One F***** Drop at a Time
This guest post comes courtesy of Ron from www.ronvanrutten.com. Big thanks to him for taking the time to review it, It sounds like an absolute cracker and I’m hoping he makes the ribs he mentions and shares the recipe. In return please follow him here
Last week I went to Berlin and found a nice little shop called the Pfefferhaus (9 euro’s). Seeing as the whole shop was all about chili’s, I couldn’t wait to buy some. I bought some smoked peppers, got myself a free smoked habanero chili and bought a bottle of One Fuckin Drop at a Time as it was recommended by the owner.
Scoville rating has it between 350.000 and 800.000 units depending on how many
drops you use.
No way I could try it out in just any dish so I decided to have it in a nice chili as it needs heat.
It comes in a nice bottle with quite the warning text on the bottle. Being in the name, it comes with a dropper. Not really something you want to re-use for eyedrops when you finish the bottle…
Of course, me being a total idiot, I decided to try it “raw”, as in: one drop on the tongue.
It’s been a while since I’ve had that much intense heat on my tongue. Later I looked at my tongue in the mirror and was amazed to see that
no blisters or burn marks had formed. Definitely do-able but not for the faint of heart.
I made my chili (just a simple variation on Andy’s), added a drop, stirred and tried a little bit. Then another drop or 2. And few more
followed till I felt the heat rise high enough. In retrospect I *might* have overdone it a little bit and could have added 5 drops instead of 8, but it didn’t ruin the meal.
Rating with food: 7/10
Not a bad aftermath. The heat when combined with food, for me at least, was a nice and slow burn. Not an instant mulekick to the head
like having it raw. When combined with food it got hotter after a few seconds and left a nice aftertaste. After finishing the meal I
noticed how sweaty my head was, been a while since I had sweat on the back of my head 😉
Would I try this again? Oh hell yes. I have a nice idea for spicy ribs churning away in my brain…
Cheeky Chilli Chicken Wings
perfect for BBQ's
After the amazing suicide wings at Hickory’s in Chester I thought I’d have a go at making some my self, I very nearly just coated them in the Smart Arse Sauce that The One Stop Hot Shop sent me, but decided that would be the easy and slightly lethal option.
The idea is you can just make them as hot as you want by adding more chilli either using powder, fresh chilli or chilli sauce, these had a nice tingle which I’m pretty sure came mainly from the dash of the Smart Arse Sauce that I ended up throwing in for good measure.
After demolishing a plate of the wings I reckon the sauce would work on almost any meat or fish and especially well on a roast chicken. They’d even work really well with a nice blue cheese dip.
I griddled them but they’d be even better done on the BBQ
Ingredients
- Packet of fresh chicken wings
- 2 Chillis – use which ever ones you want, play around with different ones to give different heat levels and flavours.
- 1 clove of garlic,crushed
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2cm piece of ginger, grated
- 1tsp of red wine vinegar
- splash of olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 2 tsp honey
- dollop of your favourite chilli sauce (optional) as mentioned I used Smart Arse.
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
Method
- Place all of the ingredients apart from the chicken in a bowl, mix well.
- Add the chicken and mix until all of the chicken is really well coated in the sauce.
- Place in the fridge for as long as possible.
- When ready to cook, heat your griddle, BBQ or grill up so it’s nice and hot, place the chicken on.
- Cook, until done, turning occasionally, depending on the size of your wings and how you’re cooking them. They shouldn’t take long and the meat should just fall off the bone.
Smart Arse Chilli Sauce from the One Stop Hot Shop
This super hot chilli sauce came in the package that the One Stop Hot Shop sent me, along with the Old Smokey sauce. I was looking forward to giving this one a go as I’d already tried it’s hotter offspring “Son of Smart arse” a while back at a party.
The label on the bottle warns It’s extreme and it’s not joking, it even smells dangerous. I put a tiny bit onto some mature cheddar on a jacobs cracker and took a bite, the heat didn’t hit me straight away, the sauce was tasty, quite sweet and predominantly tasted of chilli (what else??) it’s slightly sweet, slightly tart and there’s a little bit of pepper in there too, then all of a sudden the chilli kicks in and batters your senses, the burn starts and things get really hot.
As promised it’s a seriously hot sauce and one you don’t want to use too much of in one go, although it’s stupidly addictive and I keep dipping back into the bottle for a heat fix. So far i’ve not tried it on anything other than cheese on toast and cheese on crackers, I think I will have to get a bit more adventurous soon.
If you like your chilli sauces crazy hot then this one is definitely up there for flavour and heat.
Suicide Wings from Hickory’s Smokehouse in Chester
Last weekend we popped down to Chester on our way to do some walking in Wales (which you will be able to read about here and here sooner or later)
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
Asda Piri Piri Chicken meal for one.
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.
One Stop Hot Shop Old Smokey
A few days ago I was sent a huge box of goodies from Andrea over at the One Stop Hot Shop. I was quite excited about trying the hot sauces but I’d also just ran out of Mr Vikkis Smokin Ranch Sauce so was over the moon to see a bottle labelled Old Smokey.
Old Smokey is described as a Mexican Chilli Sauce that’s delicious mixed into enchiladas, fajitas and in chilli. I thought I’d try something a little bit different with it…cheese ham and pineapple toasties. So I fired up the toastie maker layered up some smoked ham, mature cheddar and a couple of chunks of fresh pineapple, splashed on a good dollop of Old Smokey and cooked until crispy.
It really was a taste sensation, the smoke and chilli went really well with the sweet pineapple and juicy ham. Old Smokey it’s self is lovely and rich, with a really deep smoked flavour and just a hint of heat which lingers after the smoke has died away.The consistency is great too, it’s not really runny but it’s not gloopy either. It goes really well balanced and has worked on everything I’ve tried it on so far.
It comes in at £4.50 for a 240g bottle which I think is a good price and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of Chipotle. It’s almost impossible to choose between this and Mr Vikkis Smokin Ranch Sauce, so It looks like I will have to buy a bottle of both.
Look out for my thoughts on more of Andrea’s chilli wares very soon, also go and check out her website, there’s some really interesting stuff on there…like chilli toffee and chilli jelly. You can also keep up to date with goings on by following her on twitter here.
Lancashire Chilli Black Pudding
This is a post from Phil over at Beersay he’d been saying on twitter he got some Chilli Black Pudding to to try so I roped him into doing a review of it for me. In return please check out his Beersay blog and follow him on twitter
The Rossendale based Lancashire Black Pudding Company are award winning “specialist black pudding makers” using only traditional methods and base recipes dating back to 1879. Their fine black puddings have featured on many TV shows including the F Word, the food channel and are recommended as being one of Rick Steins “Food Heroes”.
This pudding is described as giving “a slow release explosion of flavour” and that description just about nails it perfectly.
As you cut the first slice it has a reassuringly sticky feel to it as you drag the knife through, leaving a dark red coating on the blade. At first sight of the inside, it looks like my favourite type, I personally hate to see big blobs of chunky white fat, I hate the texture and think it shows poor quality (you may disagree)..
The taste is as sticky and moist as your expecting from the slice, it’s rich and claggy as black pudding should be, there are soft cereal grains in the mouth as you chew, the meaty taste complimented by the traditionally expected black pudding spice. Then, there’s more.. The pepper gives way to a chilli flavour that steadily rears it’s head to take over your taste buds with warm but intense chilli heat. The chilli heat is not huge as in “burn your mouth, pass me the ice cold water hot”, more slow build and long lasting.
When I tasted it I ate it cold, first in small tasting chunks, then strangely but successfully thinly sliced with a cold chilli roast pork sandwich on granary bread, both meats complimenting each other perfectly
I am not a hug fan of black pudding in dishes or at least cook them rarely at home, but would suggest this would go well in something like a rabbit stew. To drink, well it was lunchtime and I was working so no beer at the time, but I was thinking that maybe a rich fruity but very hoppy IPA would go well with the spices on show?
If you want to take a look at what they are up to they have a well laid out web page which features their products, recipes, history and awards, they even have Twitter and Facebook pages should want to keep up with events.
Dartmoor Chilli Farm Real Ale Chilli Chutney
When having a sort out of my chilli sauces and chutneys cupboard I came across this jar of Real Ale Chilli Chutney from Dartmoor Chilli Farm, I’m not sure how long it has been in there but I’ve got a feeling it will have been in the package that contained the chilli and coffee chocolate.
The first thing I noticed when i opened the jar was the lovely big lumps of fruit, which were nice and soft so didn’t catch when spreading it on bread.
It smelled delicious, slightly spicy, a little bit boozy and very fruity. It tastes fantastic, quite sticky and sweet but it’s packed full of different flavours, there’s a nice bit of apple in there that works really well with the bits of red chilli…who’d have thought of apple and chilli. There’s some sweet, mellow onion and a nice under current of ale, which I gather is from a brewery close to the farm. The chilli is quite mild but you know it’s there.
So far i’ve had it on cheese on toast, in both ham and beef sandwiches and with some chicken liver pate…it worked equally well with all of them and has certainly livened up my lunch lately.
It’s £2.95 per 210g jar which I think is a pretty good price so if you fancy trying some for your self you can buy it here.
Spicy Peas
This is probably the most simple recipe ever, it takes virtually no time and tastes absolutely delicious. There’s no photo because I can’t find one..
Ingredients
- Frozen or fresh peas for how ever many you are serving, usually 2 in my case so add the flavourings below then taste and you can always add more
- Teaspoon of Chilli flakes
- Tablespoon of Mint sauce
- Knob of butter
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Melt the butter in a saucepan
- Add the chilli flakes and mint sauce.
- Add the peas and fry until cooked.
- Season with salt and pepper and then add more chilli and mint if necessary.
Jamie Oliver’s Spicy Southern Sausages Stew.
This recipe is taken straight from Jamie Oliver’s website and Jamie’s America Book, I made it last night and it was absolutely delicious, the only thing I changed was I used a bit less stock (5ooml) and chucked in a big squirt of spicy chipotle sauce.
I used Morrisons the Best Pirri Pirri Sausages to give a bit of extra kick too.
It took about 40mins for me to get the sauce to thicken, next time I’d be quite tempted to do it in the slow cooker.
Ingredients
- olive oil
- good-quality sausages (about 2 or 3 per person)
- 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 green pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped, yellow leaves reserved
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 1–2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
- 0 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
- 1 heaped teaspoon paprika
- 1 heaped teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2–3 heaped tablespoons plain flour
- 1 tablespoon white wine or cider vinegar
- 750ml chicken stock, preferably organic
- 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- cooked long-grain rice, to serve
- 3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
- a small bunch of fresh curly parsley, roughly chopped
Method
Put a splash of olive oil in a pan and let it get hot. Add your sausages and let them cook away so they brown nicely on all sides. Once golden and crisp, take them out of the pan and put them on a plate to rest. Depending on your sausages, there may be a lot of fat left behind in the pan. You only want to keep about 4 tablespoons of it in the pan, so carefully pour any extra away. If you don’t have enough, just add a splash more olive oil.
Add your onion, peppers and celery to the fat and fry on a medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir in your garlic, chilli, thyme and spices and fry for another minute or two. Stir in your flour and vinegar, and after a couple of minutes add your browned sausages, chicken stock and tinned tomatoes, using a wooden spoon to break them up a little. Season with a nice big pinch of salt and pepper, stir, then bring to the boil and let it tick away for 15 minutes or so until you have a thick and delicious gravy.
Serve with a hearty spoonful of rice on the side and sprinkle over some sliced spring onion, chopped parsley and any reserved celery leaves. Really tasty stuff!