Beautiful Fall Weather

After some nasty weather and rain last week, we are basking in wonderful warm sun. This week we'll work on some fall tillage/cover cropping and work on finishing up the rest of the potato harvest. New carrots planted in August are ready as well as some wonderful fall greens, and those white turnips we love are the size of marbles. The peppers are steadily turning orange, yellow and deep red and the tomatoes continue to produce. What's not to love about Fall? (maybe those pesky Asian Lady Beetles)

I've been trying some new recipe ideas and thought I'd share some of them with you.

When working with hot peppers please be sure to protect your eyes with goggles or glasses - wear gloves and don't touch your eyes. If you don't wear gloves, you may experience numbness in your fingers after handling peppers and still transfer "heat" to your eyes even after washing your hands several times.

Jalapeno Cornbread

(you could also just take your favorite cornbread recipe and add 3-4 finely chopped jalapenos)

1 1/2 c. cornmeal

1/2 c. unbleached white flour

6 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 c. buttermilk

1/4 c. olive oil

3-4 jalapeno's seeded and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan or muffin tins (for 12 muffins). Mix dry ingredients in a medium size bowl and blend well. Add the jalapenos and mix to coat (this keeps them from all floating to the top during baking). Add buttermilk, egg and oil. Stir just until moistened.

Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake 25-30 minutes. Fill muffins 3/4 full and bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with butter and maybe a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.

This weekend I was inspired to make use of a lot of cayenne peppers that I had left over after market. I actually tripled the recipe. The result was spicy, but not overpowering. I decided that it would make a great "spicy ketchup". Good on potatoes, eggs, etc. I didn't have quite enough tomatoes so I threw in some chopped up carrots. I also strained it through a fine sieve when it was finished to remove the seeds and bits of pepper and tomato skins. You could do this with just about any kind of hot pepper.

Cayenne Pepper Sauce - from ehow.com

1 lb. cayenne pepper

1 1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 slice onion

1 1/2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

1 can diced tomato (28oz) I just chopped up some fresh tomatoes

1 cup cider vinegar

7 oz. water

1. Cut off the pepper stems and cut the peppers into thin slices

2. Combine all ingredients in a large heavy pot and boil for 1 hour.

3. Reduce heat and simmer for one hour. Remove from heat and cool.

4. Process cooled mixture in blender until smooth. Pour through a sieve to remove seeds and skins.

5. Return the mixture to the pan and bring to a boil while stirring. Remove from heat.

6. Pour finished sauce into a clean glass jar after it cools and store in the refrigerator.