Looking back at my 2011 New Year’s Resolutions post, I was pleased to see that I had accomplished some of my ‘resolutions’ for last year, although lack of time and job hunting made sure that I never had the time to get round to doing all of them.

This year, I’m going to take more of a relaxed approach to things, and if they happen, they happen. More ‘plans’ than ‘resolutions!’

One of my goals for this year is to do more writing. I’m about to see one of my articles in print for the first time in Great Food Magazine, which will hopefully become a regular column. I’m also still writing my cookbook, but have still to find that elusive publisher!

I’m also going to be doing some guest blogging, and I have some plans to expand and revamp my own blog. More details about that soon!

Also, now that we have a larger allotment, it will give me more space to expand my chilli empire, although the freezer and larder are groaning under the weight of last year’s harvest, both frozen and pickled. Even though our growing space has been tripled, I’m still going to have to scale back my current seed order for 2012, as otherwise I’ll run out of space in April, never mind by the summer!

This post is not so much about how to grow your own chillies, but what to do with your bountiful harvest of chillies!

If you have more chillies from your plants than you know what to do with, there are essentially three ways of processing them for use later in the UK where leaving them to dry in the sun all day is not really an option! These are drying, pickling or freezing them.

Drying chillies

The first method of drying peppers is in the oven. If your oven is electric, preheat to the lowest setting. The pilot light on a gas oven is sometimes enough, use an oven thermometer to check the temperature; it should be around 150 – 200 degrees.

Slice your peppers in half and remove the seeds, or if you prefer you can cut them into thin rings. Spread the chilli peppers evenly over baking trays.

Allow the chilli peppers to dry all day or overnight in the warm oven. You may wish to turn them once during the drying time, but this is not necessary.

Another old-fashioned method is to hang the chillies to dry. If you have a screened in porch or other area where there is plenty of airflow, this method works well. You do not have to seed the chillies for this method of drying.

You will need a large eyed needle, and either heavy thread or fishing line. Begin by threading your needle with a long length of thread or fishing line. At the other end, tie a small wooden dowel or stick to keep the bottom pepper from falling off. Thread the line through the centre of each chilli, stacking one on top of the other in a rotating manner.

When the line is full, hang in a well ventilated area and allow nature to take its course. This method may take three weeks to a month for the chillies to dry completely.

The last way of drying chillies is in a dehydrator. Dehydrators can be purchased with or without a fan, and while the ones with a fan are a bit more expensive, they do their magic faster than those without. Prepare your chillies as you would for the oven method. You can leave the seeds in or remove them if you wish. Lay the prepared chillies evenly on the trays of your dehydrator and turn the machine on. Chillies generally take 8 – 10 hours to dry in a dehydrator with a fan or 10 – 12 in one without.

Pickling chillies

Did you know that if recipe calls for a chilli pepper and you can’t get hold of a locally-grown fresh chilli, you can always use pickled chillies. However be aware that the heat of the chillies is reduced slightly through the pickling process so you may need to use a little more than you would a fresh chilli.

Here is a ‘recipe’ to get you started. However, sterilize any jars and jar lids before using. Boil them on the stove for a half hour, or throw them in the dishwasher for a cycle or two.

600g / 1lb 5oz medium green or red chillies
15 black peppercorns
5 bay leaves
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
5 teaspoons salt
6 heaped tablespoons caster sugar
1 litre / 1 3/4 pints white wine vinegar or rice vinegar

For this recipe you must use perfect green chillies without any blemishes (you can use red chillies but they will be slightly hotter).

Carefully score from the stalk end to the tip on one side only and remove the seeds (use the handle of a teaspoon for this. Pour boiling water over the chillies, let them sit for 5 minutes, then drain. This will get rid of most of the seeds left behind.

Next put your black peppercorns, bay leaves, coriander, chillies and salt into a large jar or other airtight container.

Put the sugar and the vinegar into a pan and heat until the sugar is fully dissolved. When this is quite hot, but not boiling, pour it into the jar with the chillies.

Allow it to cool down and then put the lid on, put into the fridge and leave for a minimum of 2 weeks before using. They will keep in the fridge for at least 4 months.

Freezing chillies

Chillies freeze reasonably, retaining most of their flavour and heat. Freezing is the best way to preserve fleshier chillies like Scotch Bonnets and Habaneros.

To freeze chillies whole, spread them out on a baking tray so they are not touching, freeze and pop into a sealed bag or container. This way they do not clump together.

Frozen chillies, however, do not always keep their shape or texture well with freezing so you may prefer to process them first. Remove the stalks and the seeds if you like (seeds can go a bit brown on freezing but this will do no harm) and freeze in a sealed bag. You can them smash the bag with a rolling pin and use as required.

Alternatively, pack the chopped chillies into an ice cube tray, then empty chilli cubes into a sealed bag to store to make easily measured portions. Keep the ice tray just for your chillies though!

A mixture of many things over the last two months has meant that my blog has been neglected of late.

However, I’m pleased to report that it is all systems go again! Over the next few weeks you will see all the old favourites, such as handy hints for growing your veg, but also a lot more recipes, and also some new sections of the blog too!

Welcome back, and keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks …!

Thanks again for all of the entries and votes in this month’s competiton.

Voting was close right until the end, and then there was one person pulled slightly ahead with just over 50% of the vote. So, this month’s winner is …

Emma’s Tomato & Chilli Chutney

Congratulations Emma! Please send me your address either through the contact me page on here, or by email, so that I can send your prizes onto you.

Well done to everyone, and there will be another Cultivate, Cook & Click competition next month!

Thank you for all of the entries for this month’s competition.

Remember that you choose the winner of this month’s competition, so once you have chosen your favourite, continue down to the bottom of the blog, and complete the form to register your vote. You might want to cook some of these recipes too to help you decide which one is your favourite.

The vote closes at 12 noon on 31st August, so get voting!

Here are this month’s finalists …

Melanie’s Mixed Vegetable Balti

Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large white onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
4 heaped tbsp Balti curry paste
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
500g potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large cauliflower, stalked and cut into small florets
1 tin chopped tomatoes
600ml vegetable stock
3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped roughly
150g green beans, diced
1 tsp sugar
Salt and black pepper to taste
Extra chopped fresh coriander and natural yoghurt for garnish

Method:
1. Sautee the onion and garlic in the oil for five minutes, covered, to soften.
2. Remove the lid and cook for a further couple of minutes, or until beginning to brown.
3. Add the curry paste and stir in the onions, cooking for 1 minute. Stir in the diced potato and carrots, and cook covered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the cauliflower, tinned tomatoes and vegetable stock, and cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the green beans, coriander, and sugar and cook for further 15 minutes
6. Season to taste. Check that the vegetables are all fully cooked, and serve.

Have a look at Melanie’s blog for more of her recipes!

Emma’s Tomato & Chilli Chutney

Ingredients:
1 kg ripe tomatoes, quartered
2-3 chillies, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 onion, cut into wedges
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
100g brown sugar
Olive oil

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200c
2. Put the tomatoes, chilli, garlic, onion, vinegar and sugar into a large, shallow roasting dish. Pour on a large glug of olive oil and mix everything together with your hands.
3. Roast in the oven for around an hour until everything is soft and the onions have caramelised.
4. Allow to cool a little and transfer to sterilised storage jars.

Emma has her own blog “Mummy Musings” where she details juggling motherhood and a career.

Vicky’s Greek Beans

In Vicky’s own words, this dish is called ‘Greek Beans’ – “because they are based on beans I remember eating in Corfu on one of my first holidays abroad. They were meltingly tender, heavy with garlic and oil, and some tomato. This is one of those recipes that probably tastes nothing like the original, but has been filtered through my memory and has popped out like this.

This is my way of dealing with the French bean glut from our allotment every August (and probably Greece’s way of dealing with the same situation). These are bottled in recycled cook-in sauce jars, because they are cheap and because I can get 3 of them at a time in my pressure cooker; Kilner jars are just too wide.

They MUST be pressure cooked for 40 minutes, to kill dangerous enzymes that may cause spoilage and worse. Once sealed they keep for at least a year.”

Ingredients:
French beans, 3 big handfuls, topped and tailed
Creamed tomatoes, 2 x 500gms packs (Smooth, thick, sieved tomatoes. Good, cheap passata!)
Garlic cloves, to taste (I’d use 5 or 6)
Generous splash olive oil (4-5tbsps. Virgin recommended)
Salt
Sugar (1 dessertspoon approx – again, keep checking to get the taste you want)
3 cook-in sauce jars

Method:
1. Make tomato sauce by crushing garlic and salt, frying in lots of olive oil, without colouring. Add creamed tomatoes, salt and sugar and bring all to the boil. You only need to bring it to the boil at this point, as it will undergo further cooking during the processing time.

2. Thoroughly wash jars and lids (which must have safety buttons). Sterilise jars by putting in an oven at 100C for 10 minutes. Put lids in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. The pressure cooker will need a trivet in the bottom; the jars shouldn’t touch the bottom of the pan, or each other. Get boiling water ready. The key to success with this process is to make sure everything is as clean and hot as possible, and that the process isn’t interrupted at all.

3. Loosely pack the hot jars with the beans. Put in half the sauce, then squeeze in a few more beans until the jar is tightly packed. Top up with hot sauce. Give it a good shake, or poke around with chopstick, or similar, to make sure there are no air pockets. Fill it right to the top and apply lid, screwing on tightly.

4. Make sure the water is boiling in the pressure cooker and position jars as in pic below – not touching each other. Put on the lid and bring up to pressure. Pressure cook for 40 minutes. The pressure should be gentle, but not allowed to drop at any time. After 40 minutes, turn off and carefully remove from heat. Allow the pressure to drop in its own time. I leave it for half an hour or so before removing the pressure cooker lid. Forcing things at this point can cause a pressure difference that makes the sauce squirt out! Undesirable.

5. Sit back with a cool drink and await the delightful ‘pop’ from each jar as it seals. Any jars that don’t ‘pop’ and suck the safety button down should be refrigerated and used within a week. In truth, they’d probably last much longer than that – everything is sterile, after all – but, just to be on the safe side.

To serve:
1. Straight from the jar, in a salad, or
2. The Greek way, lukewarm with some crusty bread. You could crumble some feta cheese on top.

Vicky has her own blog called “High & Tight In Brixham.”

So now it’s over to you to vote and to pick your winner. Remember that voting closes at 12 noon on 31st August.

Take Our Poll

After a short break last month, here is this month’s Cultivate, Cook & Click Competition.

So, here is a reminder of the rules …

Each month around this time, I will pick four or five vegetables or fruit that are in season, and you then have to devise a dish that uses at least one of those ingredients.

There are no restrictions on the style of cooking, so it can be a recipe plucked from anywhere in the world, but it has to be one that you have cooked yourself!


Each entry has to include:

• A picture of the vegetables or fruit that you are using in the recipe. This has to be ones that you use in the recipe, and not some random picture from Google! Extra points will be awarded when I shortlist the entries if you have grown it yourself.
• A copy of the recipe
• A picture of the finished dish that you have cooked yourself

You can upload your entries by going to the contact form of my blog or by clicking on this link.

I’ll then shortlist the best five, and then publish those on my blog. I’ll then open it up to the public vote, who will choose the winner each month.

The prizes for this month’s winner have been supplied by the lovely Phil & Kay at Dartmoor Chilli Farm, who grow their chilli plants naturally and holistically without any pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. They are a very eco friendly business and run our nursery using wind and solar power. The majority of the ingredients in their sauces and other products are either grown on their farm or very close to it.

The prizes for this month are Beast Of Dartmoor Chilli Sauce, Dartmoor Dynamite Chilli Sauce – which I helped to name , Dartmoor Chilli Jam, Fireball Pickled Onions, Sweet Chilli Sauce, Extreme Apple Chutney and five bars of chilli chocolate.

This will be a fabulous prize whether you like your chillies mild, blisteringly hot, or in between!

So, for August, the vegetables or fruit that you can choose from are:

• Chillies
• Carrots
• French Beans
• Blackberries
• Sweetcorn

You have until 12 noon on 17th August to get your entries to me, and I’ll be publishing the five finalists that night, and giving details on how you can vote.

Voting will then close at 12 noon on 31st August, and the winner will be announced later that night!

As I’ve mentioned before, apart from the short break last month, this will be a monthly competition, so don’t get downhearted if your recipe doesn’t get shortlisted, as there will be many more chances to win. In the meantime though, get your thinking caps on, and get those entries in!

It’s getting towards that time of the year when allotment holders start complaining that they have a glut of a one particular fruit/veg or another. When that happens to me, a glut is just the excuse I need to start making jams and preserves!

Also, the warmest spring on record filled the nation’s trees and bushes with blossom, which points to a bumper fruit harvest which is now coming to fruition. The country will be laden with fruit, and with wild species such hawthorn and wild cherry in abundance, it’s great news if you want to make your own jam with free fruit!

To capitalise on the bumper fruit harvest and the appetite for jam-making, Stoves has produced an iPhone app showing how to collect free wild fruit and berries and also has recipes for home-made jam.

The ‘Wild Jam Maker’ app lists fruits and berries growing wild in the UK and recipes include Sea Buckthorn Jam and Wild Cherry Jam. The free app can be downloaded from the Apple App store now.

I also have another excuse to make jam this year, as I was contacted the other day about the Women’s Institute Real Jam Festival, which takes place in Oxfordshire on 8th and 9th October. I can never resist a cooking competition, and amongst the various categories there are two for “Man Made Jam” and “Hot & Spicy Jam.” The winner of ‘best in show’ wins £1,000 of Stoves appliances and a WI cookery school course of their choice, and the winner of each category wins a prize as well.

Therefore, it would be rude not to enter my chilli jam, as I’ve tweaked the recipe since I failed to win the “North East Chilli Jam Challenge!”

I’ll make my jam using the Jam Making Bundle that I’ve received from Harrod Horticultural. This contains a stainless steel Maslin pan, a beechwood scraper spoon, a stainless steel preserving thermometer, a stainless steel jam funnel, preserving jars, and a sealing and labelling accessories kit, or in short, everything you need to start making your own jam!

I’ll do another post in the near future giving my favourite jam and preserve recipes, and also reviewing the ‘jam making bundle’ in a little more detail. However, if you’re keen to start making your own jam before then, the nice people at Harrod Horticultural will give you 10% off your order (excluding P & P) if you use the code ELSAPR when placing your order.

In the meantime, if you have any favourite recipes for jams or preserves leave me a comment!

Following on from my video blogs giving tips on how to get your chilli seeds to germinate, and also how to make sure they grow from tiny seedlings into big healthy chilli plants and how to pollinate your chilli plants so that they produce chillies, this video blog explains how to deal with the most common diseases and nasties that can try and harm your lovely chilli plants!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1knsAz-ac3A

First things first. As I’ve mentioned before, make sure that you keep the compost moist and not drenched. If you overwater, then this will not help your chilli plants, and will probably kill them. It is best to water them little and often, rather than nothing for ages, and then drench them in a mad panic because the compost has dried out.

If your plants have produced flowers already, then you can give them a helping hand by putting liquid tomato feed into their water for every other watering. I tend to use it at half the concentration recommended on the back of the bottle. Alternatively, if you search on the internet, there are specialist feeds for chilli plants.

The second thing to watch out for is the enemy of the gardener, slugs and snails. The only surefire way to get rid of these is to check your plants periodically. You can use slug pellets, but obviously these tend not to be organic. However, I have tried a natural product called ‘Slug Gone’, and had very good results from it.

Lastly, everyone gets aphids on their chilli plants occasionally. A natural way to control these is to encourage ladybirds to live near your chilli plants, as they are the natural predators of aphids. You can even buy them from the internet!

Another way to try to control them is to spray your plants with a very weak solution of washing up liquid in water. However, do not use one that is describes as “anti-bacterial” and use one that is fragrance-free. Also, don’t spray your plants when it is hot, or in direct sunlight, as you will scorch the plants, and kill them.

The next video blog will give you tips about how to recognise when your chilli plants are ready for harvesting. However, if anyone would like to see anything specific relating to chillies, leave a comment below and I will try my best to answer it in a video blog.

In the meantime, happy chilli growing!

Two of the many loves of my life are Far Eastern Food & chillies, and this recipe covers both of those!

This is the first in what will be a more regular feature where I share some of my favourite recipes. I can guarantee that these will not be overly complicated, as I like my food to be delicious, and on my table as quickly as possible!

This recipe is a hot and sour Thai soup, and is great if you have any leftover chicken from the Sunday roast.

This will serve two people.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of chicken stock (homemade is best naturally )
• 1 chicken breast (bone and skin removed), or remainder of chicken from the Sunday roast
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 2 spring onions sliced into 2cm strips
• 4/5 mushrooms sliced
• 1 lemongrass stalk sliced into 2cm sections and bruised slightly or 4 lime leaves
• 1-3 chillies chopped depending on how hot you like your food!
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Basil (optional)
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander

Method

• Bring chicken stock to a simmer and poach chicken breast for 10 minutes. If you are using leftover chicken from the roast, skip this step. Remove chicken breast from stock and shred with two forks. Set aside.

• Put garlic, spring onions, mushrooms, lemongrass/lime leaves and chillies in the stock. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes to bring the flavours together.

• Return shredded chicken to pot, along with lime juice, sugar and fish sauce. Cook for three minutes longer.

• Add basil and coriander, and serve piping hot!

This is just the basic recipe and you can basically chuck in whatever you fancy, such as noodles, spring greens, etc. It is a perfect soup to have on a grey drizzly day like today! Enjoy!

Following on from my video blogs giving tips on how to get your chilli seeds to germinate, and also how to make sure they grow from tiny seedlings into big healthy chilli plants, this video blog explains what to do when your chilli plants starts developing flowers. The flowers are crucial, as they turn into chillies when the flowers have been pollinated.

If your chillies are planted outside then hopefully Mother Nature, with the help of bees and insects will have done the job of pollinating the flowers for you.

However, if your plants are indoors, or in a greenhouse, you will need to give them a helping hand, otherwise those flowers will not develop into chillies.

The first method is rubbing your little finger inside the flower, then doing the same in another flower on the same plant. Alternatively, you can do the same thing with the humble cotton bud. If you watch the video, it will all make sense!

After a while, you will notice that the flowers that have been pollinated will start to turn brown, and eventually drop off. DON’T PANIC! All that is happening here is that a chilli is now starting to push through the flower, and you are well on the way to your first harvest of chillies!

There will be some further chilli related video blogs later on in the year, but if anyone would like to see anything specific relating to chillies, leave a comment below and I will try my best to answer it in a video blog.

In the meantime, happy chilli growing!