Chilies

My main criteria in choosing where to live is whether or not I can grow tomatoes and peppers. I am not what you could call an expert gardener, but I do pretty well with tomatoes and peppers of the heirloom variety. I like spicy food. I really like spicy food. There are definitely some things that adding heat to will destroy, but for the most part, I will add some sort of heat to whatever I am eating. As usual I grew a good variety of peppers this year; Back Hungarian, Bulgarian Carrot, Fish, Jalapeno, Serrano and Thai Dragon. As the season progresses, I will add fresh peppers to what I cook as the peppers ripen. Some I pick green, others l let mature fully until they turn red, orange or purple depending on the variety. Some I will hang on strings and let dry. This year was good in terms of production. As a matter of fact, I still have some Thai Dragons on the vine. I don't really know why some years are better than others. If I did, I could call myself an expert gardener. I love almost all members of the edible Nightshade family. (Frankly I don't understand eggplant. To me it's like eating an oil soaked sponge most of the time.) This may explain my addiction to tobacco. Peppers are really quite easy to grow. I use the organic method and therefor I lose a certain amount to bugs but I am willing lose some and not poison the ground. This year I made a couple of batches of Harissa, a Middle Eastern chili paste inspired by the wonderful Moroccan restaurant I work at as a server. It's very simple and very delicious. Here's the recipe;

8 ounces dried hot chilies, stems removed. Leave the seeds. (If you don't have your own dried chilies, use De Arbol, Japones or any other type you like. )

2 cloves Garlic

Olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Cumin seed

1/2 teaspoon Caraway seeds

Put the dry ingredients in a blender and turn it on. Drizzle enough olive oil into the blender to make a paste, but don't puree it. Leave some texture. Store in a jar. It will keep indefinitely in the fridge.

This is a great thing to add to soups, stews, eggs or anything else you like hot. Add it to your own portion unless everyone likes thier food spicy. Enjoy.