On Tuesday a friend gave me two huge bunches of chillis, just a fraction of her mammoth crop this year. Aren't they impressive?.... and HOT!!
In my last post I said that I would share a recipe made from some of the veg picked that day. I had been to Lidl last week for the winter iron-rations and bought some ricotta which was on offer. I used this in the mix.
Firstly I made a pancake mix and made six pancakes.
In a pan I sweated a chopped onion, then added six grated jerusalem artichokes. When these were soft I added some shredded kale and spinach, when this had wilted down I added the ricotta cheese, a couple of tbs of grated parmesan, salt, lots of pepper, nutmeg and a couple of tbs of milk. This mixture was rolled in the pancakes, which I then laid out in an oiled dish on a bed of sliced over-ripe tomatoes. These went into the oven until they were heated all the way through.
They were very tasty , though EGD said that some grated cheese on top would be good. I agree with her!
I think I will have a go at some artichoke rosti as they cooked so well grated in the pancakes. I guess I will need to season them well or they may be a bit bland.
It is very warm for the time of year, though wet - good growing weather! Today I picked three buckets of runner beans, a bowl of brussels, a large bunch of beetroot, the last of the sweet corn (9 cobs), MORE Jerusalem artichokes and MORE spinach. I also found a couple of small cucumbers that I had missed and a mixing bowl of tomatoes. and as for apples!!
It's ridiculous. it's November for goodness sake! I should be concentrating on my Christmas and winter cooking and I'm harvest processing for England here.
I need to start baking again tomorrow as it is our Remembrance Evening next Thursday. After a short service we have tea and cake and a good gossip. The older people in the village really enjoy getting together. We started to hold these evenings three years ago when our Civic Society rescued the wooden war memorial plaque from the empty mission in our village. This year we also have THE BELL on show. You may remember that the old mission bell was to be sold by the mother church and that we set up a fund to buy it back for the village. We raised enough money to offer the scrap value price for this Taylors of Loughborough bell (£400) prior to auction. We are now asking residents for ideas ( and probably further fundraising) as to how to display this for the village, while keeping it safe from the metal thieves. The ideas coming in from people seem to lean towards combining the war memorial with the bell into some sort of memorial plinth. Watch this space!
When we held our first Remembrance Evening it was declared open by Stan the eldest resident of our village. He died last Tuesday. He was 99 years and three months and had lived in the village his entire life. His passing will add an extra frisson of thoughfulness to next Thursday, especially as he was a D Day survivor.
Enough for now.
Take Care
Gillx
My what a lot of chillies. They look lovely. How wonderful that you had someone in your village like Stan.
ReplyDeleteThey do look good don't they?
DeleteStan's eyesight went over the last couple of years,but his brain was razor sharp o the end. He used to tell some wonderful stories, some a little libelous!
How strange. Yesterday I pulled-up my last chilli plant, and hug it up just like yours. Mine are green but turn red eventually. I'm not sure if I'll freeze them or let them ripen.
ReplyDeleteThese were green when unripe. As they are orange they look sort of harmless, but they do pack a punch.I'm not sure what to do with them all either.
DeleteThat is a lot of produce, good for you!
ReplyDeleteEverything here is gone now.
I remember the bell story, so glad you could save it.
It is still unseasonably warm here, with flowers still blooming. Quite strange!
DeleteI think it will take some time to work out what to do for the best with the bell, but for now it is safe and we have as much time as we need.
Enjoy the chilies, we have had a good long harvest season although I ave now taken the beans out, I picked the last a few days ago, there is still plenty of stuff to harvest in the garden. The remembrance evening sounds lovely :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a good year it has been, though somewhat slow starting for us and we had to sow some things twice. More than made up for now.
DeleteThe Evening is something some local residents look forward to. There is little to do around here, so they particularly like to be able to stay as long as they like, with as many cups of tea as they can drink!
It sounds a lovely village to live in.
ReplyDeleteThat pancake mix sounds so interesting - I might try something like that next time i have a lot of 'sad' vegetables which are ready for eating up.
Sometimes it is and sometimes I wonder why we bother!!
DeleteI thought I might try a different mixture of veg next time too.
Just seen your post. It has set me off looking in my fungi books!
DeleteThe peppers are lovely! I haven't grown hot peppers in a number of years because one harvest lasts a long time. :)
ReplyDeleteThe feta pancake filling sounds really tasty, and I grow all those ingredients. :)
You are right a years growing of Chillis lasts several years of cooking!
Deleteyes it was good, I am going to try it with some of the other veggies I am growing, though will still use artichokes as there are so few recipes that call for artichokes!
We are so fortunate to have known people like Stan, and privileged to have been able to listen to their reminiscences. I am sure that you will enjoy your evening.
ReplyDeleteThe harvests this year have been abundant, a wonderful encouragement for newbies, and old timers too.
Yes, our society has been collecting oral histories and we have captured many of Stan's stories, though we know there were many still to come. He was a natural teller, with a brilliant memory to the last.
DeleteGood point about the harvest being an encouragement to newbies.
It has been a very strange year growing wise considering how cool it's been and yet it seems all of us have had great harvests, although it doesn't seem quite right to have cowslips and aquilegia in bloom this time of year and the roses are still going strong.
ReplyDeleteLike you our nasturtium are still in flower, as are our snaps and geraniums.
DeleteWierd!
The chilies look great.
ReplyDeleteBe sure to take the seeds out that will help somewhat.
Plus they are hotter near the stem.
Make some Chiles Rellenos or you can make them in a Chiles Rellenos casserole.
Put them in your corn bread and chop a few (taste first) and add them to your waffle batter with whatever you have n the frig. A savory lunch or dinner.
If you have the time try this.
www.instructables.com/id/Remove-the-heat-of-a-Pepper-not-simply-de-seeding/
That way you will have the pepper taste without all the heat.
I live in Arizona, we know our peppers.
cheers, parsnip
You certainly do! I'll have to look that link up.I don't know how to make waffles! I have an old waffle iron that I bought many years ago and never used it. I ought to have a go sometime.
DeleteChop up some chilli and put it in a bottle of olive oil - it will flavour the olive oil beautifully. This takes a couple of weeks to occur so be patient.
ReplyDelete