How good do these look?

Andrew decided on Sunday to pick the bulk of our chillies. Different varieties, colours and sizes in different degrees of ‘ripeness’. I remember staring at the bag full of chilli and wondering what on earth I was going to do with all of them.

Well as it happens, I froze about a quarter of them. Washed, dried and then laid them onto a tray and popped that in the freezer.This way they are frozen individually and can easily be stored in a freezer bag for use later. They can be chopped up and used in casseroles, soups or sliced up and added to soy as a beaut dipping sauce to accompany Asian dishes – but remember freezing does make them go mushy!

Haberno chilli

I also made this amazing Tapatio sauce. A neighbour had given me the recipe which essentially is chilli, vinegar, honey, ground ginger, coriander and allspice, salt, pepper and fruit (I used mango). Throw it all in a blender turn on to high and stand well back, those fumes are powerful! Next up and only because I can, I ran the sauce through my mouli to remove seeds and skin. Voila ..  homemade chilli sauce with loads of heat which by the way, I’m having on everything … well nearly!

Next up the green chillies. I found an amazing recipe for roasted green chilli sauce which again can also be used as the base in casseroles, whipped into guacamole, used like Sambal in Asian dishes and I’m sure would taste beaut spread onto slices on cheese and served up on oatmeal wafers.

Roasting chilli … soon to be chopped up and cooked

Have you ever roasted capsicum over heat or under the grill to remove the skin? Well I had lots of good sized green chilli under my grill … trouble is I’m impatient and should have left them longer. Plus I didn’t leave them in the plastic bag long enough either. Which all in all means, getting the skin off wasn’t all that easy, nor was removing the seeds! Good news is …the sauce is delish.

Chilli … wonderful vege in the solanaceae family which they share with spuds, tomatoes and capsicum. Chilli adore a humid environment when growing, regular watering, an acidic soil of 5.5 – 6.5 and companion plants. I was reading that they enjoy being planted with both basil and oregano (know they taste great with both of these) .. plus they enjoy the company of geraniums. I have been planting mine later and later each year, not really sure why, so I have opted to plant them early next year, hopefully late November, which will lengthen their growing season.

If you still have chilli plants in the ground chances are they won’t ripen now .. but more importantly, winter is on the way and so potentially is the frost. Regardless of this, I have opted to leave mine in the ground for a bit longer.

Time for a mini garden update … oh and brag!

Very flash … the unveiling!

a) The birds have got all the olives
b) There is a mouse living in the kitchen and eating our kumara – am I happy?
c) A night patrol with a bucket and torch has proved that slugs are enjoying my brassicas!
d) My chooks are still on strike – no eggs! Shame on them …
e) Some of my garlic is sprouting … woohoo

So excited .. homegrown variety heading for the sky already!

That’s it from me for this week. Happy gardening!