Come down to L’Ateliers des Chefs and create your own recipe using our new range of chilli sauces, then have said recipe judged by a Master Chef winner! Yeah why not? You only live once and how many chances will you get to have such an opportunity right? This is what went through my head when I saw the invite! I use Heinz products regularly, whether it’s a can of beans with my Sunday fry up or ketchup on just about anything, so having a chance to test out their range of sauces for a week in hopes of creating a show stopper of a recipe seemed right up my street.

The sauces in the range are:
o Peri Peri – hot and zingy
o Fiery Sriracha – Thai classic
o Hot Pepper – lively and fruity
o Sweet Chilli – moreish and tangy
o Jerk BBQ – peppery and punchy

I chose the sweet chilli sauce after trying out most of the others. The dish I made on the day wasn’t actually anything I’d tested out before hand but something I decided on moments before the deadline to submit our ingredients list! I thought it best to go for something that would be easy to prepare and that people could easily make themselves, rather than something with too many steps which may have had me cracking under the pressure of a hot kitchen filled with stressed out contestants. I mean, we knew it was all supposed to be a bit of fun, but put twelve bloggers and journalists in the room and the level of competitiveness reaches bursting point within minutes.

The guest judge on the night was Celebrity Master Chef winner Lisa Faulkner, you may also recognise her from her acting, presenting or cook book fame. She was absolutely lovely, chatting to us before, during and after our meal prep, trying in vain to calm our nerves and remind us how fun cooking can be.

Recipe: Sweet Chilli Chicken with Chinese Fried Rice
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

Sweet Chilli Chicken:
400-500g chicken thighs (sliced)
1 bell pepper (sliced)
Heinz Sweet Chilli sauce

Chinese Fried Rice:
2 cups of jasmine rice (cooked)
1 small onion (chopped finely)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)
1/2 cup peas
1 cup shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
2 teaspoons cornflour
1/4 cup chicken stock
soy sauce (to taste)
salt (pinch)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees c

Mix chicken thighs in a bowl with sweet peppers and enough Heinz Sweet Chilli Sauce to completely cover the meat. Leave to marinate for 30 mins or as long as you can (perhaps prepare a few hours before you need it and chuck in the fridge!)

Place chicken and peppers on a baking tray and leave to cook through for 30mins, turning half way.

For the rice, place chopped onions, garlic and mushrooms into a hot frying pan with a splash of oil and cook over a high heat.
Add peas and pre-cooked rice and stir through
Mix cornflour in with the chicken stock and soy sauce then add to the liquid mixture to the rice and vegetables. Cook through for a couple of minutes then add a sprinkle of salt and serve with the chicken.

Bon apetit!

My meal was a hit with Lisa Faulkner as well as some of the other contestants, which was a joy. I’m not a food blogger and usually only cook for my own personal pleasure, so for others to say they enjoyed the flavours made me feel so good! My sweet chilli chicken recipe came in third place, behind two very deserving winners. They created such culinary master pieces that I was honoured to be placed anywhere NEAR them! I have to say a massive thank you to Lisa for creating a third place just for me. There was only ever supposed to be a winner and a runner up, so there was no prize on the night but I’ve got serious bragging rights so that’s honestly enough for me.

I am a firm believer in not spending more than an hour cooking on a weekday. Life is too short and my daughter’s bed time too early to fit in complicated meals after a full day of work. We had 45 minutes to create our dishes and it was amazing to see how many flavoursome creations could be made within such a short space of time.

Have you tried out any of the Heinz chilli sauces yet? They make great dips as well as marinades and really pack a punch!