I made Shepherd's pie today in a 4 quart Dutch Oven. I used one of these pretty, little Aji peppers for seasoning. I think this is "Aji Pineapple" but the fruity aroma is 99.6% imagination.
Half of a pepper would have been enough to leave a warm feeling on one's tongue. I will pull one of the Aji plants and hang it the night before we expect a killing frost to let the peppers ripen sans-soil.
I am curious to count the number of peppers. If one of these peppers is enough to season four meals (times two plates) of food, then fifty of these peppers is enough to last us a year.
I used masa (corn flour) for this batch because we have some family and neighbors who don't tolerate gluten. The texture was very different than wheat flour, much more crumbly. The corn flavor was unnoticable at first but it showed up as an after-taste. Not bad. Just not identical to the shortbread made with wheat flour.
I like to add chopped up black walnut meats to the shortbread but I did not for this batch. I wonder if a dusting of cinnamon would help mask the corn aftertaste.
I love shortbread cookies :) had to swear them off though.
ReplyDeleteDrizzled honey
ReplyDeleteInteresting ERJ. I had never thought of masa in that sense.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that your Ajis have produced this year. I put some in as well. The first batch was obviously very tasty for the local slugs, but some plants survived. They have grown, but no more than that. I was told that they can take up to three years before producing. I will put them into pots over winter and plant them out again next year. I have just now started some that I will plant next year. Can't leave them out over winter, they are not exactly hardy enough for the Austrian climate.
ReplyDeleteAji Rico (F1) is supposedly a shorter season Aji pepper. https://all-americaselections.org/product/pepper-aji-rico/
DeleteDo you have enough room for fruit trees? If so, what did you decide to plant?
I don't really have space for fruit tress, but there is a young and small apricot on the fenceline. I see that your aji is a hybrid, so that moves the goalposts. Most of the standard ones are perennial or at least good for three years. I am going to put them in pots and see what happens next year.
DeleteEurope has many excellent small-fruits like Black Currants, Raspberries, Black Elderberry, Rose Hips and so on.
DeleteYou Europeans are way ahead of us with regards to the therapeutic use of fruit: Sambucus for viral infections as an example.