Jalapeño breadsticks

Congratulation, Tom Sjöstedt! He is the chef of the year, 2008. He came in second last year, and he has been in the competition three times. It's about time he won! The contestants have to make two dishes - one that they can prepare as they like (with some guidelines) and practise ahead, and one out of a secret ingredient basket that they get to see half an hour in advance. The major secret ingredient was Vendace.

Now, I'll tell you about what I made to accompany the pineapple chili margarita: jalapeño breadsticks. They, too, are from the Mesa Grill Cookbook, but I diverged a bit from the original. I didn't use actual chiles in mine, partly because the choices here are so limited, and partly because I didn't want them to get too hot. I used a chipotle chili paste instead, and a very light hand with the jalapeño powder (the one I have is super spicy!) but if you're craving something spicier, just add more.

They're really perfect with a margarita - and easy to make, too. You need to start by roasting a head of garlic - it's very easy and goes like this: Separate the garlic into cloves, but don't peel. Place them on a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with a little olive oil, and scrunch up to form a loose package. Bake at 150°C for 45 minutes.

Jalapeño breadsticks

180 ml tepid water
25 g fresh yeast
2 tsp brown sugar
1 egg
1 whole garlic, roasted and mashed
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp chipotle chili paste
750 ml flour

corn meal
jalapeño powder
flaky sea salt

Crumble the yeast in a bowl and add tepid water. Stir until yeast is dissolved, then add sugar, egg, garlic, salt, pepper and chili paste. Stir well and add the flour. Work by hand or in a machine until you have a smooth dough.

Place in a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size - it should take about an hour.

Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper, and sprinkle them with corn meal. Divide the dough into two pars, and roll each one out to a large rectangle. Cut each rectangle into ten (or more) strips. Carefully move the strips to the baking sheet, twisting them lightly as you go. They should be about as long as the sheet are wide, to get nice, long breadsticks.

Sprinkle with some more corn flour and leave to rise, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Mash some flaky sea salt with jalapeño powder in a pestle and mortar, and sprinkle over the sticks.

Bake at 175°C for 20-25 minutes, or until they are lightly golden and crispy.

Recipe in Swedish:
Jalapeño-grissini