Chilli and Chocolate : Recipes, restaurant reviews, local food heroes, and wine reviews - A Belfast Food Blog (Northern Ireland, UK)

Make your own Sauerkraut

Crisp, tangy and sour, Sauerkraut is an essential part in a whole range of classic German, French and Polish dishes, and even pops up in the venerated New York City hotdog! Armed with a huge Winter cabbage and a box of Kosher Salt, we went about making our own pickled cabbage..

Corned Beef Hash with Fried Eggs

Corned beef hash is one of those hearty and comforting dishes that really come into their own in the Winter. It mightn't look that pretty, but it's satisfying and delicious, particularly if you use some of the fabulous corned beef from McCartney's butchers in Moira as we did!

Restaurant review: Gary Bell at The Portaferry Hotel

As soon as Bill Wolsey bought The Portaferry Hotel he placed chef Gary Bell in the kitchen, which tells you all you need to know about how important food is to the lough-side hotel. We made the short trip down the Ards Peninsula to try his Tasting Menu.

Swedish Meatballs in Dill and Vodka Sauce

Meatballs are as Swedish as ABBA, Volvos and saunas, so when we got our hands on a bottle of Absolut Vodka Mode Edition, there was only one recipe we could make: Swedish Meatballs in Dill and Vodka Sauce - with Lingonberry jam, of course!

Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2012

Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2012 is on from 22-28 January, encouraging everyone to eat a healthy breakfast to kick their day off. Helping to reduce obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, breakfast isn't called The Most Important Meal of the Day for nothing!

Restaurant review: Il Pirata restaurant

Il Pirata is the newest restaurant to open it's doors in East Belfast and the latest of Sam Spain's ventures. Dishing up tasty rustic Italian treats, we thought it'd be the perfect antidote to the excesses of Christmas Day - but did we find a little treasure?

Mushroom Pie Recipe

Autumn and Winter are all about big hearty cooking. This recipe for Mushroom pie is a sure-fire winner, and a delicious alternative to the usual casseroles and stews - even for avowed meat-eaters like myself!

Restaurant review: Little Wing pizzeria, Lisburn Road

We love pizza! It's fair to say that Belfast hasn't been blessed with too many decent pizzerias, though. Little Wing, Bill Wolsey's chain of eateries, are trying to change all that - they've even sent their head chef to Italy to research the perfect pizza! We visited the Lisburn Road restaurant to see if it was worth all of that effort.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of our readers - thanks for following our Belfast food blog in 2011. See you in 2012!

Italian Bread and Cheese Dumplings

These Canederli - or Italian bread and cheese dumplings - are so good, you wouldn't know the meatballs are just made with bread! Great for using up any stale bread you might have, they take no time at all to make and are really tasty.