Well, after what has seemed like a very long wait it seems we are now finally seeing some consistently high temperatures and some decent sunny days now and again.
I’m pleased to report that most of this years crop seem to be catching up after the slow start from the incredibly wet and cold spring.
The Aji Hots despite making a good start have been not put on huge amounts of growth. Despite this they are fruiting pretty well and already have some decent sized green pods forming. Hopefully it won’t be too long until these are ripen from their current pale green through to red.
The Rocoto Red plant is looking really healthy but as yet has no pods set. It’s starting to come into flower so hopefully it won’t be too long. For a while I was doubting if this was a Rocoto plant at all. I’ve not grown this variety before and as it matured it’s hairy leaves and leggy branch structure looked unlike any types of chilli I’ve grown before. It’s strange but since it’s started flowering it’s started to look more like a chilli plant with it’s wonderful purple flowers.
The Trinidad Scorpian Moruga is also looking really healthy. It’s been growing in an old florist’s bucket in the conservatory and has produced some really big, lush looking foliage. Its just come into flower now and with a Scoville rating of about 2million I’m sure they’ll be worth the wait.
The Chilhaucle Negro also has a few fruit on it. I’m not sure but I suspect they’ll take quite a while to mature.
By far the most productive plant to date is my Cheyenne plant that is already producing ripe hot pods in abundance.
Just behind Cheyenne in terms of yield is the speedball pictured above which has about 30 fruits ripening away slowly.
Well, we’re still waiting for Summer to properly arrive here at Chilliking HQ and the rain is still falling. Despite all the grey clouds and rain we have had at least the temperatures haven’t been too bad (it was 17 degrees last night) and there has been some sunny spells to help get this years crop of chillies growing.
After a promising start the plants grown from the free Wahaca Serrano seeds in January turned out to be a disappointment. Many of the seedlings started off well but didn’t make it past about 10cm in height and only a couple have developed any further. Below is a photo of the best specimen….I guess considering the seed was free I can’t really complain.
Mean while the Aji Hots are currently producing some really beautiful little flowers….
Elsewhere in the chilli house the Trinidad Scorpion Moruga is looking incredibly healthy with huge lush leaves but no sign of any flowers yet while the various other plants are doing well with a few fruit starting to form here and there.
The only slight issue has been the annual aphid infestation that has (so far) only really affected the Cayenne plant. As ever I’m trying to resist spraying and am instead using my 4 point aphid control plan to minimize the damage. I’ve also got a crop of marigolds flowers growing which i’ll put in and around the chilli plants soon as they attract natural predators such as hover flies.
So al in all considering the poor weather it hopefully should be too long before we’re harvesting some chillies…
While we’ve shared before what we believe to be the perfect pizza recipe sometimes we just don’t have the time to cook these gorgeous pizzas. Not long ago we threw a party and I began experimenting with various pizza recipes that would allow me to make tasty pizza in bulk.
While I know this recipe isn’t like a traditional Italian recipe this recipe allows you to make great pizzas with minimal fuss, using baking trays instead of pizza stones allowing you to make up to 4 at a go (depending on the size of your oven!). This isn’t classic thin based pizzas but more of a topped focaccia style pizza. Whatever it is it went down very well at the party…
Pizza Base Ingredients
- 1kg of flour
- 2 sachet of fast action yeast
- 600ml of tepid water
- 3 tspn of sea salt
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
Topping Ingredients
- Feta Cheese
- Chopped fresh chives
- Chive flowers
- Fresh red chillie
- Tomatoe puree
- Black pepper
- Olive Oil
To make the Base:
Mix the base ingredients into a large bowl until combined for form a dough. Transfer to a dusted work surface and need the dough for about 10 minutes. If I’m really short of time mix the ingredients using an old bread machine we were given and get that to do the kneading.
Place the bowl into a black bin liner and place in a warm place to prove for 2 hours. Remove the dough and gently knock back then stretch or roll the dough to fit your baking trays. Cover and allow to prove for a further 30 minutes. After tis final prove you should be ready to add you toppings.
Assembly/Toppings:
While you can use our classic tomato sauce recipe I think using some tomato puree (sparingly) works really well. Simply smear over the purees with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle over the rest of the topping ingredients, keeping back the chive flowers (if you have them) ready to add after cooking.
Bake in a fan oven at about 180 Celsius for 20 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.
