Homemade Tomato Ketchup…. with a kick

What do you do with a kilo of plum tomatoes that you bought because they were really cheap and gorgeous looking? Well, I decided to turn them into ketchup because I had never done it before and it felt right. In a preparing for the winter months ahead type way.

I am really pleased with the consistency of it. It actually looks and tastes a lot like real ketchup, with  quite a bit of heat. I added some of our homegrown Scotch Bonnet chillis to the tomatoes instead of  the pinch of cayenne that the original recipe called for. It’s fiery but fruity at the same time.

And there’s no nasty chemicals or weird stuff, excellent!

Homemade Spicy Tomato Ketchup Recipe

Makes 1 bottle. Vegan, gluten-free. Adapted from Chowhound

• 1 kilo ripe tomatoes
• 1/2 red pepper, seeds & membrane removed then chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 75 ml sherry vinegar (or cider vinegar)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (or 1 cinnamon stick)
• 1/4 tsp caraway or celery seeds
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp allspice berries
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 small scotch bonnet chillis (optional) deseeded if you like
• 3 tbsp molasses (miel de cana)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Put the tomatoes, red pepper and chillis in a food processor and blend to a smooth puree. Push this through a sieve into a large saucepan with a spatula until you are just left with dry skins and seeds in the sieve. Discard this.

Puree the onion and add that to the pan with the pureed tomatoes. Cook and stir occasionally over low heat until it is reduced by about a third and is considerably thicker.

Meanwhile put garlic, peppercorns, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, caraway seeds and vinegar into a small saucepan and simmer gently, covered for about 1o-15 mins. Then pour about half the spiced vinegar through a sieve or tea strainer into the thickened tomato mixture. Add the molasses/miel de cana, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and salt and stir to combine everything well.

Taste at this point and adjust any of the ingredients to suit you. Maybe it needs more of the spiced vinegar or more molasses or salt. Cook it some more, stirring so it doesn’t catch, until it is thickened and looks like ketchup. Don’t worry if it looks a bit separated you are now going to blend it carefully with a stick blender in the pan (or in a food processor) and that smooths it out nicely.

Pour into a jug and then pour into a sterilised jar or bottle, seal with an airtight lid and leave to cool. When cool, store in the fridge.

Serve it with chips, beanburgers, anything really you don’t need me to tell what to serve your ketchup with. My particular favourite is with poached eggs and spinach on toast.

As this is quite a short post it seems like quite a good time to tell you about some exciting news. I am going to holding two cookery workshops at the Pepe Kitchen cookery school in Benalmadena. The first one on Saturday 20th October is a Vegetarian Middle Eastern Mezze Workshop where we will be making, Baba Ghanoush, Muhammara, Maast-o Khiar, Fattoush, Spanakopita & Sambouseks. The workshop is from 10am – 2pm and we all get to eat everything we have made for lunch together afterwards.

The second one is a Healthy Baking Workshop on Saturday 17th November from 5pm -9pm. We will be using spelt flour and olive oil to make pastry for tarts, galettes and quiches as well as making sweet and savoury spelt flour muffins and a flaxseed spelt raisin and date breakfast loaf. We will of course be tasting them all afterwards just to make sure they are good obviously!

For more information and to reserve your place you can either contact me directly or reserve through the Pepe Kitchen website.

Caribbean Sweet Potato Patties with Spicy Coconut and Spinach Sauce

I was looking for recipes containing scotch bonnet chilli peppers because our plant is producing more chillis than we can cope with at the moment. Apart from making more of my Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper Sauce, I am trying to find ways of including them in every meal.

I found a Trinidadian recipe for crab cakes that were coated in grated sweet potato and served with a Callaloo sauce. Callaloo is a popular Caribbean stew or soup of West African origin made with leafy greens called Callaloo or Taro that are similar to kale and spinach. There are many different versions but in Trinidad they use coconut milk, okra and peppers as well as the greens. In Jamaica they use tomatoes and spring onions. The African-American dish Collard Greens is also a version of Callaloo.

In this recipe the callaloo is blended to make a smooth sauce to serve with the cakes. I omitted the crab (obviously) and used roasted and mashed sweet potato as the base for the cakes mixed with Caribbean herbs and spices and our lovely scotch bonnets for heat.

Caribbean Sweet Potato Cakes with Callaloo Sauce

Serves 2-3. Vegan, Gluten-free.

For the cakes:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled & cut into 1″ cubes (550gr)
• 1 or 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• whole bulb of fresh garlic (outer leaves peeled off but still held together)
• 1 or 2 scotch bonnets chillies, deseeded & chopped
• 3 spring onions/scallions, chopped
• salt & black pepper
• a handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• the zest of 1/2 a lime
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 200C. On a lined baking tray, toss the sweet potato cubes with the olive oil, allspice, cumin, dried thyme, chilli flakes salt & pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes until soft. Roast the head of garlic at the same time.

Mash the sweet potato in a bowl with half of the roasted garlic cloves that have been squeezed out of their skins. Cook the spring onions and scotch bonnets with a pinch of salt,  in a little oil for a few minutes until softened. Stir this into the potatoes with the chopped coriander and lime zest. Check for seasoning, add more salt or lime zest if necessary. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge while you make the sauce.

For the Callaloo Sauce:

• 1 tin coconut milk, 400 ml
• 100-150 g fresh spinach leaves
• 1 small onion, chopped
• the rest of the roasted garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli (whole)
• 1 green or red pepper, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs, whole
• salt & black pepper
• the juice of 1/2 a lime
• a handful of fresh coriander, chopped plus extra for garnish

Put everything except lime juice & coriander in a med-large saucepan, season with salt & pepper and bring to the boil stirring to wilt the spinach. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 20-25  minutes, then remove the whole scotch bonnet (don’t throw it away) and thyme sprigs.

Carefully blend with a stick blender (cover with a towel) or in a food processor until smooth. Taste, if it is not hot enough cut the flesh from the scotch bonnet and add that to the sauce and blend again. Add the lime juice and chopped coriander and taste for seasoning, add more salt if necessary.

Pour the sauce back into the saucepan and keep warm while you cook the cakes.

Shape the sweet potato mix into 6 patties or smaller ones for canapes if you like. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan/skillet over a medium high heat. when the oil is hot add the cakes to the pan and cook for a about 2 minutes on each side until browned and crispy.

Pour enough sauce into your dishes to cover the base and top with 2 or 3 cakes. Sprinkle with some fresh coriander and serve with extra lime wedges to squeeze over.

We served this with a side of Caribbean Chargrilled Sweetcorn to carry on with the theme.

I am writing this listening to helicopters and light aircraft flying low over our house. Last night a friend, Andrew rang me at about to say that he could see lots of smoke coming from the mountains where we live. He was staying in his house across the valley at the time. I walked upstairs and opened the door onto the outside terrace and was greeted by huge plumes of orange smoke coming from the mountains in at the edge of our town. The view from the roof terrace was even worse and confirmed our fears.

The Barranco Blanco valley was on fire.

Totally unbelievable and shocking photographs started to appear on social networking sites as we heard about thousands of people being evacuated from their homes.

The fire was spreading rapidly, helped by the wind conditions, down the valley towards the coast. Friends of our were extremely worried about a dog rescue centre that was in great danger. Many people came to help and all 300 dogs were helped to safety along the riverbed towards Fuengirola before the fire reached them.

Our thoughts are with the families whose homes have been damaged or destroyed and we hope beyond all hope that this tragedy was not premeditated.

The area affected is one of the areas where we walk with dog. This morning we went out with heavy hearts to see if some of our favourite beauty spots were still there. Thankfully our favourite hill where we love to sit and look down to the coast has only been blackened on one side. The other side is as yet untouched, the firebreaks actually worked.

The whole valley is devastated, all the wildlife and plants destroyed. This is how it looked before.

Looking through all the photos of how it looked before is really upsetting. Rufus on top of the world….

Stay Safe Everyone

Martinique Sweet Potato Coconut Curry with Aubergine and Pineapple

The inspiration for this recipe came from watching a farmer harvesting his sweet potatoes. They look really beautiful coming out of the ground, their terracotta skin mirroring the colour of the soil, lying there baking in the warmth of the sun.

Martinique, an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, is part of the French Caribbean.  The first European to encounter the island was Christopher Columbus in 1502. Its official language is French, although many of its inhabitants also speak Créole Martiniquais.

Jerk Roasted Squash with Fruit and Nut Rice Pilaf

I made some of this Jerk marinade/sauce to use up some of the hundreds of scotch bonnet chilli peppers I have at the moment. The plant/bush has actually flowered again and is now producing even more.

I also made another batch of my Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper Sauce …..

The first thing I made with the jerk marinade was Jerk Baked Feta. I don’t have any pictures of it because I made it at night and we ate it all, sorry (not sorry really), but I will definitely do it again, it tasted amazing.

All you do is put the 200 gr block of Feta onto a large rectangle of foil, spoon over 3 or 4 tbsp of the jerk marinade and coat it well. Wrap up the feta in a foil packet and bake it for 10-15 minutes at 180 C. Unwrap your fragrant cheesy parcel and dive in with some  good pita or roti bread.

A customer at the restaurant, Norman, gave us a bag full of these beautiful squash. In my new guise as “Jerk Addict” I knew I was going to give it the jerk treatment. The sweet butteryness of the squash is enhanced by the spicy, zingy jerk marinade, they are made for each other, seriously.

I served this with a Fruit & Nut Rice Pilaf I found in my new Caribbean cookbook. Spice It Up by Levi Roots and drizzled it with some of my Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper Sauce mixed with some Greek yoghurt to tone it down slightly.

Jerk Roasted Squash with Fruit & Nut Rice Pilaf

serves 3, vegan, gluten-free

For the jerk roasted squash:

• 1 bunch/handful fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, then crushed
• 2 tbsp black peppercorns, then crushed
• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 tsp allspice berries, then crushed
• 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 6 scotch bonnet chillies (mine are small) use 4 large deseeded
• 2 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 limes, zest of 1, juice of 2
• 140 ml olive oil
• 1 medium squash

Put all the ingredients for the jerk marinade (not the squash) in a processor and blend to a smooth paste. Transfer to a sterilised jar and seal. Refrigerate until needed. This makes about 200 ml.

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Wash the squash and slice off  a little of the top and bottom. Leave the skin on. Slice the narrow end into 1-2cm discs (see picture above). Then cut the fatter end in half lengthways, scrape out the seeds and slice each half into 1-2 cm half moons.

Line 2 baking sheets with foil and place the squash circles on one tray and the half moons on the other. Drop about a teaspoon of the jerk marinade onto each disc and swirl it around to coat the top. Turn the disc over and do the same on the other side. Do the same with the half moons. Drizzle both sets of squash with a little olive oil and put both trays in the oven. The discs on the top shelf and the half moons on the middle shelf.

Cook for 30 -40 minutes depending on the thickness of your slices. The half moons will be ready before the discs. You want them to be really soft when you test them with a knife.

Serve hot or at room temperature with the Fruit & Nut Rice Pilaf.

For the Fruit & Nut Rice Pilaf:

Serves 3, vegan, gluten free. Adapted from Spice it Up by Levi Roots

• 150 gr long grain rice, I used a wild rice mix
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 50 gr sultanas (or dried tropical fruit mix)
• 25 gr almonds, roughly chopped
• 350 ml veg stock
• the juice of 1/2 lime or orange
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• salt & black pepper

Rinse the rice in a sieve until the water runs clear and leave to drain. Heat the olive oil in a large pan with a lid over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes until softened then add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring for another 2 minutes.

Next add the rice to the pan, stir to coat in the oil and spices then add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Season well with salt & black pepper and boil hard for a minute. Then reduce the heat to very low and cover with a lid. Leave to cook for about 15 minutes until tender, try not to stir but make sure the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Check seasoning and serve immediately garnished with some fresh thyme.

Serve the dish drizzled with some Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper Sauce if you like it fiery. Or mix it with some greek yoghurt for a more manageable heat.

This jerk marinade is amazing. You can use it for chicken, fish or pork but try the foil baked feta and squash too. You may surprise even the most stubborn carnivores with this recipe.

I also used it as a salad dressing with some more olive oil and lime juice. I used some of the leftover roasted squash, chopped up with some chickpeas and mixed it into a salad with the jerk dressing and a splash of hot pepper sauce. Really good lunch dish..

Things That Made Me Smile Today……..

 The Eucalyptus trees are starting to shed their bark, covering the ground with cinnamon- like curls….

It reminds me of a programme I saw about the cinnamon producers in Sri Lanka. Strips of  bark from the cinnamon tree are layered together, one curl inside another and then it is expertly rolled into the cinnamon sticks we buy and use for cooking. Amazing to watch….

It is one of the few signs of autumn we get here, and the first nod towards the changing season…..

Hello Autumn!

Caribbean Chilli Stuffed Peppers

As you know I get most of my food inspiration from the fruit & vegetables I see growing in the fields where I walk with the dog in the morning.  There are hundreds of these peppers everywhere.

This time of year there is always a glut of tomatoes. So much so that they are basically being given away or left to rot on the ground.

This whole field of corn is being left to dry out completely. The corn was ripe about a month ago but has not been harvested. I don’t know why, I’m hoping that they are going to use it to make corn flour or something. It seems such a waste.

My scotch bonnet chilli pepper plant is still producing more chillis. I have 3 large tubs already in the freezer and it has just flowered again which means another crop.

I have just been back to England for a few days for my mum’s birthday. As usual I had to buy another cookbook while I was there. This time I decided to go for something Caribbean as I have so many Scotch Bonnets to use. The book is Spice it Up by Levi Roots.

There are lots of recipes I’m eager to try but his Caribbean chilli was the first one because it used a lot of stuff I had to finish up in my fridge. I love recipes like this It’s so versatile. I added the sweetcorn and used lentils instead of kidney beans as  that is what I had.

I also have a really healthy thyme plant on my terrace. It’s not woody at all so you can use the whole sprigs for seasoning as well as the leaves. Fresh thyme is used a lot in Caribbean food.

So you can kind of see how my brain works. The stuff I see growing while walking the dog stays in my head. It gets added to the things I have on my roof terrace and inspiration from books brings it all together somehow.  It’s this creativity that I love and that keeps me cooking and writing this blog.

So I made the chilli which was delicious on its own with some rice or cornbread and then used the rest to stuff into the green peppers for lunch the next day. A sprinkling of grated cheese before roasting gives it that something extra and takes it in a slightly more Mexican direction.

For that late summer vibe you can’t beat a bit of Caribbean spice. So if it’s rainy where you are, bring on the sunshine, get creative and start cooking.

Caribbean Chilli Stuffed Peppers

Serves 4 as chilli, 6 for stuffed peppers, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free.

Adapted from Spice it Up by Levi Roots

For the Caribbean chilli:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 leek, halved lengthways, rinsed & finely sliced (optional)
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 sticks celery, finely sliced
• 1 heaped tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• salt & black pepper
• a bunch of fresh thyme leaves
• 1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and roughly diced
• 2 small long green peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 250 gr mushrooms, quartered or sliced
• 2 large tomatoes chopped (or 1 x 400 gr tin)
• 1 or 2 red chilli (ideally scotch bonnet) I used 4 of my small ones
• 1/2 tsp cayenne (optional)
• 1 tin/jar cooked lentils, rinsed
• 1 tin/jar cooked kidney beans/white beans, rinsed
• 1 ear of corn, silk removed and kernels sliced off into a bowl
• 2 tbsp tomate frito (tomato puree/ketchup)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 or 2 tbsp soy sauce
• a handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped plus extra for garnish
• 1/2 a lime juiced

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion, leek, celery, carrot & garlic and cook for about 5-8 minutes until softened.

Season well with salt & pepper and add the cumin, allspice and fresh thyme leaves, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Next add in the  peppers, cook for 2 minutes then add in the mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the chopped tomatoes, chillis, sweetcorn, lentils & beans and stir well. Then add the tomato puree, sugar & soy sauce.

Lower the heat, cover and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste, add more salt, sugar or cayenne pepper if not hot enough for you. Stir in the chopped coriander and squeeze over the juice of 1/2 a lime.

Serve straight away with plain boiled rice or some cornbread or use to stuff peppers.

For the Stuffed Peppers:

• 1 large long green pepper per person
• Caribbean chilli (see above)
• olive oil
• salt & black pepper
• fresh thyme leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
• dried chilli flakes
• grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 180C. Cut the peppers in half lengthways and remove the seeds and core. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the peppers on the tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, thyme leaves and chilli flakes, toss to coat.

Roast in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, you can do this while your chilli is cooking if you like. When the peppers are cooked spoon the cooked chilli into the peppers and sprinkle over the grated cheese. Put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes for the cheese to melt. Cook for 15-2o minutes if the filling is cold.

Serve on their own or with a simple green salad.

Things That Made Me Smile Today……..

My best friend Tara, who I miss a lot, made dinner for me when I was back in England. I’ve never seen her cook before so I was very honoured!!

Especially as she made my White Bean Dip  as well as a Blue Cheese, Pear & Walnut Salad, Nachos and some delicious Spicy Roasted Potatoes. It was  far too much food for the two of us but we still managed to polish off some Baklava and a bottle of pink champagne.

She has two gorgeous Chihuahuas, a boy & a girl called Rocky and Coco. Rocky is the white one and Coco is brown. I don’t usually like little yappy- type dogs but they are so cute.

Thanks T, I miss you. Come and see me soon!!

Caribbean Chargrilled Sweetcorn

The sweetcorn plants that I walk past every morning with the dog are starting to show their sweet kernels, which means it must be nearly ready for harvesting.

This recipe could easily be adapted to suit a variety of different influences. I made it Caribbean because I have so many scotch bonnet chillis at the moment but I have also made a Thai version with birds-eye chilli, ginger, red curry paste and fresh coriander which is also fantastic.

You start by making a flavoured butter (or I used an olive oil spread) that you pack as much flavour into as possible. Then you remove the corn silk from inside the leaves, but keep the leaves on.

Smear the flavoured butter all over the sweetcorn kernels then cover them back up with the leaves. Heat up your griddle pan or barbecue to hot and cook for about 12 minutes rotating slightly, with tongs, every 3 minutes until all sides are cooked. The leaves with be blackened, you may need to open a window!

Caribbean Chargrilled Sweetcorn Recipe

Serves 2, vegan, gluten-free. Inspired by Como Water (Tiffany made a version using harissa paste which I will be trying out next time)

• 2 ears of sweetcorn, with leaves still attached
• about 3 tbsp olive oil spread (flora) or butter
• 1 or 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli pepper, stemmed and finely chopped
• 1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp minced ginger
•  a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped (marjoram would be nice too, I couldn’t get any)
• 1 sprig fresh thyme leaves, stripped
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• a tiny pinch of ground cloves
• the juice of half a lime
• salt & black pepper

Remove the butter from the fridge to soften if using. Mix the olive oil spread (or butter) with the rest of the ingredients, except the corn and season with salt & pepper. Store, covered in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Carefully peel back the leaves of the corn without removing them and pull off the corn silk (strands). Smear the flavoured spread all over the corn kernels and replace the leaves to cover the corn.

Heat your griddle pan or barbecue to hot and cook the corn in the leaves for about 3 minutes on each side, using tongs to turn them, 12 minutes in total.

Serve immediately sprinkled with a little more salt. 

I served mine with some of my homemade Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper Sauce.

As I said before, adapt this recipe to suit your preferences or the style of meal you are planning. I would always start by adding spring onions, garlic, salt & pepper to the butter and then add…

Thai: minced ginger, chilli, red/green curry paste, fresh coriander, lime juice.

Mexican: cumin, oregano, fresh coriander, chipotle sauce, lime juice

Indian: garam masala (or curry paste), minced ginger, fresh coriander, chilli powder, lemon juice

Middle Eastern: cumin, coriander, cinnamon, fresh coriander, harissa paste, lemon juice

Cajun/Creole: paprika, cayenne, oregano, thyme, dried basil, white pepper, lemon juice

Italian: dried oregano, fresh basil, sundried tomatoes, dried chilli flakes

Greek: dried oregano, fresh mint, fresh thyme, crushed fennel seeds,cinnamon, black olives, lemon juice

Things That Made Me Smile Today……

Beautiful bright coloured gerberas……

And sunflowers reaching for the sky…..

Also, I have a new camera which I am very excited about. I will still be using my trusty point and shoot for when I’m walking the dog but I am using a “proper” SLR camera for my food pictures. Please bear with me as I have no idea what I’m doing and the instructions are in Spanish, which could take a while. 

I’m learning as I go and loving it, any advice?

Fried Green Tomatoes with Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper Sauce

Sometimes things are just meant to be. Like this recipe. It came together because I was looking at all the big green beef tomatoes (tomate ensalada) that are yet to ripen when I was walking the dog.

I started thinking about “Fried Green Tomatoes” the film, which I’ve never seen and the dish, which I’ve never tried. I wasn’t even sure whether it was a special type of tomato that was always green or if it was just an unripe tomato. I googled it when I got home.

It turns out that they are just sliced unripe tomatoes that are breaded with cornmeal (polenta) and fried. They are usually served with a wedge of lemon and some hot pepper sauce. Hot pepper sauce? That is when it started to come together.

We have a huge scotch bonnet chilli pepper bush on our terrace which was given to us last year by our sister-in-law, Marie Elena, before she moved back to England. This year it has come back even stronger than last year and we have just started harvesting the first lot of red-hot round juicy chillis.

There are literally hundreds of them on there and more and more are turning from green to red every day. I’ve been researching Caribbean dishes that use scotch bonnet chillis and am formulating some recipes in my head that I will be trying and posting soon.

The thing is that these recipes only use one, or at the most, two of these chillis and am just about to have loads. I always freeze my chillis, to keep them fresh, and I just take one or two out as required but I needed to make some room in the freezer, it is full of chillis and figs at the moment.

So I decided to make a hot pepper sauce out of my scotch bonnets to go with the fried green tomatoes. That used up about twenty of them anyway. It is a hot, hot pepper sauce but it has a kind of fruitiness to it as well which is unusual but works perfectly with the tomatoes.

Beware, this sauce is addictive. You think it’s too hot but then you keep going back for more. The Washer Up loves it, but he is the biggest chilli head I know. He just put some on a cheese and tomato sandwich.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper Sauce

For the hot pepper sauce:

Makes a bit less than 250 ml bottle. Vegan, gluten-free. From The Chilli King

• about 20 scotch bonnet chillis (mine are quite small)
• 100 ml red wine vinegar (I used sherry vinegar)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 100 ml water

Remove the stalks and any large membranes from the chillis and roughly chop. Blend/process for few seconds until finely chopped. Add this to a small pan with the vinegar and salt & bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 5-10 minutes until softened.

When it starts to reduce and thicken slightly add the water and sugar, stir and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile sterilize your glass bottle by boiling it in water then drying out in a warm oven for 5 minutes.

Once cooled blend the sauce again until smooth and pour it through a funnel into the sterilised bottle, seal and leave to cool. Once opened keep sealed in the fridge, it should last for a few months.

For the tomatoes:

Serves 2. Vegetarian, gluten-free. Adapted from Tyler Florence

• 2 large green (unripe) tomatoes
• 100 gr (1/2 cup) polenta (cornmeal)
• 75 gr (1/2 cup) arepa precooked corn flour (or plain flour)
• a pinch of cayenne pepper
• a pinch of paprika
• salt & black pepper
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 75 ml greek yoghurt mixed with 75 ml milk (I used goat’s milk) or 3/4 cup buttermilk
• salt & black pepper
• 100 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
• lemon wedges, to serve
• hot pepper sauce (see above)

Mix the polenta, arepa flour (or plain flour), cayenne, paprika and thyme in a bowl and season with salt & pepper. Mix the yoghurt and milk (or put the buttermilk) in a shallow dish and season with salt & pepper.

Cut the top of the core out of the tomatoes and then slice off the top and bottom. Cut each tomato into four 1cm or less slices. Dip the tomatoes in the yoghurt mixture then put them, one by one, in the polenta bowl. Toss the  bowl around to coat the tomatoes completely on both sides.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, fry the tomatoes for 3 -4 minutes per side until golden & crispy. Drain on paper towels and then serve, stacked on a plate with the lemon wedges and hot pepper sauce.

If the film is anywhere near as good as the dish then I need to download it soon. Enjoy!

Things That made Me Smile Today……

Beautiful red berries on a stick in the ground. I don’t know what they are but I bet they’re poisonous!

Pretty red bug probably eating my plants!

Jamaican Lentil and Coconut Soup

This recipe started off as a Jamaican lentil stew that I wanted to turn into a soup for a Caribbean meal I made on Friday night.  The basic recipe was kind of plain & rustic, I thought it needed the volume turning up, as Ina Garten would say. So I added a lot more Caribbean spices, scotch bonnet chillis, thyme and coconut and some fresh mandarin juice for sweetness. I also blended the soup to a smooth puree rather than leaving it as a chunky stew. The result was a spicy, sweet and aromatic flavour with a smooth & creamy texture. Just the thing to warm the soul and transport you to a Caribbean island on a cold winter’s night…..

Jamaican Lentil & Coconut Soup Recipe

serves 4-6 vegetarian

• 1 cup uncooked brown lentils about 2oo gr
• 1 cup veg stock 225ml
• 2 cups water 550 ml
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp curry powder
•  1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tbsp butter or olive oil
• 1 big spanish spring onion (or about 4 scallions)
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli, chopped (you can use any fresh chilli or 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes)
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
• 45 gr sultanas
• 50 ml tomato puree
• salt & black pepper
• 1/2 tin coconut milk about 200 ml
• about 3oo ml veg stock to get desired consistency
• the juice of 1 mandarin
• fresh coriander, chopped for garnish
• greek yoghurt to swirl on top (or mango & coriander yoghurt chutney see recipe here)

Rinse the lentils well and put them in a large sauce pan with the water & veg stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, add the carrot, celery & half the ginger, cover and simmer for about 20- 30 minutes, until the lentils are cooked.

Meanwhile in a small frying pan dry toast the curry powder & spices over a low heat until fragrant, don’t let it burn. Tip this into a small bowl and set aside. In the same pan heat the butter or oil over a medium heat, add the spring onions, the rest of the ginger, garlic, chilli, vinegar & raisins. Cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly then add the tomato puree and cook for another minute.  Add the toasted spices to the tomato mixture along with the thyme & oregano, mix well and add this to the simmering lentils along with the coconut milk and season generously with salt & black pepper.

Simmer this uncovered for about 20 minutes or so then take off the heat and carefully blitz with a stick blender until you have a smooth puree. Put the lentil puree back in the pan and on the heat. Add more stock (if you wish) until you reach your desired consistency (I like it thick but still soupy).  Add in the mandarin juice and check for seasoning.

Serve the soup in warmed bowls topped with a swirl of  Greek yoghurt or Mango & Coriander Yoghurt Chutney and some freshly chopped coriander. I served some Roti Bread alongside the soup see the recipe here.

Enjoy…!

Caribbean Squash & Plantain Curry with Roti Bread

Walking the dog today we saw all the squash & pumpkins growing, a sure sign its Autumn, and we still have a huge amount of our own Scotch Bonnet chillis in the freezer so I decided to make a Caribbean dish (Scotch Bonnets are used in the Caribbean) which uses these ingredients. Luckily my local Mercadona sells plantain which is really surprising so I was all set..

Squash Growing

Our Scotch Bonnet Chilli Plant

First make the Roti dough. For some reason I don’t like to eat rice with curries so I have tried lots of different bread recipes from Indian Puris to Middle Eastern flatbreads. This was the first time I had tried to make rotis and they turned out surprisingly well (no dramas). They are my favourite bread so far, really delicious with this curry and easy to make..

Roti Bread Recipe

Makes 8 Rotis Vegetarian

• 5oo gr plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 165 gr butter diced
• about 160 ml water
• veg oil for frying

Sieve together the flour, baking powder & salt in to a large bowl. Add the diced butter and rub it into the flour mixture with you fingertips until it looks like fine breadcrumbs (you can do this in a food processor on slow). Slowly add the water bit by bit and mix together with you hands to form a ball of dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 2 or 3 minutes then put it in a bowl covered with a clean tea towel and leave it for about 30 minutes.

Roti Dough

Meanwhile make the curry don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients if you don’t have everything it’s still going to be gorgeous. The flavour combinations that make it uniquely Caribbean are the fresh thyme, oregano, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice (if you have it I don’t).

Caribbean Squash & Plantain Curry Recipe

Serves 4 Vegetarian

•  3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1kg squash or pumpkin peeled, deseeded & chopped into 2 cm cubes
• 1 plantain peeled & sliced into diagonal 1cm coins
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 red pepper deseeded & chopped into rough squares
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli chopped (You can use any fresh chilli)
• 1 tbsp ginger paste or fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 tbsp curry paste (whatever you have)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• a pinch of ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• the zest of 1/2 lime
• 300 ml veg stock (you may want to use more)
• 1/2 tin coconut milk about 2oo ml ( You can use more if you like)
• lime juice to taste 1/2 to 1 whole lime
• a handful of fresh coriander chopped plus extra for garnish
• salt & black pepper

Heat the oil in a large sauce pan add the onion and saute for 2 minutes over a medium heat until softened then add the garlic, ginger & chilli. Add the sliced plantain and fry for a minute. Add the curry paste, tomato paste and the rest of the herbs & spices, apart from the lime juice & fresh coriander, stirring constantly. Then add the squash, red pepper & fresh tomato and pour over the stock & coconut milk, Turn up the heat & bring to the boil seasoning generously with salt & black pepper. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover with a lid and simmer for about 30 minutes until the pumpkin is soft, stirring occasionally. 

While the curry is cooking, go back to you roti dough, knead it again & cut it into quarters, then into eighths and roll them into balls. Flour the work surface and the rolling pin and start rolling out your rotis as thinly as possible (really thin). They don’t have to be a perfect circle that’s part of the charm. Make a pile of rotis flouring well in between each one so they don’t stick together.

Brush a large frying pan with oil, heat it up until hot and cook the rotis for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on each side. They should bubble up & brown slightly. Brush the pan with oil in between each one. Cover the cooked rotis with a tea towel while you cook the rest.

 Stand back & admire your rotis don’t they look lovely…

By now your curry should be ready, the squash cooked and the plantain kind of melted into the sauce. Add the lime juice & fresh coriander and taste for seasoning. You may need more salt or you might want to add more veg stock if you like it more liquidy. Serve the curry garnished with fresh coriander, lime wedges and the warm, folded rotis on the side. Who cares if it’s raining outside…..