Patsy Bell Hobson is a garden writer and a travel writer. For her, it's a great day when she can combine the two things she enjoys most: gardening and traveling. Visit her personal blog at http://patsybell.blogspot.com/ and read her travel writings at http://www.examiner.com/x-1948-Ozarks-Travel-Examiner. 

Chili herbs and spices are easy to grow in the heat of my full-sun zone 6 garden. However, it is the impending snowstorm that has gotten me to start thinking about chili. As you page through the seed catalogs this winter, consider growing a salsa garden or a chili garden. Peppers are colorful enough to plant in a full-sun flower bed—not for the flowers, which are usually small, white and unremarkable. The foliage can be lush and the color variety of the peppers ranges as wide as the heat levels.

Nutrients in peppers depend on the variety and maturity. Both sweet and hot peppers are high in vitamins A and C. If you make your own chili seasoning, you will get many levels of taste and a lot less salt.

Chili con carne ingredients change according to the region and the cook.
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons 

Start with ancho chili peppers, the key ingredient in chili seasonings. These rich and flavorful peppers have very little heat. I buy whole, dried peppers and crush them in a plastic bag for pepper flakes. The best way to crush any kind of dried pepper is to place them inside of a heavy plastic zipper bag. Then, smash the dried peppers.

Use gloves when working with peppers. Even the slightly hot peppers can burn. I can't say this enough: WEAR GLOVES. If you don't have gloves, put your hands in plastic produce bags or plastic zipper bags.

Capsicums are what make spicy dishes hot. Add chipotle, cayenne and/or jalapeno to the ancho in chili to give it spice and heat. Start with just a little hot pepper. It's easy to add more heat later.

  
Left: Dried poblanos (Capsicum annuum) are used in chili.
Right: Fresh and versitile, poblanos are used to make chili rellenos.
Photos courtesy Wikimedia Commons 

If you want to grow your own chili peppers, look for poblano pepper seeds or plants. Green anchos are stuffed and used to make chili rellenos. These triangular peppers are the dried version of the poblano chile—the most common dried pepper in Mexico.

To make your own chili powder, start with ground ancho chili pepper. Add cumin and Mexican oregano. Then, add onion and garlic. I use fresh onion and garlic because it is readily available, but you can use garlic and onion powder. Finally, add hot peppers to taste.

Here is a salt-free chili seasoning mix. This is a guide. Add more or less of any ingredient to make this your own special chili powder. With the rich flavors of your own chili powder, you won't miss the salt.

Chili Seasoning Mix

• 3 tablespoons ground ancho
• 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano, dried
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne

Some chili recipes include tumeric, dried mustard, thyme, cinnamon or paprika. So don't be shy—chili is an easy dish to experiment with and learn about the depth and flavor of herbs and spices. Original Texas-style chili contains no beans or tomatoes, so be creative.

We will talk about other traditional Mexican herbs and seasoning to plant in a salsa or chili garden. Be on the lookout as those catalogs come rolling in.

Resources

How to grow peppers:

• AgriLife Extension 
• University of Illinois Extension 

Pepper seeds and plants:

• The Cook's Garden
• Renee's Garden Seed

Chili spices:

• Penzeys Spices 

You can check out the Lemon Verbena Lady at http://lemonverbenalady.blogspot.com.

I enjoy my life every day because it is full of herbs and herbal thoughts.  Twenty-two years ago I married my Herbal Husband whose birthplace is Lima, Peru, and in 2006 we traveled there for a visit.

Peru is a magical place, but it struggles to survive on a daily basis.  One bright spot on our last visit was to the Agricultural School where our friends' two sons attended classes. It has a market each week where they sell produce and herbs that are grown by the students. 

Coming from a nontropical area of the United States, I am always jealous of how enormous some herbs can grow in tropical zones. In Peru, this particular rosemary was as big as a small car!  The students used it for propagation and would make a lot of beautiful rosemaries with it!

We then went to the foothills of the Andes Mountains and Chaclacayo.  A much smaller city than Lima and there we went to the central market and found the salsa man. 

He sells his homemade sauces and heads of garlic to the locals.  Yes, there are supermarkets, but the old traditions of the marketplace are still important.  The market is where the action is.  I loved his location because he was bathed in natural light unlike the other stands that had one small lightbulb to light their areas.  He obviously had the spot of honor in the market.  He makes red sauce, green sauce, orange sauce and the famous yellow aji of Peru made into a delicious salsa.  His salsas were in demand as you can see he was doing a brisk business.

Here is a salsa recipe that is typically Peruvian:

Salsa Peruana Aji de Miguel
(Miguel's Peruvian Aji Sauce)

Serves 3/4 cup
Heat scale:  Hot

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 or more fresh aji chiles, seeds and stems removed, minced, or substitute yellow wax hot chiles or jalapenos
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1. Heat the oil in a small skillet, and when it's hot, add the chiles and the garlic, lower the heat, and stir constantly to avoid burning the garlic. 

2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir. 

3. Simmer for ten minutes and then serve over potato or beans.

Recipe courtesy of Dave DeWitt, Mary Jane Wilan, and Melissa T. Stock, Hot & Spicy Latin Dishes: The Best Fiery Food from Las Americas (Prima Lifestyles, 1994).

Hope you enjoy it!  Please let me know if you do!

Over the holidays, someone gave me a jar of Chukar Cherry Salsa, a delectable treat with peaches, jalapenos and cherries, among other wholesome ingredients–almost more a chutney than a salsa, but whatever you call it, it tastes great. Now that I've tried it and am enthusiastic about it, I'd love to thank someone. However, I can't for the life of me remember who gave it to me or sent it to me or slipped it under my door.

So if you're the one who gave me this gift, thanks a lot. If you're not, you might want to try some yourself.

Here's the recipe I made up the other night to test out the salsa. I was in the mood for French toast, but didn't want anything too sweet. So this is what I came up with–a parmesan cheese French toast with fresh herbs and Peach-Cherry Salsa.

Ta-DAH!

Parmesan French Toast

Serves 2

• 2 large fresh eggs
• 1 or 2 tablespoons milk
• Dash of salt
• Ground pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped roughly
• 4 pieces of bread, sliced in half (stale bread is just fine)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or a few sprays of cooking spray
• 1/2 cup Chukar Cherry Salsa

1. Whisk the eggs and milk until the yolks are blended with the egg white. You want the consistency a little thick, so add the milk a little at a time.

2. Add salt and pepper, parmesan and basil. Whisk again.

3. Dip bread in egg mixture until well-coated. While it sits for just a few seconds in the egg mixture, heat the skillet with either the olive oil or cooking spray.

4. Make sure skillet is hot enough by splashing a drop of egg mixture in it. The egg should sizzle immediately.

5. Place bread slices in the skillet and cook on each side until toasty brown.

6. Take from skillet, drain briefly on a paper towel.

7. Divide on two plates, serve each with a dollop of the cherry salsa.

Now say "Yummm...."