A Chilli Lovers Hamper

Yesterday was the first chance we got to finally catch up with our stranded Christmas Day guests through in Bathgate. The scenery on the short trip from Edinburgh to Bathgate was very beautiful, almost made me want to leave the big smoke but the estate Sis-in-Law lives in was absolutely covered under feet of snow and ice. There were cars abandoned everywhere and as we entered the estate a lady had slid off the road and had to be helped out by two passer's by. I have never seen so much snow, unfortunately my back is still not co-operating so I couldn't make a snowman (this is one of my life's ambitions!) and I left my camera on the kitchen bench so I haven't even got any photo's of the snow to show.

Anyway, this is a food blog and not a snow report! Sis-in-Law is a huge chilli fan so I made her a hamper full to the brim with chilli inspired treats. The goodies were all packed into a terracotta pot and came complete with chilli seeds and some pretty girly gardening cloves for her to grow her own chillies once all the treats are polished off. She was over the moon with them all.



It didn't seem right to post the goodies here until we had actually managed to give Sis-in-Law her present, but now we have the all clear so here goes ...



Chilli Vodka
This one was really, really simple! Take a bottle of vodka. Add some birdseye chillies and leave for as long as you like for the chilli and vodka to infuse. I also added a cocktail recipe card;

Cajan Bloody Mary
1 cup ice cubes
30ml chilli infused vodka
10ml fresh lemon juice
Dash worcestershire sauce
Dash tabasco sauce
Pinch celery salt
Pinch cracked black pepper
120ml tomato juice

Combine ice, vodka, lemon juice and sauces in a glass (300ml highball) rimmed with celery salt and pepper; add tomato juice and stir. Garnish with a lemon wedge and two straws.

Serves 1
Australian Women's Weekly Cocktails



Chilli Jelly

150g long fresh red chillies, each deseeded and cut into about 4 pieces
150g red peppers, cored, deseeded and cut into rough chunks
1kg jam sugar
600ml cider vinegar

Sterilise your jars and leave to cool.



Put the cup up chillies into a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped. Add the chunks of red pepper and pulse again until you have a vibrantly red flecked processor bowl.



Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a wide, medium sized pan over a low heat without stirring.

Scrape the chilli-pepper mixture out of the bowl and add to the pan. Bring the pan to the boil, then leave it at a rollicking boil for 10 mins.

Take the pan off the heat and allow it to cool. The liquid will become more syrupy, then from syrup to viscous and from viscous to jelly like as it cools (Nigella's words not mine!)



After about 40 mins, or once the red flecks are more or less evenly dispersed in the jelly (as the liquid firms up, the bits of chilli and pepper start being suspended in it rather than floating on it), ladle it into your jars. If you want to stir gently at this stage it will do no harm. Then seal tightly.



Make ahead tip: Make the jam up to 1 month before using or giving. Store in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. Once opened store in the fridge and use within 1 month.



Makes approx 1.5 litres
Nigella's Christmas Cook Book

I made half the quantity as listed here. Stupidly I thought that meant it would only need have the boiling time too!!! After 40 mins of colling down my flecks of chilli and pepper were still floating and there was no sign of Nigella's syrup - viscous - jelly. So I added the pan back to the heat, brought it back up to the boil and voila ;0)



Candid Chillies in a Sweet Chilli Syrup

8-12 fresh mild to medium red chillies
450g white sugar
450ml water
Boiling water

Pour about 1 litre of freshly boiled water into a pan and add the chillies. Bring the pan to the boil and blanch the chillies for 1 min. Drain the chillies and refresh in cold water.

Add the equal volumes of sugar and water to the pan and bring to the boil. Add the chillies and cook at a gentle boil for 30-40 mins.

During the cooking time, sterilise the jar in the oven or in boiling water for 15 mins.

When the chillies are cooked. lift them out gently and place in the jar. Pour the syrup over and screw the lid on. Allow the jar to cool before storing in the fridge.

I found the recipe for this one over at Kate the Bake. Thanks Katie!

Lemongrass and Chilli White Chocolate Truffles

A few years ago we attended the first ever Scotland Good Food Show. Sis-in-Law tried a white chocolate truffle that was flavoured with Lemongrass and Chilli. It wasn't quite my cup of tea but she loved it and has asked me to try and recreate it for her ever since. It wasn't until I did the Chocolate Masterclass a few months ago that I actually got the courage to play around with the flavours of truffles so I used my basic White Chocolate Truffle recipe and infused the cream and butter with two sticks of lemongrass and a bird's ever chilli. It seemed to work pretty well, we got a text message last night saying they were perfect ;0)

Tomato and Chilli Pesto

260g jar semi dried tomatoes in oil
1 red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
25g pine nuts
2 plump garlic cloves, crushed
Handful fresh flatleaf parsley leaves
125ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for storing
20g parmesan, finely grated

Put the tomatoes, chilli, pine nuts, garlic, parsley and oil into a food processor and blend to a paste. Season well and transfer to a bowl.

Stir in the parmesan. Put into a sterilised jar or jars then top with a film of olive oil.

Makes about 350g
Delicious Mag, Dec 09