Blog party #7- Red & Hot

It is Stephanie's blog party. She has come up with a naughty theme when everyone is thinking Chocolate. It is time to make something - hot, spicy and oh, maybe red. Stephanie, I never say no to spicy things. This is a hot tapas recipe from Mark Bittman's 'Best recipes in the World'. I never knew anyone who ate fried, green chilis without any breading. As our farewell dinner, we had been to Tasca Navarre (Pittsburgh), a new Spanish restaurant in Strip district. They served fried jalapenos with some delicious garlic aioli. It was awesome!

The chilis have no bread coating or anything. If you are frying up whole chilis, slit them a little and remove the seeds. They are great for a tapas party because nobody can eat more than 2-3 of these fiesty bites.

Fried Jalapenos with Roasted red pepper aioli- serves 4

10 Jalapenos, slit and seeds removed
Coarse salt
Oil

Deep fry the chilies in very hot oil until their skin crisps up and they turn brown in places. They don't brown very evenly. Drain and sprinkle coarse salt as needed. Serve with aioli.

To keep up with the party's theme, I made some roasted red pepper aioli based on Giada De Laurentiis' recipe:

1 garlic clove
1 roasted red bell pepper,peeled
1/3 cup mayonnaise
a pinch of paprika
salt
olive oil to thin out, if required

To make the aioli: Finely chop the garlic in the food processor. Add the peppers, paprika and blend until almost smooth. Mix this paste into the mayonnaise. Season the aioli, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the aioli to a small bowl.

Tagged: blog party, tapas