I'm co-hosting a "chilli-fest" in London with Street Feast next month, and my entry's partly inspired by a recent trip to Chicago. The city gripped me, not least because of its food culture: fresh, innovative and drawing on amelting pot of cultures. I tried so many chillies in so many guises that Idecided to bring a taste back home.
Crunchy seafood tostadas with avocado cream
These simple creations are bright-tasting, creamy and delicious. Mexican food is about layering textures and flavours, and this is a perfect example: succulent seafood, crisp lettuce, crunchy corn. Serves six as a starter, or four as a main if you double up the slaw and have rice.
2 tbsp corn oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 chile de arbol (or ½ tsp chilli flakes)
1 lime
3-4 baby gem lettuces
180g prawns
180g scallops (MSC-certified, ideally)
Crisp taco shells, or homemade corntostadas
For the slaw
1 bunch fresh coriander
¼ white cabbage, finely shredded
1 carrot, peeled and grated
½ medium red onion, peeled and very finely sliced
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the avocado cream
2 ripe avocados
1 lime, juiced
1 clove garlic, peeled
100g crème fraîche
1 large green chilli (preferably ajalapeño), finely chopped
For the slaw, roughly chop the coriander leaves – save the stalks for the avocado cream – and toss with the cabbage, carrot and onion. Stir in the mayo and vinegar, and season well. (If you like it creamy, add a large spoonful of crème fraîche.)
For the avocado cream, put the avocados, lime, garlic, crème fraîche and half the chilli in a blender, and season. Add the finely chopped coriander stalks and blend to a smooth cream. Adjust the seasoning to taste, and add the rest of the chilli if you like it spicy. This is best eaten fresh, but will keep for a day or two in the fridge if covered.
Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat and add the corn oil. Add the garlic and chilli, turn down the heat and cook until the garlic turns a pale gold. Scoop it out into a bowl and turn the heat to its highest. When hot, add the prawns and scallops, and stir-fry until the prawns go pink. Squeeze over half alime, season and stir in the garlic.
Put dollops of avocado cream on each lettuce leaf, place these on the taco shells, top with slaw and sautéed seafood, drizzle over the remaining oil and eat at once.
N.B. I try to use MSC certified fish where I can. Some supermarkets sell tiny MSC scallops which are delicious – if you can't get hold of them use all prawns.
Roast chicken with spiced coriander seed paste and roast squash
This marinade, with its nod to Asia, is an idea I picked up at Yusho in Chicago, whose fried chicken skins dusted with ground coriander blew me away. The lightly spiced paste is mellowed beautifully by the sweet squash. You also just cook it all in one dish, so it's delightfully simple.
1 large chicken
1 butternut squash
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
Flaky sea salt and black pepper
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ lemon
For the paste
5cm knob fresh ginger
2 tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp coriander seeds
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp sweet miso
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
1½ tbsp sherry vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Peel and finely grate the ginger into a pestle and mortar. Add the chilli, coriander, garlic and two teaspoons of flaky sea salt. Bash to a smooth-ish paste, then work in the miso and sugar; finally stir in the vinegar and oil. Massage the paste all over the chicken, and leave to marinate for at least four hours, ideally overnight.
Heat the oven to 210C/410F/gas mark 6½. Peel and deseed the squash and cut into 2cm chunks. Put in a deep baking tray with the onion, toss with the olive oil and season. Squeeze the lemon into the chicken, then stuff it into the cavity. Lay the chicken breast side down on the squash, roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Turn the chicken breast up, and roast for half an hour more. Stick a skewer into the thickest part of the breast and thigh, and in the middle of the wing: if the juices run clear, the chicken is done; if they are a bit pink, roast for five to 10 minutes longer.
Once cooked, rest for 10 minutes, then carve and serve with greens and some rice to mop up the juices.
Chocolate and salted peanut butter fondants
Tati, my eldest, has got me hooked on peanut butter: we have it most days for breakfast as well as marmalade (sometimes she has both on the same piece of toast). Its saltiness is perfect for seasoning chocolate, as isa touch of spice. Serves six.
100g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
2 tsp cocoa powder
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
120g caster sugar
100g plain flour, sifted
Flaky sea salt
For the ganache
40g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
4 heaped tsp of good-quality crunchy peanut butter
A few good pinches cayenne pepper
For the ganache, carefully melt the chocolate in a microwave or bain-marie (abowl set over a pan of hot water), then stir into the peanut butter, season with cayenne and leave to cool.
Heat the oven to 160C/320F/gas mark 2½. Butter six 7.5cm dariole moulds or ramekins, dust with cocoa powder and refrigerate.
Melt the chocolate and butter in abain-marie, then take off the heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool while in a second bowl you beat thewhole eggs, egg yolks and sugar until pale, thick and frothy. Fold in first the chocolate mix and then theflour.
Fill each dariole by a third with fondant mixture, then add a teaspoon of theganache. Season with a tiny pinch of sea salt and top with the rest of the fondant mixture. (At this stage, you can refrigerate them for afew hours.)
Bake for 15-17 minutes, then remove and leave to cool for two to three minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge of the moulds and turn out the fondants on to warm plates (or leave them in the ramekins). Dust with cocoa powder and serve at once with ice-cream, cream or crème fraîche.
Thomasina Miers runs the Wahaca group of restaurants. Her latest book, Chilli Notes, is published next month by Hodder & Stoughton at £25. To order a copy for £20, including UK mainland p&p, call 0330 333 6846, or go to theguardian.com/bookshop
