Charming Chillies

The brilliantly coloured chilli crop has been harvested and the greenhouse cleared out for another season marking the end of a summer of mixed success on the fruit and vegetable front.

Harvesting the chillies regularly has prolonged the fruiting which has lasted some four months (see my blog of 17 July for a great Chilli Jam recipe)

My predicament now is what to do with these beauties give there are only so many chillies you can eat, particularly the scotch bonnets with their heat rating of 9/10.

Searching around I came across this site www.worldofchillies.com/ which tells you pretty much everything you want to know about this varied and versatile  crop.

For the red chillies I opted for chopping the flesh with the seeds, blitzing in a food blender, cooking for five minutes in a saucepan with a little water, then putting a teaspoon of the mixture in each compartment of an ice cube container (kept just for this purpose).

Beware though the fumes at each stage are fairly overpowering so keep a door or window open for fresh air.

After freezing for a couple of hours the finished result can be easily stored in the freezer for direct use in a whole range of recipes.