Annabel's Garden

Capsicums

Before we know it, autumn has arrived. The mornings arrive crisp and heavy-dewed, there’s a bite in the air and the light of the day starts to dwindle noticeably earlier. Like squirrels we gather our harvests and set about preserving the season’s flavours in preparation for the cold months ahead.

A star of this season is the lovely crisp, glossy capsicum or bell pepper. At this time of year, they are plentiful and cheap, versatile and delicious. But it’s a race against time for capsicums – they are destined to collapse at the first whack of frost. Green capsicums are actually unripe red capsicums – same fruit but less time on the vine. When red they are very sweet and more easily digested. To prepare capsicums, cut them in half, remove the seeds and core and discard the white pith.

As the cooler weather closes in, I find myself craving richer deeper flavours. Roasting comes to the fore as my preferred way to cook through autumn - it’s a simple means of intensifying flavours and requires very little effort on behalf of the cook. Roasted capsicums emerge as meltingly tender, and with a dense and sweetly caramelised flavour. From here it’s simple to spring-board off into a vast array of salads, pasta dishes, sauces and soups. While in peak supply, roast these succulent veges in bulk and store them in the fridge or freezer. Halved capsicums can be stuffed with all kinds of savoury mixtures (cheese, rice and herbs and spicy mince) then baked. Eat them raw in salads or cook in a little olive oil with onions and garlic as a starting point for sauces, stir-fries, tagines and stews.

As we light the first fires there’s a sense of celebration as another cycle of nature turns. It’s a time to stock up, put up and celebrate the harvest.

MEXICAN HARVEST SOUP

Prep	20 minutes
Cook	30 minutes
Serves	8

Throughout South and Central America meal-in-one soups like this go by the name of puchero. They are often prepared using a piece of brisket or a whole chicken as the base with corn, pumpkin, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers added to the flavoursome broth. They make a great weekend lunch.

2 tbsp oil
1 large onion, diced
2 red capsicums, cut into chunks
50g tomato paste
1 tbsp ground cumin
1-2 fresh chillies, minced
600-800g pumpkin, cut in chunks
3 potatoes, cut in chunks
1 large kumara, cut in chunks
4 chicken breasts or 600g boneless thighs, thinly sliced
6 cups well-flavoured chicken stock
3 cups water
1 tsp salt and grinds of pepper

Garnish: 2 spring onions, very finely chopped, ½ packed cup fresh coriander, chopped, 3 tomatoes, diced.

Heat oil in a large pot and gently sizzle onion with capsicums, tomato paste, cumin and chillies until softened but not browned, about 10 minutes. Peel and chop pumpkin, potatoes and kumara into 2-3cm chunks. Add to pot with chicken, stock and water. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste. Just prior to serving mix in spring onions, coriander and tomato. Bring back just to a simmer before serving.

Variation: Cut 2 whole cobs of husked raw corn into 5-6 slices and add to soup.

From Annabel’s book, Eat Fresh: cooking through the seasons.
Photos by Aaron McLean.

Red Pepper Sauce

Prep	15 minutes
Cook	1 ¼ hours
Makes	6 medium jars

This brilliant red sauce is so useful. Its sweet spicy flavour makes a terrific partner for cooked chicken or lamb as well as pasta. Thinned with vinaigrette it makes a sparky dressing.

16-20 red or yellow peppers
2 cups cider or rice vinegar
2 cups white wine vinegar
6 cups sugar
1 tsp salt

Remove seeds and roughly chop peppers. Put in a large heavy saucepan with cider or rice vinegar and white wine vinegar. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Transfer to food processor and process until smooth. Return juice to washed saucepan, add sugar and salt and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Gradually bring to the boil and simmer very gently for a further 15-20 minutes until lightly thickened. Ladle into warm, sterilised glass containers or jars and seal while hot.

From Annabel’s book, The Best of Annabel Langbein: Great Food for Busy Lives.
Photography by Kieran Scott

Lemon Chilli Grilled Prawns

Cook	40-50 minutes
Serves	6-8

1 whole head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
8 medium shallots, halved and peeled or 2 red onions, cut into wedges
2 peppers - one red, one yellow, seeded and cut in wedges
16-18 black olives salt and pepper
½ tsp sugar
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4-5 handfuls washed and dried rocket leaves or baby spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 160°C. Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper. Place in it garlic, shallots or onions, peppers and olives. Season with salt, pepper and sugar. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix to evenly coat then spread out in dish. Bake for 40-50 minutes until golden and tender. Cool in the pan. Toss through rocket or baby spinach leaves. This salad is also delicious served with feta or grilled haloumi cheese and makes a good accompaniment to barbecued meats.

Here served with Baked Ricotta

From Annabel’s book, The Best of Annabel Langbein: Great Food for Busy Lives.
Photography by Kieran Scott

Flash-Roasted Fish With Red Pepper Sauce

Prep	10 minutes
Cook	5-8 minutes
Serves	4

This dish is ideal when you want a quick, elegant dinner. The sauce will keep for a few days in the fridge and is also excellent mixed through seafood and pasta, or served with grilled meats.

Red Pepper Sauce
flesh of 2 roasted red peppers
¼ cup stock or orange juice
salt and ground black pepper
4 x 180-200g boneless fish fillets
¼ cup good olive paste, or herb pesto or other flavour paste
4-6 sliced courgettes or a large bunch green beans, ends trimmed off

Pre-heat oven to 250°C. To prepare sauce, purée red peppers with stock or juice until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put to one side (it will keep for several days in the fridge and can also be frozen). To cook fish, place fillets in a lightly oiled baking dish and fold under any thin edges. Spread with olive paste or another paste or pesto. Bake fish for 5-8 minutes until flesh shows very little resistance when pressed. Check after 5 minutes. Do not over cook – the fish should still be slightly translucent in the centre and not flake too easily. While fish cooks, heat red pepper sauce and cook courgettes or beans.

To serve, spoon red pepper sauce into the centre of each plate. Top with a mound of beans and place fish on top.

Busy Day Dinner Idea: Accompany fish with mashed potato, rice or noodles.

From Annabel’s book, The Best of Annabel Langbein: Great Food for Busy Lives.
Photography by Kieran Scott

Steaks With Tapenade, Beans And Peppers

Prep	5 minutes
Cook	6 minutes

Here’s a dinner that looks really smart and yet is so easy. Great for a dinner á deux.

1 tbsp olive oil
6 beef steaks, cut 2-4cm thick
freshly ground black pepper
1 red pepper, cut in thin strips
1 bunch beans, halved
¼ cup prepared Tapenade or olive paste

Pre-heat oven to 220°C. Boil the beans for 2 minutes. Drain. Season the steaks and pan fry over a high heat for about 1 minute each side. Transfer to hot oven for 3-4 minutes. Rest for 2-3 minutes before serving. While meat cooks in the oven stirfry peppers and boiled beans for 3-4 minutes in a little olive oil. Place a pile of vegetables onto each serving plate and top with a steak. Put 2 tsp of Tapenade on top of each steak. Serves 6.

Pan Gravy: If you wish to make a pan gravy, add ¼ cup water, a splash of port or Marsala and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar to the meat pan and boil hard for 1-2 minutes.

Busy Day Dinner Idea: Serve with Rosemary and Garlic Roast Potatoes.

From Annabel’s book, The Best of Annabel Langbein: Great Food for Busy Lives.
Photography by Kieran Scott

For more great ideas with capsicums check out Annabel’s cookbooks:

Celebrate: A Calendar of Cakes for Special Dates
Eat Fresh: Cooking Through the seasons
The Best of Annabel Langbein: Great Food for Busy Lives
Assemble: Sensational Food Made Easy
Cooking to Impress: Without Stress