Oxtail Chili with a sting in the tail!

Posted: 30/01/2020 in Africa, cooking videos
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Greetings to the few of you still out there.

I am currently off work with a bad shoulder and feeling rather sorry for myself especially seeing as Mrs Bunny Chow is away on business so I thought I would throw together one of my favourite all time meals which incidentally she isn’t a fan of. This is a loose guide chili is not something that should use a real recipe more something you make your own but it will give a good baseline.

I started out by browning some seasoned chunks of Oxtail in a heavy potjie (dutch oven) with a little oil, until they had some good colour. To these I added three or four diced medium onions.

At this point I added some mixed herbs, a good couple of tablespoons of powdered, cumin, powdered coriander and dried garlic powder. Honestly all chili type dishes are based on this spice mix and if you want no heat just leave it there or work your way through to whatever level of stupidity you’re comfortable with. I am not know for my cleverness so I made myself a little tea with some dried african birdseye chillis and a beef stock cube (picture before I added the stock cube) I was not cautious about how many of these chillis I used, be cleverer than me!

Dried African Birdseye chillis otherwise known as peri-peri

These chillis are commonly known as peri peri under a variety of different spellings depending on which portuguese priest first wrote about them they’re all essentially the same thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peri-peri

This was simply a process of rehydrating the chilli’s in some boiling water and adding the resulting stock and whole re-hydrated chillis to the cooking pot. I also added a little ketchup for sweetness and to cut some of my newly introduced intense heat. I simmered on a medium heat for a few minutes.

Ready for a long slow cook.

This was covered and placed in a low oven for four or five hours, oxtail is a tough old cut, your meat might not need this long but I planned well ahead to allow for this time with just the occasional stir.

At around 5pm (I started at midday) I added a tablespoon or so of tomato paste, a couple of tins of tomatoes, mine we whole but chopped are fine I just broke them up with a spoon and some sweet potato fries that have been languishing forgotten in the freezer and needed using. Use whatever veg you need to use up.

Upon tasting I decided that the chili heat was a little one dimensional so raided my extensive collection of chilli powders and oils and added a little bit of this and that to add sweetness, fruitiness and smokeyness, this is your chilli, add what you like.

I also added about a tablespoon of flour to help thicken the sauce and I know this is in some circles considered controversial (but I like them) kidney beans.

This went back into the low oven for another couple of hours and was served simply over rice with a squeeze of lime, and quite a lot of low fat yoghurt as it is stupid hot even for me the idiot who once did this.

Anyway, that’s a lot of rambling from someone you’ve no heard much from in a long long time.

It was yummy!

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow AKA Rob

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Is there anybody out there?

Posted: 14/01/2020 in being dad, Uncategorized
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Life has somewhat gotten in the way of blogging over the last few years, in fact life has gotten in the way of a lot of my hobbies over the last few years!

I promised myself at the start of the year to try and commit more of my thoughts to metaphorical paper as a record of my journey, and somehow it is already halfway into January.

So where have I been? Well nowhere really, I have remained as the parent who does the vast majority of the school runs, I have a part time job while the Monkey and the Bug are at school, believe it or not the Monkey will begin his sixth year at school this year, how on earth did that happen.

I am still taking photographs, I don’t share them much but I try and keep an eye in, I’ve had a niggling shoulder for the last 18 months or so which the wonderful NHS has committed to repairing with sharp implements at some point in the near future which will hopefully free me up to carry around a big camera more frequently.

Anyway, that’s a little rambling out in the wild, please do check in from time to time, I will do my best to keep the story going.

Stupid Chili Sauce

Posted: 07/10/2018 in Bunny Chow, cooking videos, Mr Bunny Chow
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Is there anybody still out there?

cof

This Chilli Sauce is loosely based on several from t’internet but mostly from my own head, feel free to adapt to your own tastes.

Ingredients:

A bunch of fresh chillis, mine were mostly homegrown Apache a small medium-hot pepper and a few homegrown jalapenos which are generally pretty mild. I didn’t count or weigh them but you know your own tastes, add as few or as many as you like, deseed them if you must, this sauce is going for flavour, not all out heat, although mine is verging on a 7/10 this sauce would be just as delicious using completely deseeded jalapenos and a 3/10 or all habaneros/ghost chilis to hit a 10/10.

Two thumb size pieces of ginger. Not essential but adds a roundness to the flavour profile.

Two heaped teaspoons of chopped garlic.

The juice of half a lime. I happened to have half a lime left over from last night G&T it comes through in the final flavour though.

A small/medium onion.

A good glug of good olive oil. (2-3 Tablespoons would be my guess)

A good glug of balsamic vinegar, apple cider is also a good option and not as sweet but I had balsamic in the cupboard. (see above for definition of good glug) you can add more vinegar if you like Louisiana (Tabasco) style hot sauces use treble the amount of a malt or white vinegar here instead.

A tin of chopped tomatoes. I also chucked in some cherry tomatoes that were nearing the end of their life, waste not, want not.

a pinch of dried mixed herbs, optional but again adds a roundness.

Salt and a bunch of good black peppercorns (I chucked a good teaspoon of Telicherry in the blender whole but use what you have).

cof

Method:

Process the chilis removing all the green stalks and add to a blender along with the onion, garlic, ginger, lime juice, seasoning and olive oil, blitz to a rough paste and fry on a low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, add the chopped tomatoes and balsamic and simmer for a further 15-20 minutes, allow to cool.

sdr

Return to the blender (make sure it’s cold if your blender isn’t vented or you’ll be in a world of hurt) and blitz until as smooth or rough as you like it, you can even pass it through a sieve if you want it super silky.

Add to sterilised bottles and it will last up to a year in the fridge, please use your common sense here, if it looks mouldy, it is, but as long as it is left alone you should be good. Once open consume within a few weeks.

Please feel free to share this recipe with friends and family and let me know how you get on if you try it for yourselves.

cof

TTFN

Rob AKA Mr Bunny Chow

 

 

 

I’m coming out of retirement

Posted: 06/01/2017 in Uncategorized
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As many of you will know just a little shy of a month over four years ago I dropped out of the rat race in order to spend time raising my two boys.

At the time they were both still in nappies (diapers) only one of them could walk with any level of stability.

Now they are both at proper school, wearing uniforms and making me so incredibly proud of what I have achieved.

Not many people are privileged enough to spend as much time with their children as I have with mine, don’t get me wrong it has been the toughest four years of my life emotionally. I went through severe depression, I got so lonely I found myself crying in the bathroom whilst small people banged on the door.

I hid behind masks from those that I loved yet the hardest of times passed and Mrs Bunny Chow was there to support me when I eventually opened up.

But now just before I go out on my final school run to hang out with the other school mums for the last time as the token dad (they’ve taken me in as one of their own and I can’t thank them enough) I look back over the last four years again with tears in my eyes and I am just so incredibly proud of what amazing little boys I have raised.

I’ve had a few minimum wage jobs along the way, I’ve had some success with my Photography but this new job will be going back into the automotive trade. I’ll be on a lower rung than where I left but I’ve climbed before and I will climb again.

The short ones are going to find it hard adjusting to pre and after-school clubs for which I am going to have to give a huge chunk of my new salary but they will adapt and overcome. Mrs BC is going to get her deepest desire of the last four years fulfilled as one of my first outgoings will be for a cleaner as I have done the best that a humble man can do for the last four years which quite frankly is pretty badly but, I never burned anything down and there were nearly always clean knickers somewhere in the house if not necessarily in the place she’d want them.

Being a parent is hard but rewarding.

I wouldn’t change it for the world.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

 

 

Mango Chutney

Posted: 19/11/2015 in cooking videos
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First off a few disclaimers and admissions.

I look like a dork in the video at least partly because I am still raising money for The Movember Foundation

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I was responsible for bringing the camera this time and I did bring two batteries but the second one appears to have failed so we swapped to another camera we had never used for video’s before and it did strange things with some of the colour so there are some black and white apples at one point for reasons beyond the comprehension of either of us.

The video is longer than we would have liked, we’re still honing our technique when it comes to filming these things and have learned what we can do next time to still show you all of the recipe without taking so damn long.

The ingredients and alternative options are listed after the video.

Ingredients:

3 large underripe mangos

3 Cooking apples (we used Granny Smiths)

2 Large Onions

Thumb sized piece of fresh Ginger, you could use stem or powdered if you wanted.

Oil, we used mustard oil, but anything you like will be fine, traditionally ghee would be used instead.

1tbs Mustard Seeds

2 Star Anise

1 Stick of Cinnamon

20 Whole Peppercorns

As many chilli flakes as you’d like, I was generous but by all means swap for smoked paprika or leave it out

300 gms caster sugar, any granulated sugar you have is fine

125ml of White wine vinegar (any tart vinegar you have)

Juice of half a lemon

2tsp Salt

A couple of handfuls of chopped dried apricots (you could use raisins, dates, prunes or any other dried fruit if you prefer)

A few dried curry leaves for colour at the end.

Thanks for watching and your feedback

TTFN

Rob and Pete

 

 

ooh ooh ooh

Posted: 17/11/2015 in Book Reviews
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Hi Guys,

Pete and I did start making a video last week of us making some Medlar Jelly but unfortunately, there was a family emergency on Pete’s side and whilst we finished the Jam the video was abandoned. We’re still begging for Cancer money though so please click here and give all you can to us or any cancer charity of your choosing.

The reason for all the ooh’s is because my blogging buddy and amazing Author T.B. Markinson has a new book coming out in December and it’s a prequel to the fantastic A Woman Lost which you can currently get a free copy of by signing up to her list. I’ll leave you with her press release and an excerpt below and promise to be back soon with more video’s, I hope you’re all as excited as I am.

TTFN

Rob

ACluelessWoman (3)

Graduate student Lizzie Petrie feels more comfortable around books than people. Although an

expert in the Hitler Youth, she’s a novice in love. Her former lesbian lover is blackmailing her,

and not even those closest to Lizzie know the full story of their abusive relationship.

When visiting high school English teacher Sarah crosses Lizzie’s path at the campus, their

attraction is instant, but not without complications. As they start to spend more time together,

suspicions arise from both women in this sexy piece of LGBT fiction.

Plenty of good-natured teasing takes place between lovers as well as between PhD students in

this lesbian contemporary romance. No relationship path ever runs smoothly, and oftentimes,

those who can’t keep their mouth shut hasten necessary confrontation.

Lizzie finds herself buried in a mess of lies in this romantic comedy. The harder she tries to keep

Sarah and the rest of her friends from finding out the truth about her first girlfriend, the more

endearingly clueless she becomes.

About the Author:

T. B. Markinson is an American writer, living in England. When she isn’t writing, she’s traveling

the world, watching sports on the telly, visiting pubs, or taking the dog for a walk. Not

necessarily in that order.

Mailing List:

Get the first book in the series, A Woman Lost, for FREE by signing up to TB’s Readers’ Group here.

Links:

Twitter        Facebook        Blog        Goodreads     Amazon Author Page

Excerpt: 

“Do you think I’m pathetic?” I asked Ethan as he added gobs of sugar to his Starbucks house blend.

He dipped his head almost a foot and peered at me through his spectacles. “How am I supposed to answer that?”

“Honestly. Do you think I’m pathetic?”

Ethan maneuvered his lanky frame past three untidy tables and I followed, grimacing at the messiness of the place, until we settled on one that was almost clean. It was a little after ten on Saturday, and although it was quiet now, the early morning rush must have taken the staff by surprise. Two teenagers leaned against the counter, dazed and confused.

“Okay, what’s got your panties in a bunch this morning?” Ethan set down his coffee, took off his coke-bottle thick glasses, and cleaned them with a cloth.

“The other night, William and Janice got on my case about how long it’s been since I experienced The Big O.” I didn’t bother whispering the last part. Aside from the employees behind the counter, the place was deserted.

“The Big O?” He hitched up one of his thin eyebrows.

“You know. In bed.”

“Oh, you mean the last time you had an orgasm.” He wiped both eyes with his fingers before replacing his glasses. “And?”

“And what?”

He snorted. “When was the last time?”

I scratched my chin. “Not sure really. Meg.”

“That was well over a year ago.”

“Good grief. Not you as well. For someone who doesn’t like sex, I didn’t think you would gang up on me, too.”

“Gang up on you?” He laughed. “I’m just curious.” He ignored my comment about not liking sex. With the exception of coffee, Ethan disliked fluids of all types, but especially bodily fluids. It made me wonder how he’d managed to get married. “And their comments got you thinking?” he added.

“Yes. I mean no. Maybe,” I stammered. “I just keep thinking about it.”

“About what? The Big O or not having anyone in your life?” As usual, Ethan hit the nail on the head.

“Just the other day, I ran into one of my former professors. This guy is ancient, in a wheelchair, and he smells like an old person who’s about to move on to the next world. Out of the blue he started telling me about how he and his lady friend went to the movies. I was flabbergasted. How did he have a lady friend? I don’t even have a pet. Not even a goldfish.”

“Do you want a lady friend?” Ethan’s tone bordered on teasing.

 

Bromantic Coffee

Posted: 06/11/2015 in photography
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Pete and I decided to have our own little coffee morning and share some insight into what great big nerds we are whilst also having a little mutter about Movember and begging for more money.

Please like, subscribe and let us know what you think,

We think we’re slowly getting better.

Thanks again

TTFN

Rob and Pete

Cancer Sucks Balls

Posted: 02/11/2015 in Africa
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Just a quick one today guys, sadly I recently found out that my godmothers cancer has returned and she’s being flown to India for further assessment and hopefully treatment. This is the woman who introduced my parents to each other and without whom I wouldn’t exist.

I implore each and every one of you to speak to your friends and family about cancer and donate whatever money you can either directly through me or any number of worthwhile cancer charities wherever you are in the world because together we can beat this terrible disease.

If you would like to join me in looking like a dork for a month then please sign up to http://moteam.co/team-little-mo

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Rob

 

Scones

Posted: 23/10/2015 in Bunny Chow
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My Buddy Tori challenged me to bake some scones and as I’ve managed to blow the element in my oven Pete kindly offered me the use of his kitchen and also his somewhat questionable video recording skills, we had to resort to the manual in order to figure out how to use his camera.

_ETE2315for ingredients we used:

  • 225ish grams of self-raising flour
  • 25 grams of golden caster sugar
  • 55 grams of butter
  • 150 ml of Milk
  • pinch of salt
  • an egg to glaze
  • we forgot to add a pinch of baking powder

scones

I know that we sound a little stilted but we’re still learning,

Please keep in touch for future updates and let us know what you think.

TTFN

Rob and Pete

Rob does something stupid!!!

Posted: 16/10/2015 in Bunny Chow
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having thoroughly enjoyed the process of filming myself eating hot sauce and some Jelly Beans I decided to up the production values from using an £8 webcam and it’s built-in microphone and collaborate with my buddy Pete another local photographer to try to do something a little better. This is our first attempt.

We hope you like it and would love to hear your suggestions for what we can do next and anything we may have done wrong. Please share the hell out of it on social media and consider subscribing to my YouTube video for more updates as we become more proficient in the craft.

TTFN

Rob and Pete

 

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