Chilli & Hop Festival 2014

Ok, I was far more interested in drinking beer than taking photos this year, so visually stimulating this post is not (although most of the photos that I do have are fab - thanks to Kelly Cook).

Nor does this post provide much of an insight into the festival, the chilli eating champs, chillies or hops.

It does however provide some insight into why lunch with Mum on Sunday was cancelled and the car sat at Hallertau until 4pm.

Now that I've made this sound an incredibly insightful and worthy read...

The Chilli & Hop Festival is an annual event at Hallertau - a brewery/pub/restaurant in Coatesville which is a regular venue for us for a Sunday pint of vino (I'm going to pretend that was supposed to say pint or vino). It has great food, in a great setting, with great beer on tap and is the location for this great event. Those couple of loyal readers of mine will know we went last year and surprisingly were feeling worse for wear following that too...

Last year the festival hosted the finals of the NZ Chilli Eating Champs and was held in July so proved a slightly darker, rainier and colder day but still one to remember (mostly).

This year certainly topped it - fantastic band, great beer, delicious food, not too shabby company and an absolute stunner from the weather gods.

Being earlier in the year, the first round of the Chilli Eating Champs was held and, well to be honest, I don't know how anyone who participated is still alive.

The heat that El and I went to last year had a lovely looking chilli con carne, a little soup number and some pretty mean chicken wings. This year they ate whole chillies. And more whole chillies. Oh and a triple chilli taco. And washed it down with more chillies.

And when I say chillies, I mean Carolina Reapers. We grew Reapers this year and I can barely look at them, let alone touch one. The last mental thing I ate was about an eighth of a Trinidad Scorpion and I cursed Elliot for making me do it.

For those of you who have not eaten any part of a super hot, words simply cannot explain how hot these things are. I and haven't gone near a Reaper.

I guess the contestants did get a fairly easy first few rounds - a mere Bishop's Crown, a teeny tiny Cobán , a golden Habanero the size of a small cat (I had a great view once I pushed past the kids to get up front).

About twelve contestants kicked off, and slowly but surely they started bowing out through the rounds.

Then the big guns - the 7 Pod first which cut the field down to three determined and uncomfortable contestants looking longingly at the yoghurt and beer in their direct eye line.

The trio were given two Reapers to down in the final round and, well, HoTtt ASs Chillies Paul, Amber Alert and Chilli Willy could not be separated. The sunglasses could not hide the tears and absolute pain, but they had done it.

The three way tie went down as a first in the championships' history. An absolute beast of an effort by all three.

As a bonus, Chilli Willy turns out to be an old friend from high school I have not seen in yonks. I am sure he appreciated seeing me at my finest... Well done mate (and Rewa hard!)

There was a great story on Campbell Live which follows reporter Lachlan Forsyth learning about the comp, entering the comp, and giving well a damned good effort before ending his time in the comp spewing into a bucket on national television.

The New Zealand Herald also covered the champs - story here.

There are also some great photos on NZ Chilli Eating Champs and HOTtt ASs Chillies' Facebook pages.
Here and here.

There are heats up and down the county - head along for a great night out (Chilli Eating Champs website above will have the dets).

The Chilli Eating Champs were on for a couple of hours but before that we were treated to some sweet beats from The Gramophone Band while sampling all the different beers on offer. Trying all the different varieties and then having a whiskey cocktail was most definitely not a stupid idea.

Yes, the whiskey and beer cocktail with plum jam, bitters and lemon was shaken in style by the handsome bar tender and we all shared a toast and a sip. Delicious. Slightly too sweet for a couple and I could probably only have one, but a nice change from the lager.

The beverages washed down the amazing pulled pork taco from The Lucky Taco Truck -a flour tortilla topped with pork tossed in a delicious barbeque sauce, a bit of shredded red cabbage, a splash of lime and sprig of coriander then smothered in Habaenero sauce by me - amazing. Pulled pork. Hot sauce. Can't really go wrong.

The chilli dog from the award winning Grey Lynn Butchery was another treat. My white shoes may not have survived my hotdog eating skills but it was delicious with some nice heat.

Then of course there is only one thing needed at 8pm when you have been drinking since 2... JALAPENO POPPERS!! I have written about Hallertau's poppers before - just eat them already. They are super super good. Period.

In between the eating and cheering the chilli loving freaks we checked out the always fantastic Fire Dragon Chillies stall, said hi to Clint and the great peeps there, visited the HoTtt ASs Chillies stall run by Chilli Eating Round 1 Champion Paul Smith who has made some crazy good Banana and Bhut Jolokia sauce that had to be bought. What really was great about the day was getting to meet and chat to some other fantastic chilli heads - you don't seem to run into them often in everyday life.

Additions to the hot sauce collection

So the time had come. People were making their way home, the contestants were round the back having a chuck and a taxi was ordered. While we waited??? fries of course. And the daunting realisation you know what is to come tomorrow.

Worth it? Hell yeah. We will be back next year without a doubt.

Cheers!

Jalapeno poppers

The day had come. The day we had dreamed of. We had jalapenos big enough. We had cheese in the fridge. We had tummies to fill and we had a grotty Waitangi Day indoors.

The day saw a flurry of activity in the Dally/Brooks household with me whipping up a number of things in the kitchen and Elliot tinkering away with plant cloning, seed propagating and hydroponic system tendering.

Our new hydroponic system.
Blog on this coming soon...

The popper process started last weekend when Elliot and I had jalapeno poppers at Hallertau (the only place in Auckland I have found them) and the next day decided it was finally time to make our own so that we didn't have to make the half hour trip and spend $14 just to a get a taste of these again.

The Hallertau poppers were still slightly crunchy but definitely not as much as a raw jalapeno so we thought we should pickle the jalapenos slightly before using them for poppers. Raw jalapenos are also fairly bitter so really think they need pickling or maybe blanching first before being able to eat them.

We already had a jar of jalapenos pickling so decided we could just hollow some freshly picked ones out and chuck them in the jar for a couple of days ready to fill n fry.

So we cut the tops off six medium sized jalapenos and hollowed out the placenta and seeds and plopped them into the pickling jar.

Four days later they were the perfect firmness and didn't have the bitter taste of raw ones so we were good to go. They were drained on paper towels to remove the excess pickling liquid while the rest of the ingredients were prepped.

2 Tb cream cheese
2 Tb grated cheddar cheese
1 egg
2 Tb milk
A bit of flour
Some panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper

Mix the cream cheese and cheddar cheese together. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Put the egg and milk whisked together in one shallow bowl, the flour in another and the breadcrumbs in another - forming a production line.

Fill the jalapenos the best way you know how - there was no way we were getting this in with a spoon so I put it in a small sandwich bag and cut a corner off to make a piping bag.

Dredge the filled jalapenos firstly in egg, then into the flour then into the egg again and lastly into the breadcrumbs.

While doing that heat about 1cm of vegetable oil in a saucepan (or use a deep fryer or frying pan) until very hot. I'm not one for all those fancy thermometers and what not, so when the oil looks nice and shiny chuck a few breadcrumbs in and if they fry quickly and turn brown the oil is ready.

Very carefully place the jalapenos in the oil (we did three at a time so not to overcrowd the pan) and flip over after they turn golden brown on the bottom. Make sure all sides are nice and brown (including the top) and remove and drain on paper towels. Note the whole frying process took about two minutes - they do not need long at all.

Eat immediately with chipotle mayo (chipotle sauce and mayo mixed together - if you have read this blog before you will we always have some on hand).

Words cannot express how amazing these are. They were hot and crunchy and spicy and salty and just incredible. The coating was a lot better and crispier than the Hallertau ones and the mixture was awesome and creamy and cheesy and they are incredibly moreish.

Thank goodness we have more jalapenos on the way. I'm in love.

The glory that is prawns

And canned smoked fish. Not together, but in three recipes which are easy, can be made not too spicy and are great for main meals, lunches, appetisers, dinner parties or just a Sunday afternoon as the case may be.

I have extremely fond memories associated with the prawn and kumara Thai fritters I made a couple of weeks ago. In Wellington in 2008 I lived with some very good friends in a house named Harry and my dear flatmate, affectionately known as Chopper, introduced me to these amazing morsels.

A couple of weeks ago something, somehow, somewhere made me think of these fritters which I have not eaten in years and a text message later I had the recipe (which I believe is an Annabel Langbein creation) and could barely wait to whip them up.

These are great in any shape or form, any time of the day, hot or cold. They are simply delicious and I urge you to make them now.

• 1/2 c each self raising flour and rice flour
• 1 c coconut cream
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 Tb minced fresh ginger
• 2 Tb sweet chilli sauce
• Greens of 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• Small handful of coriander, finely chopped
• 1 medium-large kumara, peeled and grated
• 300g raw de-shelled prawns, cut in quarters
• Salt and pepper
• Vegetable oil

In a bowl combine the flours, coconut cream, egg white, salt and pepper, turmeric, ginger, chilli sauce, spring onion and coriander. Mix to a smooth batter.

Add grated kumara and prawns and mix. Rest for at least 15 minutes before cooking.

Heat oil in a frying pan and cook spoonfuls over a medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels and serve with sweet chilli dipping sauce (I found one I like!)

I did quite big fritters as they were for dinner but these would be fab as mini fritters for an appetiser or canapes. If you need to do them in batches you can keep the cooked ones warm in an oven on a low heat. They are also extremely yummy cold.

I am so full right now but I still really want to eat them.

I served them with an Asian slaw which is just finely chopped lettuce (or cabbage), grated carrot, chopped spring onions and coriander, some chopped toasted peanuts and sesame seeds with a dressing of lime juice, fish sauce, red chillies and brown sugar.

Perfection.

The other two dishes comprised the lunch I have just stuffed my face with. Taking advantage of a non-hungover weekend day I felt like cooking lunch so made Peri Peri prawns and Thai fish cakes with aioli and tomato chilli dip.

The prawn recipe came from my Red Hot! book and is extremely easy. The recipe takes its name from the Piri Piri chillies that the recipe originally used. I used our Takanotsumes which worked well.

The effort involved in de-shelling and cleaning the prawns is totally worth it.

• 2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 20 prawns (but you will want so many more)
• Salt and pepper

De-shell and de-vein the prawns, leaving the tails on.

Make the marinade by combining the chilli, paprika, coriander, garlic, lime juice and olive oil in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour over the prawns and coat well. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes (mixing a couple of times).

Fry the prawns for a couple of minutes until just cooked. Alternatively, skewer them and do them on the barbie.

Serve with an aioli - the cheat's method being: mix a couple of tablespoons of good mayo, half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and a small clove of crushed garlic. Voilà.

The Thai fishcakes are a recipe I made up. I have seen enough episodes of Come Dine With Me to know what people generally put in them (and to last me a lifetime) so I threw a few things together. Although taking cooking advice from that show is any interesting notion - there is always at least one of the whinging poms that dislikes everything. Luckily for me, the whinging pom in this house loved these.

They were actually initially going to be crab cakes but apparently PAK'nSAVE (who knew the correct spelling had so many capital letters - seems to match their ads that yell at you) doesn't believe in stocking crab in any form so smoked fish it was.

You could use any type of fish - and could use raw, however I love smoked fish and knew the canned stuff was very tasty and so easy. It also means the cakes won't take long to cook as you don't have to worry about cooking raw fish - and you can taste test the mixture before cooking it if you are squeamish about eating raw fish (which, if you know me and my love of eating raw mince and bacon, know that would not be a problem).

• 300g canned smoked fish (the big Sealord can is the best - 300g is about 2/3 of the can)
• 3/4 c panko breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
• 2 fresh green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 Tb fresh minced ginger
• Handful of coriander, finely chopped
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tb fish sauce 
• 2 Tb mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything in a bowl and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Shape into small cakes and fry on a medium high heat for a couple of minutes on each side. A lot of people roll the cakes in either breadcrumbs or flour before frying but I prefer them just as they are.

Once golden brown drain on paper towels and serve with tomato chilli dip and garnish with spring onion greens.

To make the dip you need:

• 2 tsp butter
• 1/4 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 1/3 c water
• 1 tsp malt vinegar
• 1 Tb chopped coriander
• 2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped
• 1 Tb lime juice
• 1 Tb fish sauce
• Salt and pepper to season

Melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the onion, garlic and tomatoes for about 5 minutes until the onion is tender.

Add the water, vinegar, coriander, chillies, lime juice and fish sauce and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste.

Blend with a stick blender and serve hot or cold.

So Sunday lunch turned out to be pretty awesome. Just for good measure, I also flash fried some whole green chillies in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Mams did this for me once as she loved them in Spain which is how they serve them and they make a great accompaniment to a meal or tapas dish.

Fry on a high heat for about 2 minutes
The skins will blister and pop - beware!

The perfect accompaniment would be a large cold glass of Pinot Gris.

Christmas Huevos Rancheros

Knowing the other eight or so meals we would be eating on Christmas Day would be classic Kiwi Christmas BBQ fare, I decided our breakfast at home would be something a little different.

In fact this breakfast was not just not-Kiwi but was kinda a round the globe mash-up. This certainly was not a traditional Mexican Huevos Rancheros, but more of what it has now become - baked eggs in a tomato sauce which turned into more of an Italian sauce which I ended up serving with Turkish bread.

My loathing of crowds and Christmas grocery shopping saw me at the supermarket at 8.00am on the 22nd to get everything I needed. Thankfully nothing too fresh was needed for this meal but it meant I had to get bread that could be heated on the day and was not bakery fresh and that left me with some Turkish bread that you keep in the fridge and heat for 10 minutes before serving and it worked a treat.

This is an extremely easy brunch to make as you can make the sauce in advance and then just add and cook the eggs when you need to. You can also make it as mild or spicy as you like and add anything you want - meat (or not), onions, garlic and whatever herbs and spices you have at home.

Our Christmas breakfast compagno Jo is not too keen on anything too spicy so this is just a nice medium heat - enough that you can definitely taste it but not too hot that you need to rush for the milk - which was lucky considering mimosas were the drink of the morning.

I was up bright and early checking if Santa had been (he had not) so got the sauce on early so that it could cook for about an hour and a half to really get some good flavour going.

The recipe serves four (which was perfect for Christmas breakfast for three plus my Boxing Day leftover breakfast).

2 cloves garlic, chopped very finely
Half a red onion, sliced thinly
Half a yellow capsicum, diced
4 rashers middle bacon, chopped
3 spicy sausages, sliced
2 cans tomatoes (I used chopped in puree)
Hot sauce to taste (I used about a couple of teaspoons of our Habanero hot sauce)
1 cup chicken stock
Punnet of cherry/grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 Tb smoked paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Fry the onion and garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for a couple of minutes, being careful not to brown them too much.

Add the capsicum and bacon and stir for a couple of minutes.

Add the sliced sausages (which I had precooked and let cool before slicing) and cherry tomatoes and fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the canned tomatoes, paprika, herbs, some hot sauce if required and some salt and pepper.

Simmer at a very low heat for about an hour and a half. When it is almost done preheat the oven to 200°C.

Towards the end of the cooking I realised the sauce needed some more liquid so added half a cup of chicken stock and let it simmer down and then added the other half and simmered for the last 20 minutes or so with the frying pan lid on to keep the liquid in.

Once you are happy with the texture, flavour and seasoning of the sauce, transfer it to an oven proof serving dish.

Make six wells for the eggs. Carefully break the eggs into the wells and place in the oven for about 10 minutes until the eggs are cooked.

I also heated the bread for those 10 minutes in the bottom of the oven.

Served the eggs with a sprinkling of fresh coriander and the warm bread and butter.

The sauce was herby, a bit spicy, meaty and extremely tasty and made a great start to a very merry Christmas filled with family, food, friends and a wine or two!

The sauce is also amazing as leftovers. I just fried an egg the next day and plonked it on top of the warmed sauce, some more fresh coriander and leftover bread. Heavenly.