Lemons & Chilis

I left the lemon bush outside last winter as the half barrel pot it was in made it too cumbersome to bring indoors. It took all summer to recover.

I've now repotted it and moved it into the greenhouse for the winter. It is smothered in buds.

The red berries on the plant next to it are Tepin chillis, which are ridiculously hot. I'm not quite sure what to do with them when I harvest them. Any ideas?

 

Tepin Hot Sauce


1 ounce Chili Tepins
1 teaspoon oregano
1 cup water, boiling
4 cloves garlic, or
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/3 cup oil
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
Brown flour in oil. Set aside. Heat in a dry pan the chili tepins before putting them into the blender. In a blender, blend to pulverize chili tepin with water. If cloves of garlic are used ( which I recommend) add garlic and oregano to blender. Add all ingredients to browned flour and stir while bringing to boil. Keeps a long time.


HOT Tep�­n PEANUTS

2-3 Tablespoons corn oil or peanut oil
1 cup raw peanuts
1-2 Tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Tep�­n flakes (to taste)
salt, to taste

Combine 1/4 teaspoon Tep�­n powder with one Tablespoon sugar. In a cast-iron or non stick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat, but do not let it smoke or burn. Add peanuts and stir in oil till lightly toasted. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Add garlic to pan with only a little oil, just enough to keep from sticking. Stir one minute till lightly golden, then add Tep�­n/sugar mix. Stir 30 seconds, then add peanuts and salt. Stir again for 30 seconds or so...do not burn peanuts. Spread on a plate until cool. Serve in a bowl with your favorite beverage.

Caution: Cook in a well-ventilated room, as the vaporizing Tep�­n oil can severely irritate your nose and throat.

HOT Tep�­n PICKLE DIP

1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 teaspoon Tep�­n flakes, or to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
1-1/2 cups shallots, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 Tablespoon cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt, or enough to round out the taste.

Blend all ingredients well in a blender. Serve in a bowl chilled, with crunchy dill pickle spears. The cool, sour/salty taste of the pickles contrasts nicely with the fiery sweet/sour tones of the dip, creating a complex burst of flavors.


Bon Appetit !!!! :D M-L

 

Wow, thanks Mona, those peanuts sound particularly interesting. Tepin flakes could be difficult. I could dry and powder them and use them like that.

 

I grew Bolivian Rainbow chillis this time which were just beautiful, in fact they were very rainbow coloured. I threaded mine on to some cotton and they are now hanging up to dry. The only problem I found was that my fingers were untouchable for the next 24 hours, also my eyes and nose were extremely uncomfortable! You live and learn!

 

Rich,
Tepin flakes could be difficult. I could dry and powder them and use them like that.

You could try a fine grater, but use surgical type gloves taking care not to grate the tips out of the gloves!!..... OR if you have a coffee grinder you could try a couple of 'whizzes' in that .. I use my coffee grinder for all sorts ...even coffee beans :D M-L

 

I find the coffee grinder useful for powering dried cayenne peppers, another job on the list.

I picked the tepins this evening so one job is to bottle some of them in olive oil. I'm thinking of cutting some in half and soaking them for about a week, then replacing them with whole peppers for storage.

 

Our lemon tree is doing very well again -

- heavenly scented flowers -




- and a lemon in the rain -

 

I can smell it from here! lovely pics Kedi.

 

The lemon looks good Kedi.
I always struggle with citrus in pots, any tips?
The leaves always turn yellow and drop off in the winter.

 

Thanks strongy and pete.

Our lemons really do smell and taste better than any store-bought ones. Pity I can't give you some to try.

Oak-leaf mold is what you should work into the soil, pete, and lots of it. The more the better.

Ours is in a pot too as we obviously have to bring it into the Wintergarten for the winter. Ours loses some leaves in the winter, but nothing to really speak about. We do have a problem with scale insects on the leaves at times.

I'll post a pic of the whole plant tomorrow, if the weather is good and I remember! We have lemons galore this year but not quite as big as we usually get.

 

Scale is a problem for me as well.

 

Sis, are any of those beauts winging their way to us ??????

We've got nothing on the lime tree, red ruby grapefruit and only the three lemons on Candi's (the sweet tart's) Lemon Meyer tree.

 

I'll see if Hubby can get a treelet started for you Sis. He finally got one going for the neighbours and it took a very long while.

 

Lemons.I loves `em.I eat them like other folk eat oranges.I havn`t tried to grow them but i am gonna have a bash.
Chillis i grow but give most away.The aquilegia may be on their way out but these don`t seem to have minded the drought.

 

kedi-gato have you tried a sprinkle of salt on your lemon slices delicious.does anyone have a recipe for lemon-curd? hubby loves it