First char your pepper. I used the garden flamethrower again and it did a better job than it did on the aubergine last week.
I shoved it in the blender and added the half carton of soft cheese left over from the Smoked Mackerel Pate. It looked a bit watery as it went in. With hindsight I should have taken it as a warning. I may have said that before.
I think I’ve also said I will look at recipes instead of working from memory. I tried but I couldn’t find the one I wanted, and as I had the soft cheese ready I just blundered ahead.
Add some garlic and smoked paprika and blitz it. Mutter. Add bread. Add more bread. When it looks firmish taste and add black pepper. It needed seasoning but I didn’t want to add lime juice as it was already sloppy. Even with the bread it was not exactly firm so I drained it in a sieve and managed to produce something with a consistency like a soft humous. I note from my spellchecker that the Americans spell humous differently too. You live and learn.
Charred Red Pepper Dip
It was just about firm enough to be acceptable and tasted OK. It needs some work but we ate it all so it can’t have been too bad. The photograph makes it look like something from a post-mortem examination but in natural light it lacked that spongy, moist lung-like quality.
We had it with green leaves, tomatoes, crackers and falafels. I’m going to try making my own falafels. The spellchecker doesn’t like that either. Falafel, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, is a variation of felafel. Google prefers falafel. The spellchecker doesn’t like either.
Before I do that I’m going to make sure I have all the ingredients and a recipe.
Flowers – detail
I thought I’d have another crack at the flowers. There’s not much else to photograph when you stay inside.
I’ll never watch Silent Witness again without thinking of you.
Yes, the blistered skin and the pink mess… ugh!
It does look good! Today I stir fired nettles, chickpeas, black bean and limas with a dash of salt, pepper and turmeric. It was edible and nutritious. 🙂
Julia has used all the garden nettles for making nettle tea compost. I was thinking of nettle quiche, but can’t get flour or pastry cases. Your meal sounds nutritious, but a trifle virtuous for me. 🙂
The nettles were a gift from a friend at market, the chickpeas and black beans in cans, the limas frozen. It cooked quickly, was hot and came out far better than anticipated. 🙂
I imagined you using dried beans and soaking them, but if you can use cans I could do that. I am a great fan of canned beans and pulses.
Looks a bit like Taramasalata, but I imagine it tasted much better. It’s fun to experiment. Next time, just let the pepper drain for a bit or pat it dry. Regardless, it’s a tasty looking plate you have there.
Taramasalata was one of the first dips I ever made. I’d not had it, or even heard of it, until I saw it in a recipe book, but I liked cod roe. Haven’t made it for years, though I remember it being very salty.
I like your thinking on having a recipe and a plan but wild adventure is exciting too.
It is, as they say, more fun to travel hopefully than to arrive. Today’s dip was an example. Hope you and Mrs T are still well.
We are fine, thank you.
Always good to hear. 🙂
Actually, looks really good to me.
It could be better. I’m going to try a few other recipes. They seem to involve more peppers, no cheese and roasting rather than charring. We will see.