Spicy chick peas

Friday evening and back on the balcony. Currently a heatwave in Stockholm, so now when I'm writing this at nine PM it's 18C. Amazing.

I made some spicy chick peas today. I put the dry chick peas in water last night, so they were completely soaked. In other words - let them soak in water for approximately 24 hours.

Then I took my favorite chile powder, mixed it with olive oil and salt. Here you have to use your own judgement what is suitable for you and your surrounding :-)

Mix the chick peas with the oil mixture and put on a baking sheet.

Heat the oven to 175C, and let the chick peas cook for about an hour. Stir occasionally.

It's perfect with a glass of vinho verde or orange juice or whatever you prefer on a Friday afternoon.

Wishing you all a nice weekend!

Hot regards,
  Mats

Thinking about redesigning the chile pepper database

As the evenings get darker, I'm thinking about doing some work with the Chile Pepper Database.

I need to fix some small bugs, and some other things. I know myself, and that will most probably lead me to major changes in the code behind it.

So, my question to you is - do you have any ideas about the layout, or if you think any functionality is missing? In that case, please comment here. All ideas are worth sharing :-) But it does not necessarily mean that they will be implemented.

Thanks!
   Mats

A monster on the balcony?

Well, I don't know what to say. This one just keeps on growing and growing. I think it's well over three metres now.

I forgot the most important info. It's my basella alba, or malabar spinach.

I think it's a plant with a purpose. Or ambition and vision. It's probably trying to get up to the neighbor above us. But what it's really trying to accomplish - I don't know yet. Have a look at it. It goes both to the left and right along the railing.



In other words. We still haven't eaten it. And the question is still if we dare :-)

Today I learned - Höstfest på Bergianska!

In Swenglish... Don't miss the Höstfest (harvest fiesta) at Bergianska. Sunday 4th of September 11-16.

More information here: http://www.bergianska.se/index_program.php?vidare=aktuellt_hostfest11.html

I'm sure you will find some chile pepper friends there :-)

Hot regards,
   Mats

Cumari almonds

Sunday afternoon. Sunshine. Last third of August.

What could be better than some spicy almonds on the balcony with rose wine :-)

For your inspiration. Heat up a pan with some oil. Add the chile powder. In this case I used cumari from last year. Add the almonds and let them fry on medium to low heat for about 10 minutes. I like them when they get "blackened".
Let them cool down on some paper. Put them in a bowl and add some salt.
Ready!

The perfect snack! It can be as hot or mild as you like!

Have a great week!
   Mats

You know you're a chilehead when .....

... you go on a cruise to Tallinn, and everyone buys loads of alcohol and cigarettes, and you call out - WOW! A habanero hot sauce!!! - in the taxfree shop of the ship :-)

I just tasted it, and it had the typical habanero flavor, with a very distinct heat!

A couple of pictures from Tallinn.

I wonder if this dragon sampled some habanero sauce :-)

Have a great remaining of the week!
   Mats

Habanero sauce

This is a classic!

Simply fantastic taste and heat!

Mucho mas habanero!

Hot regards,
  Mats

Girino

This is an old "friend" of mine. I grew it a couple of years ago, and had a fantastic harvest.

It won't be the same this year. But I like this variety a lot. It's a nice Capsicum chinense.

More pictures here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=224

Hot regards,
  Mats

Black Pepper

It's called Black Pepper, but it's not the ordinary kind of black pepper :-)

It's a beauty with the purple striped flowers.

 

I believe that it is a C. chinense because there are many flowers per node.

Thanks to my friend Aparecido for the seeds!

Hot regards,
  Mats

Chiltepin

Thanks to my friend Marco who sent me these seeds!

Chiltepins are fantastic! Look at the fantastic shape of these flowers!

 

True beauties!

Regards,
  Mats

New sauce

Thanks to my friend Mikael who gave this one to me :-)

It's a really nice serrano sauce! Not very hot, but it has that great tex-mex taste!

Good on all the food you see :-)

Have a great week!
   Mats

Memories from Santa Fe - New Mexico

I'm suppose to work on the final lab for my summer course, but I'm doing all I can to avoid that :-) So I just had to browse through old pictures...

Something made me think of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe. I was there for the first time in 1996. It was a beautiful spring day, and I had duck on the open patio in the sunshine. That was great.

Patricia and I went there in 2000. I think it was in March. It was cold and even snow. This time we sat inside. We were close to the fireplace and enjoyed it a lot!

Meet the band :-)

And the kitchen staff.

We liked the artwork. It would probably not be as good in our home, but I think it's absolutely great!

A "mandatory" picture of me :-)

I'm still using the Coyote Cafe cookbook now and then for inspiration. A nice book!

Well, should I maybe go back to my Ruby course now instead...

Keep it hot!
  Mats