Habanero - Retro Food For Modern Times

B is also for Bozo, Blog and Birthday.

As in guess which bozo forgot to celebrate her own blog’s 2nd birthday on May 25th?

So, today we’re having a Belated (don’t worry, I promise I won’t capitalise every word that starts with a B) Birthday, (no really, I won’t) celebrating my second annivesary with food using the second letter of the alphabet. See what I did? Second year, second letter?

You’d think I planned it.

Maybe you should keep thinking that….I”m all for anything that makes me look better!!!

So anyway, it’s my birthday so let’s get this party started. And I’ve said it before, and no doubt I will say it again, (purely because I’ve got a bottle of the stuff that isn’t going to drink itself) a retro party isn’t a retro party without Parfait Amour. And any party is better with a blonde bombshell!

Nope not like this, the blonde bombshell I am referring too is a cocktail made with the aforementioned Parfait Amour. I’m not sure why it’s called a Blonde Bombshell as it comes out a gorgeous dusky pinky purple.

First Course – The Birthday Blonde Bombshell

It’s my party…cocktails count as a course….in my perfect world, we would skip main meals altogether. We would move from cocktails to fingerfood to dessert.

Wow!!! I think I may have found my Parfait Amour drink of choice. This was lovely!!! Sweet and florally and almost kind of musky…it reminded me a little bit of Turkish Delight…maybe it was the roses in the Parfait Amour. Very girly, very pretty. Easy to drink….hmmm….maybe getting rid of that bottle won’t be as hard as I previously thought!

Second Course – Bay Wrapped Bacon and Prunes

This is basically a take on a Devils on Horseback. But wrapped in a bayleaf. And I added a little smear of my Strawberry Habanero Sauce to the bacon before wrapping it around the prunes.

Note for the unwary – grilling bay leaves makes your entire kitchen smell like you’ve been smoking marijuana. For about a week. Which is fine until you have a plumber come to fix your leaking tap and they ask you if you can score them some bud.

I barely even know what that means.

Despite that, you really can’t go wrong with these…salty, sweet, spicy, crispy…The bay leaves added a slight resiny flavour that was quite pleasant but prevented the bacon from getting really crispy which was slightly disappointing.

I served it them with some more of the strawberry habenero sauce. And the saltiness was a great foil to the sweetness of the Blonde Bombshell.

Delicious!

But now to the piece de resistance. The dessert.

So….what’s better than a triple chocolate baby bundt?

A QUADRUPLE chocolate baby bundt.

And what’s better than a quadruple chocolate Baby Bundt?

A Quadruple Chocolate Chilli Baby Bundt!

Third Course – Quadruple Chocolate Chilli Baby Bundt

So, if you’re following me on Instagram you would have already seen me post my first experiment with the Spice Peddler’s Mexican Chilli Chocolate Cake Mix. That was a Chili Chocolate Cupcake with a Chilli Toffee Shard topped with Vanilla Icecream and my Strawberry Habenero Sauce. OMG, I thought this was the best thing ever…so, so good. The cake was fudgy and spicy and delicious, the vanilla icecream and chilli sauce worked together perfectly and the chilli toffee was a cute and quirky touch. Basically, this was me on a plate!!!!

Chocolate Chilli Cupcake with A Chilli Toffee Shard

Gahhh….so how do you top that?

Well, I found a recipe for a cake called a Tyroler in a Delicious Magazine and I had a little play with it. And came up with the Quadruple Chocolate Chilli Baby Bundt. I used the Spice Peddler Mexican Chilli Chocolate Cake Mix as my base and it was super delicious!

This was really good. Then again, how could it not be?

It had quadruple chocolate.

And a touch of chilli.

And walnuts.

And rum soaked sultanas.

And did I mention quadruple chocolate?

So, it may have been belated but worth the wait because these were all awesome!!!!

I’ll try to be on time next year and if not, I can always repost this and rename it Birthday 3 – Cocktails, Canapés and Cake.

Hope you all have a fabulous week!!!!

(Recipes below)

Signature 1

Blonde Bombshell

Print Recipe

A delicious cocktail, perfect for a celebration.

Author: Taryn Nicole Fryer
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 5
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Scale

1/2 ounce Parfait Amour
1/2 ounce St Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Sparkling Wine, preferably pink, definitely chilled

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Instructions

Pour the Parfait Amour into a chilled champagne flute.
Add the Elderflower Liqueur.
Top with the sparkling wine.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1

It’s that time of year where there seems to be a glut of strawberries on the market. I believe it’s also called super delicious happy yum time – or is that just me? Whatever you want to call it, my greengrocer was selling five punnets of strawberries for $5 so after doing a little dance of joy (which looks scarily like this):

Snoopy’s Happy Dance

I loaded up my cart. So, get out your maraccas and pile some fruit high on your head, today we are channelling our inner Carmen Miranda’s and getting a little bit fruity!

Speaking of whom, I had always just thought of her as the lady with the fruit on her head.

But wow!!!!! Who knew she was so amazingly, stunningly gorgeous?

So…how about you all keep channelling the inner. And I give the outer a shot?

But first, I’ve been obsessed, not only with real fruit but things that look like fruit for some months now.

First came my little Daiso fruit dishes:

Then the Mozi Measuring Cups:

I am so not using these for measuring!!! Imagine serving a dip in the Big Pineapple? Awesome!!!!

I’m easily amused aren’t I?

But it does pretty good loaded up with stuff does it not?

Put ’em together and what have you got?

Unfortunately we were all out of bibbidi-bobbidi-boo’s

But I did manage to make an absolutely knock your socks off Strawberry Habenero Sauce.

Ok, Mum, I know you read this and I know, in your world, a fairy dies every time I swear…

You might want to skip the next few paragraphs. Come back at the next photo, we’ll be good by then.

Ok – she’s gone now hasn’t she?

For the rest of us. When I say this sauce is the motherfucking bomb, I honestly mean that you could probably use it to detonate explosives.

This won’t just knock your socks off, it could possibly take your ankles with it. And having said all that, it’s also sweet and herby and so, so, good you’ll be wanting more even whilst you are calling for a fire extinguisher for your taste buds,

It may well be the most fucking hot thing I have ever eaten. In my life. And let’s bear in mind my Sri Lankan background. I’m not alien to hot and spicy.

But, seeing as she’ll be dying to come back…here’s that next photo:

The original recipe called for 12 habaneros and a cup of strawberries. As you can see, I had 5 habeneros and thought I might have to top it up with a few little scud chillies (totally unnecessary). I also ended up using nearly 4 punnets of strawberries – that would be 4 times the cup required in the original recipe.

I also had some rosemary, which as you will see, was not at it’s prime. So I threw a couple of springs of that in too. Waste not, want not right?

After about an hour it looked like this:

Then I threw in a couple of sprigs of tarragon, took it off the heat and let it sit until it cooled.

You can choose to puree this as you see fit. I put half in the blender and left the other half chunky.

The resulting sauce is capital A awesome even if I do say so myself. One of the best things is that it actually has a visible three step taste process.

The first taste is the strawberry sweet which is accompanied by a sound of “I thought you said this was..?”

This is followed by a “Mmmm” as the herby notes of the rosemary and tarragon kick in.

The final is a gasp for air and a kind of popping of the eyes as the chili kick hits.

This is when you can act like an absolute arse and say “Oh…you began to say something earlier…..?”

Or just pass the person a glass of water.

Your choice.

I’m going to be spending my week working on special Easter treats for all of you. Stay tuned….these are going to be…I don’t even know the word…retro awesome /possibly revolting

Time will tell.

Hope your week is fabulous.

Strawberry Habanero Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

5–12 Habanero Chillies (I used 5, the original recipe called for 12)
4 x 250 punnets strawberries
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 Lemon (juice only)
2 Shallots
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/8 cup sugar
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of tarragon

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Instructions

Combine all ingredients except tarragon in a pan and cook for or 1 hour.
Add tarragon and turn heat off. Leave on hob for 1 hour.
Puree in a blender.

First up,

Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: Habanero

B is for Baby Bundt, Bacon & Bay and Blonde Bombshells

First Course – The Birthday Blonde Bombshell

Second Course – Bay Wrapped Bacon and Prunes

Third Course – Quadruple Chocolate Chilli Baby Bundt

Blonde Bombshell

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition

Feeling Fruity – Strawberry Habanero Sauce

Strawberry Habanero Sauce

Ingredients

Instructions