Chilli Prawn Noodles

Ingredients:

• Prawns
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Peppers
• Chilli's or Chilli Powder
• Ginger or Ginger Powder
  
• Noodles
• Soy Sauce
• Fish Sauce
• Black Pepper
  

1) I used pre cooked prawns here, but if they are raw, boil or fry.
2) Mix the prawns with the chlli and ginger powder (or fresh ones) and with some black pepper and leave aside to soak in the flavours.

3) Heat a little oil in a pan, and chop all the vegetables: in this case mushrooms, onions and peppers. Cook gently on a low heat. Separately boil a pot of water for the noodles.
4) Pour the prawns and spices in with the vegetable mix and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently.
5) At this point, cook the noodles in the pot of boiling water.
6) When the noodles are cooked, drain and pour them in on top of the prawn and vegetable mix. Lightly stir the whole mixture and flavour to taste with soy sauce, a drop of fish sauce (I used a vegetarian one in this case!!), sesame oil etc.

vegetarian chipotle chili

ingredients:

• olive oil
• minced garlic
• 2 onions
• 4 red peppers
• 8 spring onions
• 2 chipotle peppers
• crushed hot chili peppers
• 3 cans dark red kidney beans
• 3 cans of diced tomatoes
• a fistful of kalamata olives
• a bunch of pepitas
• a bunch of fresh cilantro
• spices: cumin & pepper & salt & turmeric & paprika

instruction:
start with garlic and oil and chilies, dice everything else when appropriate (and its almost always appropriate) and toss in big pot, simmer for a couple hours, then serve.

Roasted Tomatillo and Chili Salsa

This is a variation of a recipe a friend gave me last summer; with the original all you have to do is throw all the ingredients into a blender and then serve, ending up a with an extremely fresh and zingy green salsa (add chilis depending on taste!). This roasted winter version turned out sweeter and thicker. Very different but just as good! Can be served with everything; as a snack with corn chips, on any mexican food (obviously), with eggs in the morning, in sandwiches, soups, what have you...

• 11 medium tomatillos
• 1 serano chili
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 pasillo chili (dried works as well)
• 1 clove garlic
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 bunch coriander/cilantro
• a little olive oil and salt

(Makes around 1 and 1/2 medium jam jars)

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius. Peel the husks (if still attached) off the tomatillos and quarter them. Together with the chilis throw them on a roasting pan with a little olive oil and salt.
2. Roast for around 25 mins or until tomatillos are soft and beginning to brown. Mine were in between a solid state and an almost carmelized one.
3. Deseed the chilis to taste, I removed about two thirds from each chili.
4. Place tomatillos, chilis, garlic, lime and coriander in blender and blend to desired consistency.
5. Serve still warm or cool, store in fridge, not sure how long it keeps as we usually finish it within three days...
   

the someday gourmet ...

So the Someday Gourmet needs to go on my list of folks to one day have a chili-off with.... their chili  looks amazing aside from the chili powder packet because I'm a put-it-all-in-yourself cook (reinforced lately after a friend of ours had to to the ER with an allergic reaction to something in my salad ... and you know how many ingredients are in that).

But really, its all about their arancini ... beautiful fried risotto balls.  I need to make them soon.