How do you like your chilli?

Labels lie!  In spring last year, I bought two small chilli plants.  The labels said medium hot.  I beg to differ.  Each chilli I have pulled off both bushes are powerpacked little firecrackers, whether red or green.  They make my lips tingle, eyes water and mouth be on fire for a good ten minutes, and that's just from one tiny piece, no membrane or seeds!  Don't get me wrong, I like chilli's to a medium-hot point, but these are turning out to be so far off my scale it's ridiculous.  I'm now scared of my own chillis!

My evil chillis!

I've done a bit of research into why some chillis are hotter than others.  The three key factors are soil, temperature and moisture.  And mine seem to tick all the heat boxes - well-draining soil (mine is sandy - I live near the beach!), in direct sunlight, and it's been dry.  So despite my daily watering, I haven't been able to tone them down.  I have to admit that I just can't eat them.  So, anyone who loves hot hot hot chillis let me know and I'll dig up the plants and give them to you.  I'm serious!

Which leads me to the recipe below.  I set out to make a Matriciana sauce for pasta.  This is generally prosciutto/speck/bacon, tomato and chilli.  Luckily for me, from experience, I've learnt to taste a small bit of every chilli I cook with, to gauge the heat factor.  After one tiny piece of a chilli from my garden, I knew that would be all I could put in the sauce, if I actually wanted to be able to eat it.  So I adapted your traditional Matriciana sauce, to include Sopressa (salami with peppercorns in it).  Using the Sopressa added the necessary pepperiness to the sauce, without the overwhelming nature of my home grown chillis.  To be quite honest, I was quite happy with the result!

Rose's Matriciana (Serves 2)
1 rasher bacon
4 - 6 slices shaved/thinly cut Sopressa (or other salami)
1 golden shallot (or small onion), roughly diced
1 - 2 cloves garlic, crushed
100mL (approx) red wine (whatever is hanging around, as long as it's not sweet!)
3 - 4 fresh tomatoes, deseeded, roughly chopped (or tin of chopped tomatoes, drained, reserve the juice)
Spaghetti/Fettucine etc
Fresh Basil and Parmesan, to garnish

1. Put a pot of water on to boil.  Add a pinch of salt.  Once boiling, add pasta and allow to cook to al dente.
2. Remove the rind from the bacon and place in frypan on medium heat (the rind that is).
3. Roughly chop the bacon and salami and add to frypan, once the fat is rendering.  Cook slowly till bacon starts to colour.  Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Add diced shallot and garlic to pan, over low heat. Allow to cook slowly, till onion is almost translucent.  Then, splash in the red wine and allow to reduce by at least half (just let it bubble away).
5. Add the tomatoes and stir to combine.  Once these are mixed in, throw the bacon and salami back in.
6. Drain pasta (reserve about 1/2 cup of the water).  Add pasta to sauce (in the pan) and toss (use tongs) to combine. If the sauce looks a little dry or thick add some of the pasta water (or reserved tomato juice if using tinned tomatoes).  Stir to combine.
7. Garnish with freshly chopped basil and grated parmesan cheese.

Other Ideas
If you have reliably medium heat chillis (or other chillis to your taste) then finely chop one of those and add instead of the salami.  If you do this, then use two rashers of bacon instead.
Use dried chilli or chilli flakes, omit salami and use double bacon (as above).
Add a few tablespoons of cream to the sauce at the end.
A few olives never go astray either!

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I got a letter!

When was the last time you actually got a card or a letter in the mail that wasn't for your birthday or a bill or some sort of sales pitch?  For me, excitingly this happened just the other week!  I received a handwritten card from my Aunty Marg with a little note and her recipe for Mushroom Bacon Soup.  I was so surprised to receive such a gift so unexpectedly.  There's nothing better than something that's been handwritten just for you.  Every time you look at it, you know that that person was thinking of you at that time and wanted to share something with you.  We don't write enough cards and letters to our friends and families 'just because' any more.  We email, we text, we skype, we facebook.  We've never before been so connected and yet we are so disconnected at the same time.

My challenge to you... dig out your dusty old address book and send a card with your favourite recipe to someone you know.  If it's a recipe that's been given to you, acknowledge the source and tell the story of how you came to get it.  When I say send, I mean actually go to the post office, stand in the line and buy a stamp!  And when I say send a card, go and buy a card (or make one?) and actually write it with a pen yourself, no computer allowed!  Don't tell them that you're doing it, just do it and see what happens.  And just so we all feel connected to you, share your results virtually on the OITC Facebook page.

So, in the spirit of handwritten recipes (via my scanner), below is my Aunty Marg's Mushroom  Bacon Soup.  It is delicious any time of the year - we've eaten it this week (winter), and I've also eaten it on Boxing Day (summer).  It takes no time at all and you'll certainly enjoy the creaminess!

Aunty Marg's Mushroom Bacon Soup

As well as making Aunty Marg's Mushroom Bacon Soup this week, I also made a stuffed chicken breast with creamy mashed potato and green beans.  You can stuff chicken breasts with whatever flavour combinations you like.  I used wilted baby spinach, roasted red and yellow capsicum (thinly sliced) and slices of creamy camembert cheese.  This also works just as well with de-boned chicken thighs.  You need to have something moist in the middle of the chicken (I had the spinach this time), so it doesn't dry out.  Other flavour combinations you could use would be basil pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto or a chunky tomato chilli jam or salsa.  You want a cheese that will melt well, so you could also try a goat's cheese or feta.  Experiment with what you put in the middle, till you find something that works for you.

Spinach, capsicum and camembert stuffed chicken breast

 To assemble, all you need to do is slice the chicken breast lengthways, but don't cut all the way through, then open it out.  Lay your fillings on one side, season with pepper, then fold the other side back over the top.  Then roll it up in several slices of overlapping prosciutto, to secure it in place.  To cook, seal each side for 4 - 5 minutes, in an ovenproof fry pan with a splash of olive oil in it.  Then place the pan in the oven at 180C - 200C, for 10 - 12 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chicken breast).  If you don't have an ovenproof fry pan, then once they are sealed place on a baking tray and then into the oven.  Once they are cooked through, slice each in half and serve on top of creamy mashed potato, with some green beans and drizzle some pan juices over the top.  This dish takes 30 minutes from beginning to end so is a good standby meal, when someone pops in unexpectedly for dinner or if you just have no time.