A simple home grown chilli sauce

Now at last count  I had 13 open chilli sauces in cupboards, fridges and at work. But surely making your own sauce has to be better than anything you can buy.

Challenge accepted.

My aim was to use as much as possible from the garden. So what did I have on hand?

Chillies- Check

Lettuce- I don't think so

Basil- good for bruschetta but I'll give it a miss in the chilli

Garlic- Check

Onion- Check

Purple beans- nope

Lime Juice- well lemon juice from the inlaws tree will be a good substitute

Fairy tale egg plant- maybe next time

Carrots- sounds like a key ingredient to me

I started off with a bt of research on the Net to see what was out there. Very confusing and great variables in opinions on how long a product will last unopened or in the fridge. Something basic sounded like a pretty good idea. I am sure that I'll get a bit more adventurous next time

Here's the recipe I used and some pictures to go along. I did not have any habaneros so used birds eye chillies

RECIPE

Fresh, frozen, or pickled habaneros can all be used. Adjust the heat by adding fewer habaneros, not by increasing the carrots as this can alter the flavour. this is a good base recipe that you can modify to suit yourself. don't want garlic, no problem, want to add crushed black peppercorns, go for it, think it could do with some honey, just do it.

1½ cups chopped carrots

1 onion, chopped

1½ cups white vinegar

1/4 cup lime juice - you can just use lime or lemon juice if you don't want to use any vinegar just use a total of 1+3/4 cups (or 2 cups)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons salt

10 to 12 habanero chillies, stems removed, chopped (you can remove the seeds if you really want to but leave the placental membrane!)

• Combine all the ingredients, except for the habaneros, in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Boil for 10 minutes or until the carrots are soft.
• Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
• Strain if you want a smoother sauce.
• Pour into sterilised jars.

The end result. Inedible by babies and pregnant wives but absolutely superb.

It's better to give.........(Jamaican Gold chilli seeds have been sown)

This Christmas I am giving away Jamaican Gold Chilli plants grown from seed. And since my birthday is just after xmas I am going to give instead of expecting to receive. Kind of like a party bag for adults.

Basically I am sick of getting cheapo presents and missing out on cake at work cos no one is there. However this year at work I did get to share my birthday with 28 other celebrators who had a birthday either in January or December or happened to change teams or turned up on the day lol.

I am hoping that, with almost a years growth, the Chilli plants will actually have some chilli fruit on them by December 2011.

So here goes.

Saturday 5 February 2011
There are 40 separate segments in the seedling tray. 4 of them are already occupied with thyme seedlings from a previous experiment so there are 36 remaining. Each of those have 1-2 chilli seeds in them. A light watering to keep the seeds moist but not wet, lid on and put the into a warm, but not too hot position (See further below.)

This 'greenhouse' is inside the granny flat and has little to no usage except maybe on an occasional poker night. Temperature outside this week has been about 41° Celsius and inside the ‘greenhouse’ 24° Celsius

What I hope to achieve are 36 of there little beauties in pots ready to bring tears of joy to those who receive.

Solanum melongena 'Fairy Tale' Eggplant

Here is a picture of my first 'exotic' plant. A Fairy Tale Egg Plant. They grow to be about 4-5 inches and about an inch or so thick. Kind of about the same size as a Lebanese cucumber.

This particular seedling was courtesy of 'Fred' from Bunnings. It had been in the ground for a few weeks but was overshadowed by the basil plants so I had not taken much notice of it. After a particularly windy week I went to stake & tie up a few plants and noticed that it was leaning over. And low & behold there they were. That lasted an extra day before our friends Matt, Keirsten & Eden and Amy came over for a BBQ and I cooked them up. The taste was pretty much as you would expect but they do look good on a plate.

I can see myself starting to grow a few more heirloom & uncommon plants but I might wait until these 36degree winds drop off.