#Garden Bell Pepper

[askwhatsforlunch]

Kūmara and Beef Shepherd's Pie

Whilst the days are still sunny, they are quite chill; and the nights are even chillier. This hearty Kūmara and Beef Shepherd's Pie thus makes an excellent, warming Sunday dinner, rather like a proper hug! Have a good one!

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

540 grams/1.20 pound beef chuck

1/4 cup plain flour

1 small onion

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 large red Bell Pepper, rinsed

1 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon ground chilli

1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 cup good red wine (such as a Bordeaux or Pinot Noir)

1 cup water

2 large kūmara or sweet potatoes

1 heaped teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 tablespoon demerara sugar

1 tablespoon pure (Grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 tablespoon demerara sugar

1/4 cup double cream

Peel and cube kūmara, and add to a large pot. Add coarse sea salt. Cover with water, and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, cook, about 20 minutes until tender.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt butter with olive oil over a high flame.

Cut beef chuck into large chunks.

Spoon flour in a shallow plate, and dredge beef chuck pieces, coating them well and shaking off excess flour.

Once the butter is foaming, add floured beef chuck pieces and brown well, on all sides. Transfer browned beef chuck pieces to a plate to rest; set aside.

Peel and finely chop onion, and stir into the Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-high. Stir in garlic; cook, 1 minute more.

Finely chop red Bell Pepper, and add to the pot. Cook, a couple of minutes.

Season with dried sage and ground chilli. Then, season with fleur de sel and black pepper.

Sprinkle in remaining flour, and cook out, 1 minute.

Deglaze with Bordeaux wine, stirring well to loosen brown bits. Then, stir in water. Bring to the boil.

Once boiling, reduce heat to medium, cover with a lid, and simmer, at least 45 minutes until the meat is juicy and tender, and the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, peel and cube kūmara, and add to a large pot. Add coarse sea salt. Cover with water, and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, cook, about 20 minutes until tender.

Once the beef has cooled enough, cut into very thin slices, and return to the pot, coating in the sauce. Add demerara sugar and Maple Syrup. Give a good stir.

Lightly oil a baking tin with olive oil, and spoon beef stew mixture in, levelling well with a spatula. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 200°C/395°F.

Drain kūmara, and return them to the pot. First, mash them thoroughly with a potato masher and stir in half of the butter, until melted. Then, process using a hand-held blender, so the mixture is very smooth. Energetically stir in remaining butter, demerara sugar and double cream with a wooden spoon, until perfectly blended and sugar and butter are melted.

Spoon kūmara mash on top of the beef mixture, levelling into an even layer with a spatula.

Place tin in the middle of the hot oven, and bake, at 200°C/395°F, for 30 to 35 minutes.

Serve Kūmara and Beef Shepherd's Pie, with a glass of Bordeaux or Waiheke Island Pinot Noir.

[los-plantalones]

when i say she’s obsessed with peppers i need you to understand that she will literally rip them off the plants and adopt them as children she will eventually cannibalize

[thedenofravenpuff]

So proud!

My two bell peppers growing in my windowsill is starting to change color!

[ahedderick]

Bell peppers seem to LOVE a dry year. K meticulously chopped all these and I froze them spread out on a cookie sheet. Stored in a big ziploc bag, they will await the ripening of the tomatoes and the Days of Sauce. I need to chop some of the onions, too, because the ones we grew this year don't look like they're going to be good keepers. Sometimes you can store them long-term . . and sometimes you cannot.

My neighbor just drove his bobcat s-l-o-w-l-y up the lane to deliver a round bale for Hero and Missile. I gave him a big bouquet from the garden in trade.

[tweedlebean]

Made that Sri Lankan egg curry from the Tik Tok. I have some complaints about how the recipe was written but it looks/smells pretty good!

[forageling]

This year's growing season:

20 March 2023:

Today I planted cucumber, bellpepper, and cherry tomato seeds! Hopefully they'll all sprout!

22 April 2023:

The first seeds have successfully sprouted!

2 May 2023:

Lots of bellpepper plants and tomato plants have made it! And one strong cucumber plant!

I also planted some sunflower seeds, hopefully these will turn out well too!

26 May 2023:

My cucumber plant has opened its first flower of the year! (I've also transported all of my plants outside to our balcony and repotted them into bigger pots)

11 July 2023:

The very first cucumber is coming, the tomato plants are getting really big now, the bellpepper plants are finally starting to get bigger too, and the pumpkins which i planted the other day are getting more tiny leaves!

7 August 2023:

The flowers on my tomato plants are finally turning into tomatoes, the pumpkin plants are growing and growing and growing, my first cucumber is almost ready to harvest, the first sunflower is slowly starting to open up, and the bellpepper plants are finally starting to produce flowers!

25 August 2023:

The very first sunflower has opened, more and more tomatoes are popping up, the first bellpepper is on its way, and my pumpkin plant is starting to bloom!

31 August 2023:

More and more sunflowers are starting to open, the pumpkin plants are getting absolutely gigantic, and it looks like i'm gonna get another cucumber this year!

07 September 2023:

The first tomatoes are finally ready to harvest, i've counted 8 bell peppers that are getting bigger and bigger, the cucumber plant has 3 new babies (but i'm not sure whether they'll make it cause the plant is not looking too good), almost all sunflowers are blooming now, and i think the pumpkin flowers are starting to slowly turn into tiny little pumpkins!

[ladysnowangel]

[heckyeahobjectbattlecity]

the starerrrrrr

[cosmichorrorsol]

Now, for the most difficult part of gardening: figuring out what to do with pounds of peppers and basil given that I really don't feel like cooking.

[mountainbirb]

One of our bell peppers has finally recovered from me not watering them enough drought and a wind storm to produce peppers! I think they look like tiny ballsacks right now

[askwhatsforlunch]

Roasted Sea Breams à la Marseillaise

Fragrant with fresh herbs and a touch of Pastis, these Roasted Sea Breams à la Marseillaise bring Provençal flavours to a hearty and warming dish. Happy Wednesday!

Ingredients (serves 3):

1 1/2 dozen Garden New Potatoes

1 green Garden Bell Pepper

1 onion

1 Green Onion

5 fluffy sprigs Garden Parsley

half a dozen large leaves Garden Sage 

1 teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 beautiful sea breams (scaled and gutted)

a pinch salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 cup Pastis

a drizzle olive oil

Preheat oven to 200°C/395°F.

Thoroughly rinse and scrub New Potatoes under cold water, then pat them dry. Halve New Potatoes, and add to a large roasting tin.

Halve, seed and dice Bell Pepper. Add to the tin.

Thinly slice half of the onion and white part of the Green Onion, saving green part for later, and add to the tin as well.

Finely chop Garden Parsley and Sage. Add half of the chopped herbs to the tin. Season with fleur de sel and black pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.

Toss well to combine and generously coat in oil and herbs.

Place roasting tin in the middle of the hot oven, and cook, 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely chop remaining halve of the onion and add to a medium bowl, along with reserved chopped Parsley and Sage. Give a good stir, to mix.

Season the inside of each sea bream with salt and black pepper, and stuff them with herb and onion mixture.

Place stuffed sea breams onto the vegetables in the roasting tin. Drizzle generously with Pastis and olive oil, and return to the hot oven.

Roast, at 200°C/395°F, for 35 minutes more.

Finely chop green part of the Green Onion.

Serve Roasted Sea Breams à la Marseillaise hot, sprinkled with green part of the Green Onion, with a glass of chilled Côtes de Provence rosé.

[martiancount1877]

Dog n stuff

[thedenofravenpuff]

My lil indoor garden is going well!

My bell peppers got replanted before they tangled too close together by their roots.

And my lemon is finally sprouting!?

[ahedderick]

Yes! YES!!

Bell peppers can be surprisingly finicky, here. Over all, they are producing well this year, but the ones that are supposed to progress from green to red rarely do so. Or sometimes they DO start to turn colors, but go bad before they get completely finished. Ergo, this one (1!) red pepper represents a small but emotionally important triumph. There are five red pepper plants, by the way. All full of green peppers. The green pepper plants are similarly full of green peppers.

[sirsheoth]

My one (1) bell pepper seedling has grown a singular little leaf after having its cotyledons eaten. Proud of you buddy

[inthecityofgoodabode]

April 2024: Wednesday In The Garden

My queen gathering roses & fern fronds for a flower arrangement:

Our three & a half foot tall cilantro. Seeds will be saved:

Wednesday night dinner - steak with chimichurri, salad, peas, sweet potato & grilled bell pepper: