How does your garden grow?

Let's tour the garden today and I then have a hot and spicy recipe for you afterwards. This is the raised garden where we have radishes, green onions, purple onions, spinach (which isn't doing so well), jalapeno, tomatoes and zucchini.

Here's the jalapeno plant. If this does well and we get some peppers, I'd like to put them in the smoker to make our own chipotle peppers.
Gorgeous peonies that are on their way to blooming. Sadly, the blooms don't last long which only make them that much more special.

I don't know what this plant is called, but it puts out pretty blue flowers that last all summer long.

Pansies are always a happy flower to have in the garden and I love yellow and purple anything side by side.
Here's the lily barrel.
I forget what type of geranium this is... peppermint, candy cane... something like that.

That's our garden for this week. Things are coming along nicely but I'm anxious for some return!

Now, let's make some chile colorado, or red chile (one of my gardener's favorites!) You can buy bags of dried chiles and if they have them in Havre, Montana, they are probably available anywhere!

Cut the tops off the chiles and split them. Remove the seeds and ribs because these chiles are hot, hot, hot enough without them!

Here's what you'll end up with - a pile of smoky-spicy-lovely hotness! I don't consider myself a sensitve person in regards to sights, odors, irritants, but I sneezed 437 times while cleaning these chiles and I coughed for hours because of the spicy fragrance that lingered in my throat. I didn't wear gloves while preparing these chiles and knew enough to keep my fingers away from my eyes, but apparently I touched my lips, which burned for hours. So, be forewarned... if you are at all sensitive, please wear gloves and maybe even a face mask while preparing these chiles!

The dried chiles are soaked in boiling water for an hour. Put that hot mess (including water) into a food processer along with some sauteed onions and garlic.

Push all of that through a sieve and discard the solids, which you see here. You'll end up with a gorgeous deep, dark, red-brown, smoky chile that will make your eyes water.

I had a busy week, so froze the chile and then vaccum packed it for another day, but not before dipping some tortilla chips into it for a sizzling afternoon treat!

Stay tuned... I'm thinking of putting some cubed pork into this chile and cooking it low and slow for some crazy Chile Colorado Burritos and also using it for the base of a killer salsa.