Chicken guajillo Tostadas

Luckily there is once a year when I try to make the effort to get to that there London to sample the many beers at the Great British Beer Festival. So after a day (and night) of drinking on Tuedsay and a rather warm night’s sleep in the Easy Hotel at Earls Court, I set off in search of Wahaca in Covent Garden.

It was a baking hot day and the air was claggy and moist so the cool airy basement setting of Wahaca was a welcome break, the size of the place too me by surprise, It was like a rabbit warren much bigger on the inside than it looked from the street.

The decor was great, nice and relaxed, plenty of colour and attention to detail, topped off with a nice atmosphere, It was just after 12 and there was already a few people sat chatting away.

The friendly staff greeted me we a smile and showed me to my table, just tucked out of the way but with a great view of the bar, the waitress explained a little bit about the menu for me before giving me enough time to decide on what I was going to have.

Choosing just what to have was almost impossible, while the menu isn’t massive it is very well thought out and I would have happily eaten just about everything on the menu. The menu it’s self is divided up into Street Food, which are smaller portions allowing you to choose a couple of different dishes to try, Platos fuertes, which are bigger portions, more like traditional restaurant food, then of course there’s a range of sides and deserts. All of these can be accompanied by a large range of Tequilla, various  Mexican beers and an interesting range of soft drinks.

In the end after much deliberation I went for Pork Pibil Tacos, Chicken Guajillo Tostadas and a glass of Citrus Fizz. The Citrus Fizz was just what I needed after the events the day before and was the perfect refresher on a hot summers day, not to sweet or sour and with just the right amount of mint, I could have sat and drank pints of the stuff.

Pork pibil Tacos

The Chicken Guajillo Tostadas arrived first along with some cool fresh salsa and a firey yellow dip, they were just as described on the menu, 2 crisp tortillas piled high with succulent marinated chicken, salad, avocado and pumpkin seeds. They were packed full of flavour and had just a tiny bit of heat so after demolishing the first one I added a splash of the Fuego Maya hot sauce that was on the table and a dollop of the yellow dip to the second, this added an extra dimension and added that little bit of extra zing that I was looking for.

A few minutes after finishing the Tostadas my Pork Pibil Tacos arrived, they smelled and looked amazing, 3 small soft corn tortillas topped with soft, succulent strings of pulled pork coated in a lovely smokey and extremely moreish sauce. I had cleared my plate in no time. Absolutely delicious. I was very tempted to order a 3rd dish when I spotted the Taquitos and Quesadillas on the next table but decided not to be greedy and ask for the bill instead.

My total bill came to just under £10 (£3.95 each for the Pork Pibil and Chicken Guajillo  and then £1.50 for the Citrus Fizz) which I think was very well priced, the quality was fantastic, the quantity just right and the service spot on. The bill came accompanied by a little packet of chilli seeds on sticks for easy planting, a lovely little touch which certainly beats mint imperials and cheap chocolates you usually get in places, although it would have been nice if it had the variety of chilli on the packet.

The only things I’d change about my visit would be that I’d have liked the option of a pint or jug of the Citrus Fizz, a couple of different beers…maybe a nice hoppy IPA or dark malty stout and maybe the option of being able to buy some of the awesome yellow sauce or a bottle of the Fuego Maya hot sauce but they are minor things.

If you’re in London and haven’t tried Wahaca then It is definitely worth a visit, now I just wish they would open one up here.

You can visit the Wahaca Website here or follow @wahaca on twitter

There will be over fifty stalls displayed in the grounds at the front of the Hall offering chilli-related goods such as jams, jellies, chocolate and sweets, ice-cream, sauces, seeds, plants, chutneys, clothing, breads, oils, cordials etc. with many items produced by Cumbrian businesses.

Last year over 8,000 people visited the Chilli Fest which provides entertainment for all the family. There will be live music on both days from the Milnthorpe Steel Band. Paul Garbonzo from America – fire eater, juggler and all round entertainer extraordinaire will be performing on both days too.

Phil & Helen plus members from Salsa North West will demonstrate and encourage participation in Salsa Dancing, and if this is too vigourous then visitors can try out the game of Croquet or simply relax in the magnificent surroundings and soak up the atmosphere. There will be a chilli trail in the garden, face painting by Janet Allen and other games for children run by the gardening team, together with all the other attractions that these unique gardens offer such as the children’s adventure playground and the willow labyrinth.

There will be a varied and entertaining programme of cookery demonstrations and talks on both days – all with a Chilli twist.

Further details and images are available on www.levenshall.co.uk

Entry for the the 4th Lakes Chilli Fest is £10 (cash only) per adult which includes entry to the famous topiary gardens. For this special event children are FREE. No dogs please except assistance dogs.

After a day that included a few beers, a rather sweaty pedalo trip and more than it’s fair share of Romans we headed for Hickory’s Smokehouse, I was a little bit more than excited after seeing their website as It was one of those places I would eat nearly everything on the fantastic looking menu, not to mention a rather cool beer list.

The main reason I was exited though was the thought of trying the Suicide Wings. The menu simply said “Suicide Wings, you have been warned”

After seeing the size of the main courses going past I decided to just order the 6 wings, knowing that If they were hot there was no way anyone else would help me finish them off.

A few minutes after arriving and half a Goose Island Honkers Ale later the 6 wings arrived on a plate, smothered in a really pungent chilli sauce alongside a whole griddled chilli and a pot of extra sauce.

The sauce smelled fantasic, really rich and spicy with a slightly sweet note to it too.  I couldn’t wait to get stuck in. After the first bite I knew these were going to be hot as the chilli caught the back of my throat which started my nose running. The sauce was sticky, slightly honey sweet and had a lovely spicy and almost smokey flavour, there was a nice garlic (I think) twang too,  the burn built up as I ate my way through the wings. By the time I had finished I knew I’d eaten something spicy and something a little bit special, because while they were scorchio they were also packed with plenty of other flavours that the chilli didn’t obiliterate, this is surprisingly hard to find when trying these sorts of foods in places.

The wings them selves were really juicy and had plenty of meat on, there was plenty of sauce covering them and they were really sticky and moreish.  They cost just under £8 for the 6 which I think is  a little on the high side considering the rest of the starters looked more keenly priced.

I’d definitely go back and I’d definitely have these again, all the other food we had that day was top notch too, my smoked beef brisket was ridiculously soft and delicious and the coleslaw cut through the richness of the BBQ sauce excellently. If you are any where near Chester its worth popping in, no wonder the restaurant was busy all day and late into the night.

You can view their website here

When I was in Asda on the way to work a couple of mornings ago, I noticed this Piri Piri Chicken meal for one and having forgotten my lunch I decided to give it a go.

It’s part of the chosen by you range and is chicken with long grain rice, red onion, peppers, spinach and coriander all served up in a spicy piri piri sauce.

It’s one of those meals you tear a hole in the pouch then put in the microwave for a couple of minutes so I was quite interested to see how it tasted as I don’t tend to use the microwave much.

In all honesty it was quite nice, maybe a little bit on the bland side, It could have done wtih a good glug of tabasco or something like that and maybe a bit more black pepper. It had a nice little bit of heat but nothing tingly.

The consistency was nice, it was very moist and all of the veg had cooked well, the peppers were still nice and crunchy and tasted nice and fresh.  There was plenty of each veg and a good sized portion of rice. The chicken pieces were nice and chunky and there was plenty of them, it would have been nice had they had a bit of flavouring or marinade on as they didn’t really soak up the sauce.

It cost £2.50 which isn’t too bad, the traffic light system on the front gives green light for everything apart from the salt…although I think the 12.g of sugar is way to much.

Instead of fresh chilli you could always use chilli chocolate. It’s also quite nice if you replace the nuts with coffee beans.

Ingredients

• 200g digestive biscuits
• 110g whole pecans, roughly chopped
• 110g pistachio nuts, peeled
• 12 glace cherries
• 2 fresh red chillis, de seeded and sliced
• Big handful of chopped marshmallows (jamie uses 2 ready-made meringue nests, smashed up but i prefer marshmallows)
• 150g unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup or honey
• 200g dark chocolate

Method

1. Break the biscuits into small pieces directly into a large bowl. Add the pecans, pistachio nuts, marshmallows and cherries and mix together. Put the rest of the ingredients into a separate, heatproof bowl and put on a low heat over a pan of simmering water until the butter and chocolate have melted.
2. Combine the biscuit mix with the chocolate mixture. Line a 30 x 20 cm plastic container with clingfilm, leaving plenty of extra film at the edges to help turn the cake out later. Whack everything into the container, place in the fridge to firm up then turn out and cut into chunky slices.
3. This cake can be kept in an airtight container for a few days, and it actually improves in flavour.

It’s a light heated look at some of the best kebab houses and take aways that grace our green and pleasant lands with a good bit of history and some interesting anicdoes thrown in along the way.

Unfortunately none of the places mentioned are any where near me so i couldn’t go and check them out for my self.

It’s a great little book that you can buy from Amazon for less than a fiver, alternatively leave a comment below and the best one will win a copy of the book.

so go on, get commenting…recipies, kebab stories…anything really…

Sorry for the lack of posts, things have been kind of crazy lately, my chillis all got wiped out by a bad batch of compost so my greenhouse is looking a little bit bare at the moment.

I decided against buying any replacement plants or planting any more as we are going away for 2 weeks to do the coast to coast walk so rather than worry about them not being watered It was easier just to go without this season.

I’ve got a huge backlog of reviews, recipes and website work to do and I’ve set a few to auto post while I’m away so watch this space.

The fudge was excellent, it was really crumbly, sweet but not too sweet and had a really subtle chilli flavour that built up the more you ate – after half the packet (alright most of the packet..) it built up to a really great level.

The chilli really did work with the fudge, I wasn’t quite sure if it would or not but it was absolutely gorgeous.

At £1.55 for 100g it’s very well priced and a bit of a steal!

Please go and buy some from the website here as it really is worth trying if you are a chilli fan.

you can see them by clicking the link below

http://www.asdamagazine.co.uk/2010/01/chillies/

I really should be planting my chilli seeds now but it’s still a bit cold with all of this snow we have been having so I have decided to leave it a few more weeks, maybe until the middle of Feb, I will just see how the weather plays out.

Everything has been a bit neglected of late because i’ve been so busy, things are calming down a bit now so you can expect to see more very soon.

In the meantime if you are wondering how to get your chilli growing off the ground then take a look at these posts from last year:

Growing Chills – Intro

Growing Chillis – Part 1 : Getting Started

Growing Chillis – Part 2 Germination

Growing Chillis – Part 3: Potting on

Growing Chillis – Part 4: Watering and Feeding

If you have any questions please get in touch