I was blown away by a habanero sauce I had during a trip to Mexico a few years ago. Blisteringly hot yet full of the incredible flavour of the habaneros and freshness of the lime juice, this is one of those recipes that I always make for a summer bbq.
Habanero Sauce Ingredients
1/4 of an onion
1/2 clove of garlic
5 finely chopped habaneros
juice of 1 lime
salt
1/4 cup of water
3 table spoons of white vinegar
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Method
Finely chop and fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the white vinegar and finely chopped habaneros and cook for a further minute before removing from the heat. Add the lime juice, salt and water.
I find the consistency a little variable so you may need to play around with the amounts of liquid you put in until you get a consistency of sauce you like.
Last week I came back form work and found that virtually all of my chilli plants leaves were drooping. This can’t have been due to lack of light as the weather has been gloriously sunny recently.
Potential Causes of Drooping Leaves
1. Excess heat
The plants have been spending their days in a conservatory and with the very warm weather recently it was getting very hot in their during the day. Despite the high temperatures they had been well watered and the soil hadn’t dried out so I have ruled out lack of water. The shock of the high temperatures however may be a factor.
2. Re-potting
Quite often drooping leaves can be caused by the shock of re-potting. I re potted all of my plants just before this started to happen which probably explains their current drooping. When re-potting always try to minimize handling and damaging the roots.
3. Lack of nutrients
This can be an issue, particularly when the plants start flowering and fruiting. In such cases you can add a little tomato feed to their diet which should help give the plants the boost they need (I usually dilute it down to about half strength).
Curing Leaf Droop
Quite often the best plan is to simply let the chilli plants get used to their new environment. It is best to try to minimize any further stress to the plants. To do this move them to a warn, shady place out of direct sunlight.
Another suggestion I got from one of our twitter followers was to mist the plants with water. I’ve found this seems to have helped them recover too, though the problem is still persisting to some extent.
A light and fresh stew that is very easy to make and delicious served either on it’s own or with new potatoes or rice.
Mediterranean Stew Ingredients
1 tin of canellini beans
3 tins of chopped tomatoes
3 small white onions
3 cloves of garlic
3 courgettes (zucchini)
Olive oil
1 aubergine (egg plant)
1 handful of fresh thyme
salt to taste
cracked black pepper
1 small habanero chilli
Method
Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the garlic and fry until soft then add the onion and keep on the heat until translucent.
Next add the aubergine (diced) and courgettes (again diced) and saute for a couple of minutes. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the pot and bring to the boil then simmer until the vegetables have softened (about 20-30 minutes).
Serve with a very small drizzle of olive oil on the top and a good thick slice of rustic bread.
For the meat eaters out there this is great if you add a few good quality sausages to the pan while softening the onions and sweating down the vegetables.
