Sweet & Spicy: Candied Jalapenos!

Want a spicy accompaniment for a steak or meat? Candied jalapenos are simply cooked in a sugar syrup but give uncutous meat a wonderful sweet spiciness to them without blowing your head off.

I first tried candied jalapenos in Chicago. There was a Texan barbecue stand at a food market and you could choose from a range of add-ons and I was intrigued by the idea of candied jalapenos. They were so delicious with the rich brisket that I wondered why it wasn't more widely offered. Sometimes rich meats need a bit of a pick me up and this is it.

To make candied jalapenos it's very simple. You just cook the sliced jalapenos in a plain sugar syrup. Some people add celery seed, some add vinegar and these may be good but I like the pureness of the plain candied jalapeno that I tried and vinegar and celery seed may turn it more into a pickle flavour which would change it. And truthfully I'll probably try that with my next batch of jalapenos. This lot of jalapenos was actually quite spicy-I usually find them relatively mild but these were surprisingly hot.

Speaking of surprises, the other day Mr NQN and I were walking down an alley way in a quiet suburban area. It was just before sunset and there was the hum of the busy main road in the distance. There was a young woman walking in front of us a few metres.

Suddenly a man jumped out from behind a car. She screamed and I screamed loudly (I'm a real screamer, honestly I could be cast in horror films for my scream). Instinctively I looked for a weapon or something I could use to beat the living crap out of him.

"No!! It's me!!" the man said to her quickly realising that it had all gone wrong quickly. It turned out that it was a friend of hers who had spotted her and decided to run out and surprise her. She told him off for scaring us and then once we had all calmed down we laughed at the disparate reactions. Mr NQN, ever the calm and quiet dude didn't react at all while she and I were terrified and looked for weapons.

So tell me Dear Reader, are you a good screamer? Do you think you'd like these candied jalapenos?

Sweet & Spicy: Candied Jalapenos

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

• 500g/1.1lbs jalapenos
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar

Step 1 - Slice the jalepenos thinly into rings. Put the water and sugar onto boil and once the sugar has dissolved, add the jalapenos. Reduce to medium heat and simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and allow the water to evaporate to form a syrup. The jalapenos should be a darker green in colour and it should be in a light syrup when ready.