The ChileFoundry » Mustard

Roberts Sauces – Chilli & Garlic Vinaigrette

Hot Juan — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:36:22 +0000

Roberts Chilli Garlic Vinaigrette

Roberts Sauces is a local manufacturer of sauces, dressings, Mayonnaises and Vinaigrettes here in Somerset, strangely for such a business they have no web site!! We have purchased and used a number of their other products at home, the quality was excellent.

In the bottle the dressing has a tenancy to separate, so needs a good shake before use, it looks not unlike what I have made at home, and on opening it has a mild smell of the Sunflower Oil and Vinegar. The taste is delightful, using cider vinegar makes the dressing less harsh than when using a white vinegar, combine this with the honey and garlic the initial taste is sweet, then the mustard and a slight warmth from the chillies.

Ingredients: Sunflower Oil, Cider Vinegar, Mustard (Water, Mustard seeds, Vinegar, Salt, Sugar, Preservative: Sodiumbissulphite), Honey, Garlic (2%), Black Pepper, Chilli.

This is a nice quality product, from a regional manufacturer, and at only £2.69 a bottle it offers excellent value, I have used it on some freshly cooked pasta as a pasta salad, but probably my favourite was mixing it in with some mashed potatoes.

Its is not hard to make salad dressing like this at home, and normally that is what I would do, but I have to say this one is as good if not better that most of my attempts, I especially like the touch of honey, must add that to my next home made version.

Using a clear overprinted label is a brave move, but this time it has worked out very well, unlike a resent product I photographed from Sainsburys, who colour selection for the print completely lost the plot.

Roberts Sauces
Unit 9, Barrowshill Farm, East Chinnock. BA22 9EY
Phone 01935 863663

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Mr Vikki’s Hot Tamarind Chutney

David Kelly — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 09:44:35 +0000

Being a long time curry fan over the years I’ve become a lover of tamarind, a tart fruit used in Indian cuisine and other equatorial regions such as Latin American & Thailand. So it comes as no surprise then that I was very much looking forward to tasting this chutney from Mr Vikki’s.

Mr Vikki's Tamarind Chipotle

For those not in the know, the tamarind tree produces (Arabic for ‘Indian date’) is long bean shaped fruit inside which is a sour pulp than can be processed to make a paste. Tamarind taste somewhat like a date (tamarind is actually Arabic for ‘Indian date’) but is much less sweet and more sour. The chances are that many Brits, be they a lover of Indian cuisine or not, have probably unbeknownst to them tried tamarind as it is a key ingredient in two great British sauces, namely HP & Worcestershire.

The labelling as with other Mr Vikki’s product is a minimalistic bright yellow label with the company name, product details & a 3 chilli rating. Mr Vikki’s use a heat rating system based on graphics of chillies on the front label to denote the heat level. Their current hottest product has a 8 chilli rating, so I wasn’t expecting this product to be about the heat.

With such a minimalist approach to labelling the contents of the jar can clearly been seen and the chutney has a deep brown treacle coloured interspersed with flecks of mustard seeds. Although not indicated in the labelling this chutney was a “2 star Great Taste Award Winner” back in 2010 so I was anticipating something special when I opened this jar and I wasn’t disappointed. Opening the jar releases a wonderful aroma – the combination of the smokiness of the chipotles with the underlying fruit tones of the tamarind & dates and traces of ginger, is a delight to smell.

Ingredients: Tamarind Pulp (40%), Dates, Sugar, Chipotle 15%, Fresh Ginger, Garlic, Vinegar, Mustard, Celery, Salt and Pepper.

The chutney’s rich brown colour comes from the tamarind pulp, and the natural stickiness of the pulp gives the chutney a thick jam like consistency. Tasting a generous spoonful of the chutney you get hit with the tartness of the tamarind, enhanced with the sweetness of the dates. Mustard seeds within the chutney add to the texture of the tamarind pulp. Underneath this initial hit, the flavour of the chipotles comes through leaving a pleasant lingering aftertaste. For me the heat wasn’t massive and more of a mild warmth but nonetheless it balances well with the other flavours present.

One of the serving suggestions on the jar is to serve it in a bacon sandwich, so I duly obliged and cooked some dry cured bacon, and placed between two slices of bread with a generous covering of the chutney therein. Biting into the sandwich did not disappoint and the taste was bliss! The natural saltiness of the bacon contrasts so well with the sweet/sourness of the chutney.

Although it’s a chutney and so easily works as a sandwich pickle I’d definitely use this to make a marinade or for basting on meats. The natural acidity of the tamarind pulp will help to tenderise any meat marinated in it. Whilst chicken goes good with tamarind, I think stronger flavoured meats such as pork or beef would work really well with this chutney. At only £3 from www.mrvikkis.co.uk I think the chutney is excellent value for money. Given that we’re entering the Christmas period I’d thoroughly recommend getting some of this chutney in time to accompany your Christmas cold meat cuts this year.

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Hawaiian Passion Habanero Vinaigrette

Martin 'Scooby' Arnold — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 08:27:50 +0000

Hawaiian Passion Habanero Vinaigrette

Can you believe it, 1st October and its just short of 30 degrees here in sunny Suffolk. Round the neighbours having banging bbq and couple of sneaky drinks, food is going down a treat. Plate is loaded with sausages, burgers and chicken, but wait, the salad is missing something, Vinaigrette!!!!!! Phew, Hot Juan left me one in my box of review samples, good man.

This vinaigrette, Hawaiian passion Habanero vinaigrette is by the guys at www.hotsaucehawaii.com and looks great. The label is clever in that the text is bold, so bold that you have to keep turning the bottle to finish what you have started reading. Within seconds you have read the complete label and know exactly what this sauce is about. Bubbly bold text with skull and cross bones that guides your attention to that it may be a very hot condiment, but at the same time it has a comical cartoon element to it that allows you give a sigh of relief as maybe this is more for the flavours than for the heat.

Looking through the bottle, the sauce is a dull and cloudy sauce, until you shake it however. This sauce then comes to life. It takes on a very dark kind of soy sauce colour, that with closer inspection you can see that the shaking has just lifted all of the ingredients and let them explode into view.

Ingredients: Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, habaneros, jalapenos, Mustard (water, mustard seed, distilled vinegar, salt, white wine, citric acid, Tartaric acid & spices), Salt, Kitchen bouquet (caramel, carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, turnips, salt, parsley, spices, sodium benzoate & sulfiting agents), spices, garlic.

Bottle kindly provided by www.Hot-Headz.com

Quite an extensive list of ingredients hey? As for the smell, all I can really get off it is vinegar and mustard and a subtle nose of the habs. Lets see how it goes down. On with the tasting.

Immediately my tongue is greeted by the balsamic vinegar which is closely followed by a blast of mild to moderate heat which is combined with a strong mustard flavour.

The more of this I have the more flavour from the habaneros comes out. The taste is not sharp at all so the balance of vinegar with the other ingredients is balanced well. There is an aftertaste of onion and parsley as the flavours gradually fade but the heat remains throughout. The heat is welcoming in the way that it does not interfere with anything else that I am eating. Just a warming of the tongue which tickles the lips just to remind you that it is there.

The texture is extremely smooth and is not greasy like many types of vinaigrette out on the market today. Don’t worry about going over the top with the amount that you use as this does not overpower you even with lashings on your plate.

This sauce has been kindly imported and past on by www.hot-headz.com and I believe is £3.99 for a 5 fluid oz bottle. Definitely worth it if you ask me. Perfect for any salad or vegetable, and personally I would suggest adding a splash in a shepherds pie to give it a bit of a lift in flavour.

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Wiltshire Chilli Farm’s Mango Hot Chilli Sauce

Patrick Garratt — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:45:38 +0000

The Wiltshire Chilli Farm - Mango Hot Chilli Sauce

It took me a little while to write this; the Wiltshire Chilli Farm’s Mango Hot Chilli Sauce isn’t easy to pigeonhole. For some reason I expected a hot, fresh mango purée for use with puddings, but it’s actually a savoury pouring sauce with plenty of mustard and vinegar.

That’s not to say it doesn’t work. The mango element’s more along the line of mango chutney than the fruit itself, and so eats best in a similar way; with poppadums, fried food and cheese. It worked well with cold roast chicken.

It’s suggested on the bottle to try it with “grilled fish, stir fries or as a spicy table sauce.” I’ve been eating it in sausage sandwiches and with cheese on toast. Mrs Pat’s putting it on everything. It’s just a generally pleasant addition to savoury snack food, a solid all-rounder thanks to its sweetness.

Ingredients: Mango (31%), cider vinegar, onion, sugar, lime, chilli (3%), garlic, mustard, “various spices”.
Bottle kindly provided by The Wiltshire Chilli Farm

Don’t be fooled, though: there’s a surprising amount of heat from the 3% Habanero chilli, and you’ll get a throat-top burn if you have a decent spoonful. It was too hot for mother-in-law, but Mrs Pat loved it. You get 140ml; £3.75′s decent value.

The consistency’s thin and chunky, and the sugar plays a big part in the way it sticks to the inside of the bottle. The packaging’s fun, with what looks like a cluster of habs on a black background, and lots of yellow to support the mango theme.

It’s a grower, and a good addition to your collection, especially if you’re fond of sweeter sauces. There’s plenty going for it. I’ll keep holding out for the pure mango with a kick for ice cream, but this’ll do fine for now. Get it here.

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Mr Vikki’s Mango Chutney Review

Thelurch — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 08:41:36 +0000

There is no mistaking a Mr Vikki’s product, they are easily identifiable by their bright yellow labelling and this jar in front of me is no exception, Mango Chutney.

Mr Vikki's - Mango Chutney

The front label is bright, concise and uncluttered, something I like when it comes to packaging, too many products fall into the trap of being too “wordy” and the label becomes an effort to read, not in this case fortunately.

Ingredients: Mangoes 55%, Sugar, Vinegar, Garlic, Spices, Mustard, Coriander, Celery Salt.

Jar kindly supplied by Mr Vikki’s

Mr Vikki’s uses a heat rating system with pictures of Chillies on the front label denoting heat level, a common method among sauce producers, this Chutney has one Chilli, but their hottest is eight Chillies, so I am already aware that this product is not about the heat.

This Mango Chutney should not be confused with their Hot Mango product which has a two Chilli rating.

As the labels are small, you have the opportunity to see the contents of the chutney before opening which is great, as there seems to be a lot going on in this 220g jar. The general yellow colour is consistent with mainstream mango chutneys but that’s where the similarities end. I can see seeds, flecks of red and green and much more which you don’t get in other mass produced mango chutney’s on the market.

If I ever needed an excuse for a takeaway curry, then reviewing this is it, so I have my favourite “Chicken Naga” curry from my local curry house and the customary poppadum’s in front of me for the full experience!

Once the lid comes off, I can immediately imagine myself sitting in the curry house with that familiar smell of various spices, too many to pick out individually, I taste the mustard and obviously the sticky sweet mango that runs through the whole thing. I would imagine there is a small amount of Chilli in the jar, although the label does not mention it specifically, just “spices”. The mild warming feeling I get must come from the mustard.

The consistency is what I would describe as semi smooth; there is the odd small lump of mango, this I feel is not a bad thing as the mass produced versions seem to have large chunks which can give an artificial feel.

This Chutney really does go well with my Hot Chicken Naga curry, and would go well with any strength curry or used just as a dip for the moreish poppadum’s.

At £3.00 for a 220g, you get a nice homemade, natural feeling Mango Chutney.

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Mrs Chutney’s – Lemon & Mustard Seed Chutney with Chilli Recipe

Guest Writer — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:34:20 +0000

Mrs Chutney Lemon & Mustard Seed With Chill Chutney

Mrs Chutney (AKA Karen) is one of our twitter followers who posts about making what sounds like some excellent chutney’s. She has sent us a couple of recipes for her best concoctions, along with some jars of the results to taste, this is the second one we have tried..

The smell from the jar as we cracked open the lid is that fresh smell of lemons, in the chutney are some nice pieces of the Lemon rind, plump raisins, pieces of chilli and some brown mustard seeds all mushed together, the taste is instantly of Lemons it’s a great citrus zing of a chutney. This would go so well with a curry, ideal for dipping your poppadoms in.

As with all these great recipes preparation is everything, nothing is to big and lumpy and the flavour has to be tried to be believed.

Lemon & Mustard Seed Chutney with Chilli

Ingredients

9 Lemons, preferably unwaxed, washed, chopped and seeds removed
3 tsbp Salt
9 Small Onions, diced
165 g Raisins or Sultanas
6 tbsp Mustard Seeds (any colour or a mix, black seeds make a darker chutney)
900 ml White Wine Vinegar
3 heaped tsp Allspice
600 g Granulated Sugar
9 Hot Chillies, finely chopped (you can use more as is your preference)

Cooking Directions

Place the chopped lemons into a large bowl and sprinkle with the salt, cover and set aside for 10-12 hours.
In a large pan combine the salted lemons, onions, vinegar, allspice, raisins, mustard seed, chopped chillies and sugar and stir well.
Place the pan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for approx 90 minutes ? the lemons should now be soft but if not continue simmering until they are.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour the chutney into hot, sterilised jars. Seal immediately.

You can follow Karen on Twitter at twitter.com/#!/Kaz522 and we hope to publish some more of her recipes here over the next few months. Karen is working on making her chutney’s into a small business and will will let you know when you can buy them.

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Hot-Headz – Hot Smoked Chilli Mustard – Is this the best American Style Mustard yet?

Hot Juan — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 08:58:44 +0000

Hot-Headz - Hot Smoked Chilli Mustard

Its is BBQ time, and if you are not a great fan of BBQ sauce on you burger, then how about some hot mustard mixed with smoky Chipotle chillies

On opening this mustard smells a like a mild American Style Mustard, it does not have the nostril burning intensity of an English Mustard, but the colour is a deep orange/yellow with small flecks of red just about visible.

Initially the taste is of a mild American Style Mustard, but then the Chipotles and Jalapeños kick in, with that ‘O so good smoky flavour’, this is American Style mustard, but better, much better than any American Style Mustard I have tasted before.

This is just as I expected when I saw the jar, its a product that is made for a BBQ’ed burger, add a slice of cheese, a few slices of pickled cucumber all warped up in a fresh bun and I don’t think you could find a better mustard to accompany it.

Ingredients: Prepared Mustard (Distilled Vinegar, Water, Mustard Seed, Salt, Turmeric, Spices) [62%], Chipotle & Red Jalapeno Chilli Peppers [31%], Onion Puree (Citric acid added as a natural preservative), Apple Cider Vinegar, Dried Chipotle Chilli Peppers.

Jar kindly provided by www.hot-headz.com

The problem is now I have to make two burgers, one with this mustard and one with BBQ sauce, that blows the diet..

You get a good sized jar at 255ml for £2.99, I am very please this is not in a squeezy bottle, it makes sure that people do not over do it, while for most chilli-headz this is not hot, but very tasty, for any unexpected users, this could be a bit of a shock.

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Bart Spices – Cajun Seasoning

Hot Juan — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:32:44 +0000

Bart Spices Cajun Seasoning

Bart Spices started in the 1960′s, a Bristol based company they have grown to a point where you find their products in most supermarkets and a lot of deli’s.

Cajun Seasoning has become a big business in the USA with a number of brands all selling a similar recipe for a mix of salt with spices and herbs, it is easy to make your own, but having said that, most of the recipes seem to start with salt and it is good to see Bart’s does not list salt as the first ingredient. Salt can enhance a flavour, but I much prefer to see it well down the list of ingredients. I can always add the salt myself.

The tin contains a 65g pack of the spice mix, I opened the pack and it about 3/4 fills the tin. It is a nice handy storage size and stacks so you can put a few in your cupboard. The spice mix is a very even consistency with a strong smell of fennel. The initial taste is also from the fennel but that soon subsides and the others ingredients come through, straight from the box it is still quite salty, but tastes great sprinkled on some plain crisps.

Ingredients: Paprika, Basil, Fennel, Salt, Garlic, Onion, Black Pepper, Chilli Powder, Cumin, Mustard.

A quick check of some of the other major spice brands shows this one as having probably the lowest salt content of all and with a complete lack of some odd and unusual ingredients, while checking the lists of other we found such wonders as Maltodextrin, Vegetable Oil and Silicon Dioxide. The last one being added as an anti-caking agent so they can package it easly, all of which make me appreciate Barts product even more.

I guess the best way to taste this is the simplest, so I have generously sprinkled some on to a chicken breast before cooking, and then baked it in the oven, the mix worked well as a flavouring, it does not have a much chilli flavour. When I think of Cajun food it is hot and spicy with lots of Cayenne, this was a little light in this area, the Paprika being there mostly for the colour it seems and the chilli powder being a little to far down the list.

It costs between £2.85 and £3.77 depending on where you shop which when you take into account the rather nice tin, it not bad value, but I do wonder if they do refill packs (I could not see any where I got this from).

If I was making this myself, I would cut the salt content, add some celery powder, dried peppers and some Cayenne to a point where I could start to taste it, everything else was great, and if I am choosing a spice mix or any other herbs or spices, I would select Bart’s just because of the lack of the Maltodextrin, Vegetable Oil and Silicon Dioxide and any other funny stuff.

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Note: Does anyone else get annoyed, it is almost impossible these days to buy a chicken breast with the skin still on! I like mine with the skin still on it helps it remain moist when cooking I can always removed it myself. Now we all have to have chicken breasts with the skin removed, to help keep it moist it is pumped full of water to keep them moist when cooking. Arrrraaah. The side effect of the added water does not seem to be moist chicken, but chicken breasts that shrink when cooked and are still dry. So now when I am stuck I buy bacon and wrap it around the breasts before cooking, all just to get back to something that used to work before we all became health obsessed and unable to remove chicken skin!!!!!

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Truly Texas – Southern Pecan BBQ Sauce

Hot Juan — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:32:17 +0000

We came across the Exclusive Importers and Sole Distributors’of the Truly Texas range at Grillstock. Taste of Texas has been in business for a couple of years and we are please to see that they are appearing at West Dean later this year. We have two of their BBQ sauces to review the first of which is the Southern Pecan BBQ Sauce.

Truly Texas - Southern Pecan BBQ Sauce

BBQ in Texas is an art form, this is not grilling burgers over hot coals, but a slow cooking method, that can take 10-12 hours to produce some of the most tender and succulent flavoured meat I have tasted. For meat prepared with such care you need a BBQ sauce of equal quality. That is not to say you cannot use good BBQ sauce on your burgers, cooked on the BBQ grill while enjoying a nice warm summer evening with a beer of two.

I have had been lucky to have some excellent BBQ cooked over hickory wood a few time in my life, and each time the flavour has been outstanding, wood smoked BBQ is a strong flavour idea of slow cooked pork of beef. On opening this bottle I get that memory of real BBQ from just the smell, it makes my taste buds start working overtime. I can now remember eating beef ribs so large that I got sauce on both ears while eating them..

FYI – The Pecan is a species of Hickory and is the state tree of Texas, both the nuts and the wood are much prized for their excellent flavour.

Ingredients: Tomato Puree (Water and Tomato Paste), Brown Sugar, Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Salt, Pecans, Red Wine Vinegar, Prepared Mustard (Vinegar, Water, Mustard Seed, Mustard Bran, Salt, FD & C Yellow #5, Turmeric), Molasses, Onion, Carmel Colour, Xanthan Gum, Pepper Sauce ( Cayenne and Habanero Peppers, Vinegar, Salt), Garlic Powder, Hickory Smoke, Natural Flavorings, Spices. Note: Contains Anchovies.

Kindly provided by Taste of Texas

This sauce has that smell, but how does the taste stack-up, the instant first flavour is of mildly smokey tomatoes, there is an excellent balance between the sweet sugar and the vinegar that keeps you coming back for more. Often the smoke flavour is acrid, like licking the inside of a chimney ( No I have not does this yet, but my imagination is good). This sauce is a work of art, the more I taste it the better it gets, it is not designed to be macho or overpower the food, but to enhance the flavours or in the UK rescue us from the burnt burgers and charcoal coated sausages.

Throw out that sweet sticky muck that is peddled as BBQ sauce in the UK supermarkets and get some real BBQ sauce, you will be glad you did and this is one of the best examples of it type you will find.

At £4.50 a bottle this is not cheap, and it tastes so good a bottle does not last long, but it is worth every penny, for more information and to place an order visit www.tasteoftexas.co.uk.

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Dinosaur Bar-B-Que – Sensuous Slathering Bar-B-Que Sauce

Hot Juan — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 23:27:16 +0000

Why does all the best BBQ sauce come from the USA, I think it because they have real BBQ, a slow cooking process, where they use lower temperatures (200F approx 95C) for long periods measured in hours not the minutes we use here. A typical UK BBQ is cooking directly over hot charcoal, and it not really BBQ at all more outdoor grilling.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que - Sensuous Slathering BBQ Sauce

So why does this produce better BBQ sauce, well they do not use the BBQ sauce as a cooking sauce, but add it in the last few minutes of cooking or just before serving. In the UK you find BBQ sauces full of sugar coated over pork in trays in the supermarkets.

There is nothing wrong with grilling, burgers and chicken drumsticks taste much better grilled over hot coals. The fat drips on the coals, burns and flavours the meat.

On opening the bottle there is that reassuring pop that is has been sealed when hot, the smell is almost perfect BBQ, Tomatoes, Vinegar, Molasses waft from the bottle carried by a little smoke… This sauce is not the thick sticky sugary muck that we find called BBQ sauce in squishy bottles our supermarkets.

Ingredients: Crushed Tomatoes, Vinegar, Sugar, Mustard (Mustard Flour, Vinegar, Salt), Spices, Brown Sugar, Salt, Molasses, Xanthan Gum (Natural Food Fibre), Natural Smoke Flavour, Onion, Garlic, Green Bell Pepper, Lemon Oil, Spices Extractives.

Jar kindly provided by www.hot-headz.com

Slap this on some slow cooked pork (pulled pork) and I am in heaven, there is a little warmth from the spices, but this is not designed to be hot, they have another one for that. The sauce is much thinner consistency that you may expect, but it does not lack flavour, the initial flavour is from the vinegar and tomatoes and then mustard and molasses, the smoke flavour is subtle enough for UK tastes, while it has a initial vinegar taste, this is much less noticeable when used as intended and not swigged straight from the bottle.

You get a good sized 539g bottle for you £3.99 that should last a few BBQ’s if you can keep from using it as a dip for everything. How would I use it.. on anything from the grill or BBQ

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