Sunday, March 13, 2011

From my garden

Autumn is here and my garden needed a good clean out so this weekend I decided to make some yummy pesto and chilli jam/sauce from my vege patch.  The pesto is pretty straightforward but the chilli jam was a little more work but very rewarding at the end.  It is HOT and is full of home grown chillis, yellow & orange capsicum and ginger. It makes a great salad dressing, glaze or stir fry sauce.  Mine turned out more of a sauce than a jam but it is still delish!!!!  Here is the recipe and remember as someone famous once sang - "You cant always get what you want but you just might find you get what you need".  Happy sauce making....

750g red & yellow capsicums - seeded & chopped
100g fresh chillis (I used 8 of my plant)
50g fresh ginger peeled & chopped
350ml apple cider vinegar
1kg sugar with pectin added
50ml lime juice
1tsp salt

Put capsicums, chilli & ginger into food processor and process - but not TOO finely as it is nice to have little pieces in the sauce.  Place mixture in large pan and add vinegar and simmer.  Add sugar, lime juice and salt.  Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture boils.  Boil 5 minutes then cool for 5 minutes and pour into sterilized jars.  Bon Apetite!