22 March 2020, so here we are again. I have decided to revive the old blog, not sure how many posts there’ll be but this seemed like a good one to put out there.
Dad is living with us currently and I have challenged him to bake a cake. He tells me that he hasn’t ever made one in his 91 years on this earth, so as it’s never too late to bake a cake he set himself to the task this afternoon. Continue reading
This rather gorgeous chilli plant is known in Peru as rocoto. Sometimes it is called the hairy chilli, think of a pubescent boy! And Wiki tells me it will have black seeds which distinguish it from other species of chilli. Thanks to Rhizowen for confirming the id too!
It will overwinter providing it is protected from frost and its stems become woody, so it is also sometimes called a tree chilli and can live up to 15 years!
Neil and Jo were lucky enough to be gifted a two year old plant by Henleaze Garden Shop for Blaise Community Garden – HGS is an independent garden centre where the owner and family grow all sorts of unusual plants in their greenhouses , sharing Neil’s chilli passion – at the back of the shop – and thus are able to offer something different to their customers as well as the stock that comes in from nurseries. Henleaze Garden Shop is next to the Tesco garage on Henleaze High Street and always worth a visit as it is packed with plants and is a genuine local family business.
The Blaise plant is being lovingly tended by Neil in Greenhouse 1 and at the moment is flowering and setting fruit. When fully ripe the fruit will be red and resemble a small bell pepper. Jo has been told it is a hot chilli with a short burst of heat! Can’t wait to try it!
From Wikipedia :
Like all other species of the genus Capsicum, plants of the species Capsicum pubescens grow as a shrub, but sometimes as climbing plants. They grow into four-meter woody plants relatively quickly, and live up to 15 years, which gives them, especially with age, an almost tree-like appearance.[10] After a first impulse is formed, the plant branches at a height of about 30 cm for the first time, and forms during growth by further dividing into a bushy appearance. More shoots develop from the leaf axils. Some varieties have purple discoloration on the branches, as can be observed in other Capsicums pecies. The leaves have a 5–12 mm long petiole and a leaf blade ovate to 5–12 cm long, 2.5 to 4 cm wide, tapering at the top and the base is wedge-shaped.[11]
In addition to the relatively long life, Capsicum pubescens differs in many other characteristics from related species.
The flowers appear singly or in pairs (rarely up to four) on the shoots, and the branches are at about 1 cm long flower stems, which extend on the fruit to around 4–5 cm. The calyx has five triangular pointed teeth, which have in the fruit a length of about 1 mm. A characteristic different from other cultivated species of the genus Capsicum is the blue-violet-colored petals, brighter in the centre. The anthers are partly purple, partly white.[7]
PS I found this on the Scoville Scale ( I am growing Anaheim at home this year because I am a wimp!)
Joanna Baron July 2017
Update December 2017
I thought I would update this with some photos of the ripe fruits and a simple recipe for making a red pepper sauce which you can make as hot or as mild as you like and then freeze in little quantities for later use.
By the end of August the first of the fruits were ripening and ready to harvest. The plant was heavy with fruit and its stems would snap off occasionally under the weight.
They are ovoid and smooth and have thick fleshy walls and black seeds
I dried some of them for Neil using a dehydrator, cutting them in half as otherwise it would take forever.
and I made a version of Turkish pepper paste with just one of them (!) and about a kg of sweet red peppers. To do this you roast the peppers and the chilli whole in the oven till the skin is blackened and soft, skin the fruits, and remove the seeds and then pulp the roasted flesh to a smooth paste, add salt to taste, spread on a tray and put back in the oven to darken and become thick and sticky. Then scrape off the tray and store in little pots. It is a fabulous base for dishes like Enzo the Bride red lentil soup, recipe in Sally Butcher’s Veggistan book, adding sweetness, piquancy and heat.
Surprisingly I found recipes for every sort of fruit curd under the sun on the internet and in my cook books but not for this so I have winged it and thought I’d share what I did.
For this recipe I have given the weight of cooked puréed de-stoned damsons. I think you need about 600-650 g fresh fruit to get this quantity.
The damsons I used were (I was told by Neil whose field they were growing in) a variety known as Zwetschgen in Germany. They are bigger than the bullet like damsons and much smaller than the ones I have seen in the green grocers sometimes called damson plums. I am no expert in the many varieties of damsons. But you can always research more and read all about them on various sites like Wikipedia.
These ones were about 2.5 cms in length, dark, fat and ripe with a bit of give to the flesh. And, though tart, sweet enough to eat raw without making your mouth pucker.
I picked these ones with a volunteer friend from the Community Garden at Blaise who lives near the Old Severn Bridge at Aust and happens to have a field lined down one side with glorious damson laden trees and blackberries. Who could resist an invitation to pick damsons? Not me!
The only drawback with damsons is their little stones and there are various ways to deal with them, you need patience!
damson curd
Joanna’s Damson Curd
per batch
Makes 4 7oz jars
500g of cooked and puréed unsweetened damsons
125g unsalted good butter
300g caster sugar
3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
Wash and gently cook the fruit in as little water as you can get away with. A slow simmer rather than a full boil. I cooked down about 2 kgs of fruit in a couple of cms of water. Don’t add sugar at this point.
When the skins are soft remove the stones by hand and either put the fruit pulp in the fridge or freeze it for another day if you have as much as I did or carry on as follows:-
If you have a food mill (I have one made by Good Grips which gets a lot of use) then pass the fruit through that as it will also help find any sneaky stones as well as breaking the cooked fruit down into a purée. You can also use a traditional sieve and back of a wooden spoon to press the fruit through and prepare the purée.
Wash the jars in hot soapy water, rinse, and put on a tray in a warm oven to sterilise. Put the lids in a small pan of boiling water till just before needed.
Crack the eggs into a small bowl and whisk lightly.
In a Bain Marie or a double saucepan put the butter, sugar and fruit purée and stir over a gentle heat till the butter is melted. If using a bowl over a saucepan remember not to let the bowl touch the water. Keep the heat on low all the way through this process.
Whisk the eggs in and keep whisking and stirring the mixture until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, this can take about ten minutes. Take your time and keep the heat low or you get scrambled fruit egg! Fruit curds continue to thicken up as they cool.
Pot up, screw the lids on, leave to cool, label with a two week use by date and a note to keep in fridge as this has a relatively short fridge shelf life. A good one to share with friends!
Use the curd to fill cakes, tarts, slather on crumpets and toast, in desserts, eat out of jar very quickly so the photo blurs…
PS I have totally forgotten I have blogged about making fruit curd before. So if you want a recipe for citrus curds read the old post. I. Have. Totally. Forgotten. So if I repeat myself that is because I am getting old and forgetful.
And I think it is that long (three years) since I last made it too. And such a pity as I love it so much!
Zeb Bakes 