Heirloom Tomatoes and Melrose Peppers

It's Harvest Time!

I've been waiting for months to sink my teeth into this summer favorite fresh from the garden. THIS is the reason I patiently grow my heirloom tomatoes. NOTHING can compare to the taste and texture of these meaty, flavorful treasures. Of course, they seem to take forever. Mine grow very tall (7 ft.) and produce about 7-10 tomatoes. But, I grow mine in pots (large pots) so perhaps that is affecting the growth habit. This particular variety is called MORTGAGE BUSTER. Excellent. My all time favorite is MR. STRIPEY. Both varieties are full of sweet flavor and slice up beautifully. The texture is firm, solid and never, ever goopy like grocery store tomatoes.
For this tasty treat I sliced a bagel into three thin slices. Butter, a little garlic powder...pop it under the broiler. Once toasty brown I add a slice of tomato heaven and a slice of mozzarella and put it back under the broiler for a few seconds to melt the mozzarella just a bit. Finally, I top it with fresh basil (grown in a pot right next to the tomatoes, of course) and a sprinkle of balsamic vinaigrette. Have I died and gone to heaven?

Melrose Peppers

Well if all that tomato heaven wasn't enough I now have a new favorite pepper growing in my garden. Remember, my vegetable garden is grown in large pots, so I usually choose varieties that I think will do well in pots. I had read a lot about these Italian favorites and was excited to share them with my pepper-loving Italian hubby. I had no idea they would be so PROLIFIC, CAREFREE and DELICIOUS. I have probably harvested about a dozen 4" peppers from each plant and they just keep going and going.....They can be eaten green or red. They can be stuffed, sauteed or used in salads. They are SO MUCH BETTER than regular sweet peppers. Why doesn't everybody grow these? Probably because, like me, they never heard of them...till now. By all means, get yourself some Melrose peppers and enjoy! They are not as thick as regular sweet peppers and when you cook them they don't get mushy and tasteless. They hold the flavor and remain relatively sturdy when cooked. Great for stuffing. I found this tempting recipe online http://www.prouditaliancook.com/2010/08/melrose-peppers-its-chicago-thing.html

I don't want to have to enjoy these merely once a year so I have strung a few dozen of them and hung them to dry for more sauteed peppers in the chilly months ahead!