urban odds & ends

8 Red peppers

2 Medium red onions, chopped

A spring of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped

2 Fresh bay leaves

A 5cm piece of cinnamon

75g Brown sugar

150mL Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

And here are the leading actors - Restless Red Rita and Yummy Yellow Yna:

Place the red peppers and the chillies on an oven rack in the preheated oven at the highest heat possible turning them now and then to blacken them evenly. We want them really dark and blistered, when they look like burned - it's okay, this is were we want to go. But be careful and keep an eye on the chillies, they're much smaller so take them out earlier then the red peppers.

Lift the hot peppers and chillies in a bowl and cover thightly with clingfilm. As they cool down they will cook in their own steam. By the time they're cool enough to handle, you'll be able to peel the skin off easily. When you've got rid of the skin, stalks and seeds chop them finely and put on side.

Place a large skillet over medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Throw in the onions, the bay leaves, rosemary and cinnamon and season with a little bit salt and pepper. Cook very slowly without browning for about 20 minutes, until the onions get sweet and sticky. Add the chopped peppers and chillies, sugar and vinegar and keep cooking until the liquid reduced and you're left with a lovely thick sticky chutney. Remove the cinnamon and the bay leaves, season to taste and spoon into sterilized jars or keep in fridge and use it right away (for Welsh rarebit like we did - recipe follows).

Von Cooking

A little advise: open the kitchen window while your cooking, the air gets very "thick" while cooking this hot chillies ;)