Life with Bees

The origin of this Saturday's dinner came earlier this week when TK wandered down to his local Subway for a chipotle cheese steak wrap. As he walked away satisfied, in a haze of spiciness, he realised how much he loved the smoky blends of chipotle. He vowed to incorporate it into this week's dinner menu. And since he felt like having burgers tonight, he came up with this delicious concoction.

The star of this little burger is the hot sauce, which starts with jalapeno chillies - which give the distinctive flavour. Seed them and gently cook in a little oil. Add two ground chipotles (which are just dried smoked jalapenos). Deglaze with some apple cider vinegar and add a splash of water while it cooks for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it poach and thicken slightly on its own. Throw it into the blender and blitz with a bit more water until it forms a good sauce. Cook it a bit longer in the pan and sprinkle on some salt to bring out the flavour of the chillies rather than just pure heat.

TK stirs this into a home-made mayonnaise to give a thick, spicy chipotle sauce with a beautiful pure Dutch orange colour and a smokescreen of heat.

The rest of the burger comes together easily enough. Crumb some chicken thigh fillets before pan-frying in butter - they almost make tender miniature schnitzels. Add some juicy pieces of cos lettuce, some Spanish onion rings and a slice of dark-orange vintage Cheddar. Slather with chipotle hot sauce and ensconce the lot in a fresh kaiser roll.