. Prep everything before you start cooking. This is a quick one
  2. Heat the veg oil in a wok over a high flame
  3. Throw in the garlic, ginger and chilli. Stir in and almost immediately chuck in the spring onions
  4. Flip them about in the oil, then add the chicken
  5. Move the ingredients about constantly – stir frying them you might say (!) until the chicken there’s no pink left on the chicken
  6. Add the soy sauce and chilli oil and a splash of water
  7. Stir together, then throw in the mange tout
  8. Stir cook for a final couple of mins on high then turn the heat down and add the hoisin sauce and noodles
  9. Toss the noodles (I love an udon!) through the chicken, veg and sauce – should only take 1 min
  10. Sprinkle with coriander and serve immediately with chopsticks and a massive grin on your face

Smoked paprika and almond biscuits

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

So crunchy. So savoury. So, so very more-ish. A perfect nibble with a large glass of bubbly.

  • 175g unsalted butter, softened
  • 175g mature cheddar, finely grated
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 175g plain flour
  • 2 tbsp cold milk
  • 150g whole blanched almonds
  1. Beat the butter together with the cheese, chilli, salt, paprika and garlic
  2. Add the flour and milk, stirring in and then working together with your hands to smooth, soft dough
  3. Mix in the almonds and form into a roughly sausage shape
  4. Dollop onto clingfilm and use the wrap to roll the dough into a cylinder about 4cm diameter, 30cm long
  5. Put your delicous dough sausage into the fridge to cool for at least 20 mins
  6. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180C)
  7. Unwrap the dough and use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 1cm slices
  8. Place the beautiful biscuits gently onto a lined baking tray a few cm apart
  9. Bake for 25 mins until golden and then cool on a rack

This freezes really well. Just put the wrapped dough into the freezer rather than the fridge. And defrost before slicing

Red cabbage and coconut salad with honey chilli dressing

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Pretty pink salad, crunchy and toasty and flecked with green and orange. An unusual combination that works amazingly. Feeds 2.

  • ¼ red cabbage, chopped into small 1cm-ish pieces
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and grated
  • 30g desiccated coconut
  • Small handful coriander, chopped
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp veg oil or rapeseed oil
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • ½ tsp salt
  1. Toast the coconut in a dry pan until it smells amazing and turns golden around the edges
  2. Tip it in a bowl and add the cabbage, carrot and coriander
  3. Mix the honey (warmed to liquid with 10 secs in the microwave if it’s set), vinegar, oil, salt and chilli together and then tip the dressing over the salad
  4. Mix well and serve straight away

Whole poached chicken

~ Sophie ~ 3 Comments

Pale and incredibly succulent, cooking a whole chicken using this method feels as though the end result must be doing you good.

I tend to go one of 2 ways with a poached chicken. One is the classic Jewish penicillin, cooked with leek, carrot, celery and parsley. This makes the basis of an excellent soup with matzo balls, but I prefer it as a plate of beautifully tender chicken pieces served with brown basmati rice, garlic greens and a generous spoonful of dijon mustard for a poke of hot spice on the side.

The other way is Chinese style ‘saliva chicken’, so succulent it makes your mouth water. This is cooked with spring onions, ginger and rice wine, and served again with rice and a contrasting poke of spice this time provided by intensely spicy chilli sauce.

  • 1.5kg whole chicken
  • Aromatic ingredients (either 2 spring onions, roughly chopped; 2-inch piece of ginger, sliced into thick coins; 2 tbsp shaosing rice wine; 1 star anise OR 1 leek, cleaned and roughly chopped incl the green bit; 1 large carrot, scrubbed and roughly chopped; 1 stick celery, roughly chopped; small handful parsley stalks; 5 black peppercorns; 1 bay leaf)
  • 2 tsp salt
  1. Put the chicken breast side up, salt and all the aromatic ingredients into a deep pan
  2. Pour over enough cold water to just cover the chicken
  3. Cover and bring to a rolling boil
  4. Boil for 10 mins then turn off the heat and leave the pot to sit, covered, for an hour
  5. Remove the chicken from the pot and discard the other ingredients
  6. Rest for 10 mins then remove the skin, cut into pieces, season with a pinch of salt and eat up

To make soup, boil the broth until reduced by at least a third to intensify the flavour

You can also use the broth as stock to use in other dishes

If making the Chinese style version, sprinkle the chicken pieces with sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds. Here’s the recipe for the chilli sauce to dunk your chicken pieces in

Szechuan chilli sauce

  • 6 tbsp chilli oil
  • 2 tbsp black vinegar
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp shaosing wine
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 garlic cloves, squashed with the flat of a knife
  • 1 spring onion, minced
  • Coriander stalks, minced
  1. Mix all the ingredients together. Allow to sit for 15 mins before using, discarding the garlic as you serve