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General Reference/Tutorial

General Reference/Tutorial

Roasted Mango Ghost Pepper Barbecue Sauce

Ghost Peppers. Jolokia chiles. Hot. Very Hot. Apparently some of the hottest edible chiles around. I’d been talking with someone about a year back so when I saw starter seedlings at the garden shop this spring, I decided to buy some. Thing is though: I now have about 40 ghost peppers. I’ve drying most of them, to grind for chili (it anyone wants some dried, let me know), but I decided to make this BBQ sauce too. It’s not all that hot, balanced by the sweetness of the roasted mangoes, actually. Definitely more of a chicken or veggie glaze than ribs or steak. Very tasty and the spicy kick gets you at the end.
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24. August 2016
General Reference/Tutorial

Salted Vanilla Bourbon Sugar

A couple of weeks ago, when I made this Peanut Butter Cup Fudge, I also made this sugar and sprinkled it on the top to add a little bit of a textural bit to it. As if the fudge wasn’t over the top as it was, eh? Anyway, turns out that this sugar is pretty over the top as well and I have made it a couple of times since then. Great (really great!) in tea, goes well with fruit, on cereal, a last little bit of flavor in yogurt; I even put just a bit on a steak the other day.
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4. February 2016
Breakfast/Brunch, General Reference/Tutorial, Sweet Snacks

Homemade Nutella

World Nutella Day is coming up tomorrow. Yeah, there is such a thing: World Nutella Day. I’m not making it up. And while I guess that someone at the Ferrero Roche company might object to me calling this homemade hazelnut chocolate spread Nutella, it is more or less the same thing, eh? So there you have it: make your own to celebrate the day!
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4. February 2016
General Reference/Tutorial

Sweet and Spicy Pickled Peppers

My little patio garden miraculously managed to produce over a pound of peppers: jalapenos, cayenne, cubanelles, Cherry Peppers, Pepperoncini, Hungarian Wax Paprika and 2 very small Scotch Bonnets. While I love chilis, there is a good chance that had I eaten all of these hot (and some sweet) peppers in a short period time, my stomach would not have been so happy with me. So what to do with my pepper bounty? I decided to pickle them. Saves them for a while and very versatile. What to do with pickled peppers: add them to salsa or guacamole, use in vinaigrette. Make cheese quesadillas and sprinkle on a bunch. Add to chili or taco meat. Add as a garnish on fish tacos. Really, the possibilities are endless.

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7. September 2015
Appetizers/Starters, General Reference/Tutorial, Savory Snacks, Sweet Snacks

Fig Honey and Thyme Jam

This week, I found myself in possession of a pound and a half of fresh figs. Not sure really how that happened, as figs are expensive and while you can find them a lot of places, certainly less common than say, an apple. Anyway, I absolutely love figs, but there is no chance that I could have eaten all of them (and enjoyed them) in one go, so I decided to make this lovely jam with about 2/3 of the lot. It’s a sweet jam, of course, with notes of honey, thyme and orange, but it pairs really nicely with savory — would go great with pork, and as shown with this cheese (it’s manchego) or even charcuterie. Or mix it into oatmeal or yogurt, or yes, even toast. It’s surprisingly versatile and yummy to boot. Also, it is very easy to make.
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13. August 2015