Soot, peppers and tradition
Roasting peppers on an open fire is not for clean-freaks. But, ooh, they taste so good. Isis, here, testing our work. Photo: Mary McCallion
For years, my friends Mary Harding McCallion and Isis Melhado and I have been getting together in the fall to roast peppers. For this week’s garden post, I share a series of photos taken recently as we gathered for our annual Roast of the Peppers, with friendly participation from Mary’s husband Jochen Sieckmann (who helps out even though he’s not a fan of garlic and our method involves a lot of garlic). We’ve been tracking your gardens all summer–great photos on an almost weekly basis from growers across the region. Now, it’s harvest and clean-up-the-garden time. Keep the photos coming! Send them to me at [email protected]. For the rest of this post, I’m going to let the photos tell the story.
It starts with peppers, an open fire, and lots of garlic.
Peppers roasting on our open fire pit: yes, you want them totally blackened. Photo: Mary McCallion
Isis, chief pepper poker. Photo: Mary McCallion
Here comes the garlic. Photo: Mary McCallion
Blackened peppers are cooled in brown paper bags before skinning. Photo: Mary McCallion
Isis and Jochen with lots of bagged peppers to be skinned. Photo: Mary McCallion
It gets pretty messy skinning charred peppers. Photo: Mary McCallion
Soooo good. Photo: Mary McCallion
All four of us grab onto the biggest pepper of the day. Photo: Mary McCallion
The big one, after charring, before peeling. (That’s the Oswegatchie River behind us, by the way.) Photo: Mary McCallion
Adding the garlic to the peeled, cut up roasted peppers. Add olive oil, put in bags and freeze. Photo: Mary McCallion
A portion of the day’s work. Photo: Mary McCallion
Part of the tradition is an al fresco meal. This year, Jochen made squash soup and we roasted some homegrown potatoes.
Isis chowing down on Jochen’s squash soup, and Ellen’s bread. Photo: Mary McCallion
Slightly over-roasted potato…another mess. But I love those fire-charred spuds. Photo: Mary McCallion
Mary, Ellen, Isis with a bowl of roasted peppers. Photo: Jochen Seickmann
Remember: send me those harvest and garden clearing photos, or photos of harvest meals. [email protected]
Tags: agriculture, gardens, harvest, open fire roasting, peppers
Ellen, what a wonderful post. Love your text with my photos. Especially the really gritty ones. A fun day we will remember as we eat the peppers all winter long. Thanks for getting these all together and telling this late summer garden story.
Delicious story!
Wonderful photos!!