Peri peri sauce

For your Peri peri sauce try making your own
5 tsp Peri Peri Powder
3 tsp coarse salt
3 tsp crushed garlic
3 TBS olive oil
smash up the dry ingredients with a pestle and motar ,add olive oil and mix well

When it comes to chilli tolerance, I can be classified into the mild, occasionally medium, but generally borderline wimp category. I have strong opinions on it. I think too much can overpower and totally detract from other flavours in the food. I also think its highly addictive and the more you use the more you want. So I have made a conscious effort to keep my heat levels on fairly low.

Now this in no way means I don’t love the stuff. Its integral to so many dishes and recipes, and I use it all the time. I just like it to be there, but not take over the party.

I also get quite frustrated living in a country where we have such limited access to a variety of chilli cultivars. Most often you can find only green or red chillies, with little prior knowledge as to how much punch they deliver.

I had this delicious oil at my uncle and aunts olive farm, Groote Vallei in Tulbach recently. In their house its an everyday and virtually every meal condiment. Of course, I just had to know all about it.

It is taken from the book ‘Piri Piri Starfish’ by Tessa Kouros, and its her recipe for piri piri oil. I couldn’t find piri piri chillies, which are very hot but also very flavoursome, so adapted it using green chillies (which are milder) and I doubled the quantity to make 500ml vs. the 250 ml in the recipe. It really did not seem worthwhile going to such a lot of effort for just one cup of oil. My uncle and aunt quadruple the recipe to make a litre each time.

So armed with my beautiful gift of amazing ‘Groote Vallei’ award winning olive oil and the recipe, I set out to make my first ever chilli oil.

What you need to make: (doubled recipe)

6 – 8 medium sized piri piri chillies with the seeds (I used 6 green chillies so its milder)
12 – 16 small dried piri piri chillies (I wimped out and used 6 dried red chillies)
2 – 4 garlic cloves (I used 4)
4 Tbs Whisky or brandy (I used brandy)
1 tsp of finely grated lemon zest
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
500ml oil
How to make:

remove the stems off all the chillies and pulse in a food processor or mortar and pestle with the garlic until you get a fine paste (about 4 Tbs for 500 ml oil)
put all this chilli mix into a small pot with the brandy and heat on low
add the lemon juice and zest, salt, vinegar, bay and salt and about 6 Tbs of the olive oil
allow it to cook and boil until it starts to caramalise
remove from the heat and stir or whisk in the rest of the oil and pour into a sterilised bottle or jar
allow the oil to ‘mature’ for about 2 weeks, shaking it each day to allow the flavours to develop
This recipe makes about 600 – 650ml. You may have noticed my lovely wine bottle I used to store mine in. I brought this all the way back from Santorini a year and a half ago because I loved the shape. I now finally have a perfect use for it.

I cant believe I have survived this long without it. I’m now adding a splash on this and a splash on that. I’m adding it to the frying pan, the marinades and the dressings. Not only does it provide a controllable heat source by which you know exactly how much to add to get a desired result, but this oil has so many other things going on with it, making it an all round, damn tasty addition to any kitchen or table.

Great!! I love anything peri peri!! I really out on the stuff!!