Found this!!!! bit of info about the nasty botulism at the bottom.............
Home made Chilli Oil
Chilli oil is probably the simplest way to add a bit of flavour (not to mention heat) to virtually any dish. You can either use it to cook with in place of normal olive oil, or simply drizzle some over freshly prepared dishes. It will liven up any dish but it is particularly good on pizzas and pasta.
Ingredients:
Olive oil
Dried red chillies
Malt Vinegar
Method:
Take a handful of dried red chillies. About 7 or 8 medium size chillies should do the job - it all depends how hot you like it!. Add them to a pan of hot malt vinegar and simmer, stirring occasionally to make sure all the chillies are submerged.
After 10 minutes remove the chillies and allow the vinegar to drain off by placing on some kitchen roll. Next, add the chillies to a pan of olive oil and gently heat (don’t bring to the boil for about 5 minutes). Leave the pan and the chillies to cool then add the lot into a nice glass bottle, preferably one with a pouring spout.
Chilli oil is used extensively in Asian cooking. For a more authentic flavour when used in Asian dishes olive oil probably isn’t the best choice. Simply replace the olive oil in the above recipe for peanut or good vegetable oil.
A word of caution:
Simply dumping a load of fresh chillies into a bottle of oil is not a great idea as it can result in botulism which to cut a long story short is a nasty which can in some very rare cases be fatal!
Unfortunately simply boiling the oil won't reduce the risk. The way round this is to reduce the PH level of the chillies before putting them in thew oil. This is achieved in the above recipe by first boiling the chillis for ten minutes in venegar. In order to further reduce the risk I always use dried chillies, not fresh.
