2012 Christmas Chilli

There is nothing so satisfying as spending ages contemplating, growing, procuring and preserving chillies. It kind of perpetuates their freshness and individual flavours, far beyond the usual shelf life of freshly picked produce.

I'm going to keep this article short and sweet. I've just made four batches of chilli, red, green, homegrown and imported and it took ages. People often say I should sell them, but I say it takes all the fun out of it. I only do it a few times a year and purely so I can enjoy the pleasure of giving it away to friends, family and clients.

Each 4 oz jar is individually lableled and if you want one, all you have to do is this:

- Post a comment on this blog
- Send me your postal address by email to firefoodie@gmail.com

Naturally, my regular readers from the UK, Ireland, US, Europe, Australia, South Africa and the Philippines (and you know who you are) are first in line. So get your addresses to me and I promise you a little treat in the post. I also promise to keep your personal details supremely confidential. It doesn't matter where you live, it's Christmas after all.

Enjoy the photos and I look forward to hearing from you!

The home grown stash from the freezer

One of my two trays on the window cill, early in the season

Extra ingredients for the first home grown batches

The home grown batches in jars

My special order, 2000 Indian green chillies

A daunting task

So fresh!

and the big ones were much quicker

42 Ghanaian Chillies in a Jar

FIREFOODIE'S CHRISTMAS CHILLI - BATCH #2

This is the result of batch #2 following my previous Firefoodie's Christmas Chilli article posted earlier this month. I relented and purchased a tray of 60 very cute 3 oz jars with gold lids to overcome my label removal angst. I asked the green grocer at the market in Witney to get hold of a box of chillies for my second round of little gifts for me to collect the following week.

I collected the box early in the morning (see the gap above the fennel) and psyched myself up for another intense evening. This time, my son Charlie helped with the tailing of the chillies, and we managed the whole batch in just over an hour. 16 x 200g batches in the food processor to be precise. We worked out that we tailed just short of 1600 of the treasures by hand.

Once the garlic was added and the chilli was cooked down with the olive oil, vinegar (about 300ml of each), salt (2 tbsp) and a bit of water (Charlie had retired by now), I filled 38 jars with Batch #2 of my addictive relish. They were then simmered in a large baking tray and topped with extra virgin olive oil before sealing, cooling and labelling.

If you are amongst the privileged few in possession of one of these little jars, it's great with cheddar cheese and cracker biscuits. Add a nice cold beer, and you have found another room in firefoodie heaven.

Remember to add a bit of olive oil to the jar each time you use some, enough to cover the chilli. It will keep it fresh for ages and you will get more out of the jar. Enjoy.